A delicious irony:

Since the proverbial stork delivered Baby Grundy just over five months ago, I’ve slept in various beds, on a sofa, in a rocking chair, on a futon, on a rug and even the cold, hard, mosaiced floor of the bathroom here at Fort Grundy. 

I’ve gone to bed at 7pm, 2am, 6am and just about every hour in between.

I’ve spent nights watching back-to-back-to-back episodes of True Detective with Baby Grundy snoozing on my lap as the sun creeps in through the curtains. I've spent other nights going for midnight drives with Baby Grundy conked out in the backseat.

I’ve also had days where I’ve trotted into the office on two hours sleep and snuck a ten minute power nap on the John just to keep the wheels turning.

So my sleep schedule has well and truly gone rogue.

What, you might ask, is ironic about that?

What’s ironic is that a couple of weeks ago I was asked by a colleague at work to come to her team meeting to run a session on…

(you guessed it)

…how to get a good night’s sleep!

This is a colleague who took part in some of the Mindset & Clarity workshops I've run over the last twelve months and was looking to share the mindset magic with her team.

Perhaps you’re wondering what sleep has to do with mindset and clarity.

Truth is, they go together like three peas in a pod.

The reason so many people struggle with sleep is the exact same reason so many people struggle to make a decision, manage their time, prioritise tasks, not overthink it or simply stay calm, relaxed and at ease.

That reason?

They turn everything into a project.

When it comes to nodding off, the project they set themselves is “how can I fall asleep?”

But this isn’t a helpful question. By the time you’ve asked it, you’ve already veered off course.

See, sleep isn’t something we do. It’s something we allow.

It’s a bit like breaking your leg, then “doing” fixing your leg. I doubt it would occur to anyone to try knitting those broken bone cells back together. I doubt even Dr Google would recommend it.

That’s why we let the body take care of it for us.

It works the same way with sleep.

When you're lying in your four poster bed actively working at sleeping (monitoring how sleepy you are, running through various sleep techniques, getting frustrated you’re not falling asleep fast enough etc), all you’re doing is stopping yourself falling asleep.

It's when you let go of that and trust your body has got your back that you sink softly to sleep like a stone sinks in water.

That’s not to say we can’t create the conditions for a good night’s sleep. 

Of course we can.

But those conditions are just setting the stage. The real performance happens when we stop directing the show.

If you’re part of a team or community that would like more calm, clarity or just a better night’s sleep, hit reply, let me know and we’ll explore how I can help.