I have
a confession to make! Today I am going to tell you a story of how
waking up at 6 am every day ruined my life. No! it's not clickbait!
I know that you probably heard stories about how successful people wake up early in the
morning, and maybe you should too if you want to become successful. But I can tell you that
after years of waking up at 6 am, my life is worse than ever.
And if you are one of those people who is striving to wake up early in the morning,
please don't. And those who do wake up at 6 or 5 am are probably not as successful as
they could be. And it is not because other aspects of my
life deteriorated while I was doing better financially.
Waking up at 6 am ruined everything in life, including the financial side of it.
So here is what happened. For the longest time, I use to think that
if I want to become successful, I had to discipline my life, work more hours, stop wasting my
time, and cut back on sleep so that I could work more.
I did that back when I was in college. I continued that habit after graduating, and for many
years, I felt like I was doing better than my peers. But, in reality, I didn't see much
progress in my life. My social life was at its lowest point. I
was barely paying my bills, and most importantly, I didn't know what was wrong with me.
I was depressed and anxious because even hitting the gym consistently for more than a year
didn't help me achieve any meaningful progress. I still was that little skinny guy who desperately
wanted to achieve something but never came even close to that.
There was something missing, something that held me back for a long time.
You won't believe it! But it was sleep. You see, I have always known that sleep is
important, but I never took it seriously. I disciplined myself to wake up at 6 am every
single day, no matter what, even on weekends. I have heard doctors say that you need at
least 8 hours of sleep to function properly, but I have always thought that's the lazy
way to approach life. I mean, when you sleep, you are not doing anything productive, so
I might as well try to minimize the number of hours I sleep so that I can work more,
and that was my biggest mistake. Because even on the days when I would go to bed after midnight,
I would still wake up at 6 am. The lack of sleep affected all aspects of
my life, especially the quality of my decisions. You see, when you sleep, your brain does one
of the most important functions. Throughout the day, you consume a lot of information
every time you read something, watch a YouTube video, or meet people. All that information
is usually saved in your short-term memory. Your brain works somewhat like a computer.
It has a short-term memory like RAM as computers have and a long-term memory like a hard disk.
Your short-term memory is much smaller than your long-term memory, so whenever you sleep,
especially when you are in that deepest level of sleep, your brain reorganizes whatever
information you have consumed throughout the day and shelves them somewhere in your long-term
memory based on how important are they. That's why you don't always remember everything you
know, but if you think about it, you might remember stuff that you have forgotten for
years but are saved somewhere in your long-term memory.
When your brain doesn't get enough sleep, most of that information gets stuck in your
short-term memory. So when you want to learn something new, memorize a bunch of facts for
your exam or take an important decision, your brain can't work at its fullest capacity since
it's filled with information that it supposes to move to your long term memory, but it's
stuck in your short term memory. That's why it's almost always much easier to focus or
work an hour or two after you wake up. In other words, less sleep equals I n a less
effective brain. If you are doing something that doesn't need a lot of brainwork, then
you might not realize a huge difference, but if you need to think or do creative work,
then your brain will struggle. So if you want to maximize your productivity, all you need
is a little more sleep. But it's not just about the number of hours
you sleep, but the quality of sleep you get. In order for your brain to truly rest, it's
not enough to lie down on your bed. You need to get rid of all the possible distractions.
If there is a music playing somewhere around you or the lights are on, your brain is going
to be active to a certain extent because it recognizes that light.
So the question is if sleep is so important to the efficiency of my brain, why cut back
on sleep when I can cut back on other things such as Netflix, or all the time I waste on
unnecessary stuff?
How many times do you find yourself sitting in front of a computer trying to accomplish
something that takes an hour or two, but you stretch it for an entire day and often postpone
to the next day? If you could just focus, put all of your willpower into it, you could
finish it in an hour. So here is what I started doing. I minimized
the number of hours I work. Instead of 14 or 15 hours of work, now I work only 8 to
10 hours, and I make sure that I get 7 to 8 hours of sleep a day. In fact, I do not
even set the alarm and let myself wake up naturally whenever my body feels like I have
had enough sleep. I understand that in the first few hours of the day, my brain is going
to be at its peak, so I try to do creative work in the morning. Whether it's a company
that I am analyzing, or an important business decision, I have to take or write a script
for the next video. If I eliminate all the distractions and push myself to just focus
on the work that I am doing, I can get done more in 2 to 3 hours than I would in an entire
day.
So stop thinking in terms of how many hours you work, but focus more on how much you can
get accomplished. If you can get your brain to work more efficiently by having more sleep,
there is no point in trying to work more and cut back on sleep.
We didn't even talk about all the health problems lack of sleep causes, such as cancer, heart
diseases, heart failure, high blood pressure, stroke, diabetes, depression, anxiety, and
a shorter life overall. So stop thinking of sleep as something you
waste time on, but as a daily investment, you have to make in yourself to keep yourself
more productive to be able to achieve more, to be able to make better decisions.
You might not be able to afford to turn off your alarm and wake up whenever you want,
but you can go to bed earlier. If you have to wake up at 7 in the morning, don't go to
bed at exactly 11 pm. You need some time to fall asleep. You also need to prepare your
body for sleep. So make sure that an hour before you go to bed, you are not doing anything
that could keep you awake in the bed for hours, like lifting weights or eating something heavy.
We talk a lot about investments on the channel, and you probably already know that often all
you need is one good investment to make a fortune. One good business decision can get
you out of that rat race, and if you could improve the quality of your decision by having
an extra hour of sleep. I think it worth it. Try it. I challenge you to try to have enough
sleep for one week in a row. Make your sleep the first priority just for one week.
That means going to bed on time and making sure you get quality sleep every day, and
if you won't realize any improvements in your life, just come back to this video and give
it a thumbs down. Yes, I mean it. I Never though I am gonna say that, but it's now is
the time. However meanwhile, while you haven't started the challenge yet, give this video
a thumbs up, you can always come back and give it a thumbs down.
I hope you guys have enjoyed this video. Remember that we have a second channel called, bloom
where I post videos that are not necessarily related to finance but nevertheless are interesting.
If you guys enjoy this channel, you will definitely enjoy our second channel. Just click on the
link description and subscribe. You guys have always supported me and without your support
this channel wouldn't have been possible so I will appreciate if you guys help me out
with the second channel. Thanks for watching and until next time.