The expression, “What keeps you up at night?” is often applied to entrepreneurs and people who lead organizations. Sleep is essential. A lack of it has a negative impact on the strongest person. Eventually it will break a person down and render them ineffective. There are three simple steps you can take to ensure a better night’s sleep.
Step 1: Cool down your brain.
Do you have some 'irons" on the stove that you’ve been cooking for too long? They can drive anyone to a bad night’s sleep. Just like your body is bound by the rules of hot and cold, cold being preferable over hot for sleeping, your brain works better if it’s not overheating. Resolving a conflict with people or events, even if it costs you something, is better than keeping yourself trapped in a loop of frustration or anger. Men and women often avoid conflict because, well, it’s conflict and uncomfortable for the moment. But the consequence of this avoidance will lead to lack of effectiveness and could keep you up at night. So push ahead and resolve whatever is bothering you. It’s better to know the outcome than wonder about it.
Step 2: Make a plan and stick to it.
Many leaders lead their lives based upon their intuition with little care or concern for a plan. Although I have observed many men and women leaders, achieve personal success using this leadership approach it rarely is to the benefit of the teams they lead. It leaves the team in a constant state of wondering what’s going to happen next. When a leader tells his or her team the plan, the top goal and why this is important, it lays a solid foundation for the team to build upon. Gone are many questions of what everyone is trying to accomplish. It’s so simple yet so many leaders fail to clearly communicate their plan. Some because they don’t have one and others because they don’t see the need.
Step 3: Be comfortable with changing landscapes.
If there is one thing you can count on it’s change will happen. In today's click-through marketplace things can change in a day. Take the transportation industry. FedEx made overnight delivery a commodity. Unheard of the day before FedEx introduced its famous campaign, “When it absolutely positively has to be there overnight.” Or Uber, who turned the taxis business on its head.
So go ahead and give these tips a try and see if they lead to a better night’s sleep.
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Tom Marin is the Founder and President of MarketCues, Inc., a national consulting firm. He has worked for some of the world’s largest corporations and middle-market firms. Tom’s focus is to help CEOs drive their strategy shifts and strategic growth programs. Follow MarketCues on Twitter. Tom also welcomes emails new LinkedIn connections or calls to (919) 908-6145.