The 3 Shifts You Need to Make in Order to Get Good Sleep

Have you ever wanted to be a better sleeper, but you just don’t know how?  

Me too in the past. 

Here is what I’ve learned since I’ve decided to prioritize my sleep. To succeed with our sleep, we have to look at three areas that might affect our ability to fall asleep or stay asleep.  

What does it take to have sleep success?

1. A shift in your emotions/stress level
2. A shift in your mindset
3. A shift in your behaviours

Here is an overview of what each area means.

First area:  A shift in your emotions/stress level

Have you tried sleeping when you are feeling stressed or full of anxiety?  Sleep won’t come because being in that emotional state actives our Nervous System.  Our nervous system is this beautiful internal system that constantly looks to protect us from any harm (both physical and emotional).  However, it can cause a lack of sleep when it gets activated.

When we live in a constant state of fight or flight, the emotions we might feel are nervousness, worry, anxiety, feeling on alert all the time, just to name a few.  

The goal is to create awareness around the triggers that create those emotions. Next, we need to find a way to release the emotions/stress to cultivate a sense of calm in our lives.  I recommend learning how to use EFT/Tapping as it quickly calms down the nervous system and allows us to see the solutions to our problems that aren’t visible when stressed or overwhelmed.

Tip:  Start tracking your emotions and see what triggers them.  Once you are clear on the triggers, you will need to make some changes to reduce the number of triggers you get. This tactic will lead to less stress and anxiety and better sleep.

Second area: A Shift in your mindset

It is crucial to create awareness of what we believe, even subconsciously.  If you believe that you can’t achieve good sleep, then chances are you’re not going to.  You need to adopt the mindset of a good sleeper.  

When you look around at people who sleep well, what do they do?  

• They don’t bring their worries to bed.
• They wind down before bed by doing something that calms them.
• They associate their bed with sleep, not with worry and anxiety.
• As a result, they never think about their sleep.

Tip: Look around in your life and see the good sleepers.  Find one thing you can learn from them to start believing sleep is possible for you.

Third area: A shift in our behaviours

We believe many behaviours we currently do are the right choice to feel more rested. However, these behaviours can cause us to mess up our sleep over the long run.  I’ve been guilty of this too in the past until I started researching more on the “Negative sleep behaviours” that made my sleep worst.  Even when I believed I was helping myself in the short term.

Some of these negative sleep behaviours are:

• Going to be earlier when we don’t feel tired.
• Drinking caffeine too late in the day.
• Having a nap trying to catch up on missed sleep.
• Not having a consistent wake-up time.

Tip: Start tracking your behaviours. What behaviour can you adjust to provide the proper environment for sleep to come easily?

These three areas might seem straightforward to understand. But, just because we understand them, it doesn’t mean we know how to make the changes necessary to have successful sleep.

For this reason, I’ve created the Optimal Sleep assessment where we can have a free 20-minute chat.  In this session, we can figure out your biggest struggle and what you can do to get better sleep.  Because in the end, it’s not about just knowing what is getting in the way of your sleep. It’s about getting restorative healing sleep.

              

Sign up today for your Optimal Sleep Assessment. The sooner you do it, the sooner you sleep better and wake up refreshed.