“Never satisfied. Always content.” – Maestro David Kyle
Success OR sleep, you can’t have both. The root of this belief is fear, and a scarcity mentality.
The belief is loosely based on the ostensible truth that success is the result of hard work. In its full context, sleep and rest are in fact requirements for success.
Like many others, I’ve defined success for my life by wider, harder to define parameters than simply monetary. Eg: strength of character, strength of relationships, strength of body/mind, creating value for humanity, etc.
This type of success by its very nature is not achievable in a year, or two, or even 10. It requires a lifetime of perseverance, dedication, and ridiculously hard work. I still have a long way to go, and the finish line is nowhere in sight.
The success OR sleep approach is not sustainable in the pursuit of the type of success I am chasing. It may work well in a time-sensitive get-rich-quick opportunity, but that is just not where I am at right now.
It’s been my experience that anything worth striving for, does not come quickly or easily. If your aim is to be effective for the long haul, you need to MAKE time to sharpen the saw (an analogy favored by Stephen Covey).
Sure, there is a time and a place where you need to postpone “rest” to bring in the harvest before winter arrives. In my own personal experience, a lifestyle of it leads to burnout & illness, and I miss out on valuable experiences and opportunities because I am sick in bed, recovering from the side effects of my youthful zeal.
Even from a productivity point of view, it just doesn’t make sense. Science has been uncovering just how important those 7-9 hours per night is for peak performance & optimal brain health (kinda essential for long-term success, no?). And if you’ve succeeded in other areas of your life at the expense of your health, have you really succeeded?
Here’s the disclaimer, I haven’t always practiced what I preach. I have spent the better part of the last 15 years running on half the sleep I should be getting.
The very reason I disagree with the success OR sleep approach is because that approach worked miserably for me. It was fueled oftentimes by an immature understanding of competition, by fear, and by believing that I need to beat everyone else to the destination.
Truth is, there is more than enough success available for everyone, and the more people that reach it, the more fun we’ll all have.
For me, and you restless types like me, the bigger act of faith may be to put down your work, and hit the hay. Be content, but never satisfied.
How are you balancing it?
(This post is a response to this video, which has been popular in my social circles recently.)
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