Hi,
Hello and welcome.
My name is Julie and today I want to have a quick chat with you about how to build a more restful 2023.
This year I want to start you off right.
Not quickly,
Not on the 1st of January when you were probably inundated with other people's good intentions,
But slowly.
I want to give you the opportunity to maybe make a structural change.
I want you to think about rest.
I'm sure you've seen them pass by on social media,
On this app,
On news websites,
In promotional emails,
At the dinner table.
The New Year's resolution.
The people around us resolve to do,
And to do more.
More exercise,
More cooking,
More meditating,
Reading,
More time with family,
More time alone,
More clients,
More revenue,
More creativity,
More authenticity.
More of everything and less of very little,
Apart from maybe sugar and social media.
Today,
Whether you hear this closer to January 1st or February 1st,
I would like you to contemplate if it is possible to do less.
To choose to rest,
To sleep and relax instead.
It sounds very scary,
Perhaps you instinctively think I'm lazy for practicing doing less,
And downright radical for suggesting that you do the same.
When we are surrounded by messaging telling us to do more,
To grow,
To expand,
To hustle and grind,
And find ways to cram more life into our days,
It can be very challenging to go in another direction.
In December 2022,
I did less.
Way,
Way less.
I worked less,
I posted on social media less,
I created less,
I slept more,
I went on a very slow holiday,
I took the train from Belgium to Spain,
And in Spain I did very little.
I brought three books and I read only one.
I did this very consciously,
To allow myself some time to reset,
To take a brain break,
To let ideas that came knocking at my door marinate and ferment in my head for a little while,
Instead of immediately acting on them.
I did less this past December and I rested more,
So I can help you do the same in 2023.
Rest is the counterpart of action and it can be just as productive to rest as to do.
Without rest,
Our actions are often less than ideal,
Our ideas can be half-baked,
And even our communications with the people that we love can suffer.
Rest and sleep are an essential component of a life well lived.
If you would like to make a change,
If you'd like to have a more restful 2023,
Here are three questions you can ask yourself today.
One.
Am I happy with my rest and my sleep?
Two.
What prevents me from getting the amount or the quality of sleep and rest I want?
Three.
How do I prevent myself from getting the amount and quality of rest and sleep I want?
These three questions serve to investigate a more central one.
What do you tell yourself about rest and sleep?
My clients usually have a lot to say about stress,
About rest and about sleep.
When I ask them where it comes from,
They often prefer to tell me where their stress is not.
They tell me about how much they love their jobs.
Sometimes they even tell me they don't even really need to work,
How their mortgage is almost paid off,
How they really do get along with their spouse even though there is tension or they disagree on any number of things.
They tell me they don't have time.
They tell me they can't reduce their stress,
So all they want to do is manage it.
They want me to teach them how to press the stress down when it rears its ugly head and threatens to envelop them.
They want me to help them change two major areas in their life,
Their stress level and their sleep quality,
Without making too many adjustments,
Without letting go of anything.
They don't want to give up their late night emails,
They don't want to give up Netflix binges and they certainly don't have time to exercise.
When I worked at the burnout clinic in Marnes,
All of our patients had stories they told themselves about rest.
These were people,
Mind you,
Who were so tired they had to check into residential treatment for four to eight weeks.
Sometimes,
Without even realizing,
They told me they don't believe they could make a change.
They told me I'm just a bad sleeper.
I've always been this way ever since I was a child.
It's in my family,
It's in my DNA.
They let me know they think their stress and sleep are out of their control.
I'm launching a company right now,
So I can't make too many changes.
I'm going through a rough patch with my partner.
Once we're through it,
Then I'll think about my sleep.
Once tax season is over,
Then I can start to relax.
My goal is always to turn these statements around.
Because you are launching a company,
You need to make space for sleep.
Because you're going through a rough patch with your partner,
You deserve to make space for rest.
Because it is tax season,
You need to find ways to relax.
My goal is to get you to think about sleep,
About rest,
As an essential ingredient for a life well lived.
It is sleep,
It is rest,
That will allow you to do the things that you want to do.
The first step then to a more restful 2023 is this one,
Recognizing the need for it.
I believe it was Octavia Rahim who said,
Rest is necessary,
Rest is brave,
Rest is good.
I invite you today to contemplate the convictions and ideas you have surrounding rest and sleep.
Perhaps deep down you see needing sleep as a sign of weakness.
You see the messaging about this or that CEO needing less than six hours of sleep and you admire them.
Perhaps deep down you feel like rest is a reward.
When work is finished,
When the dishes are done,
When any number of things are achieved,
Then it is finally time for you to rest.
Perhaps maybe you even feel like rest is reserved for vacations,
For children,
For the elderly.
If this is the case,
Give yourself some time to work on these convictions and give yourself permission to rest.
Think about one specific time today when you can take some rest.
Unplug,
Unwind,
Do absolutely nothing,
Not even meditate.
Take that time.
As with all New Year's resolutions,
It's important to stay realistic.
If you are the hustle and grind type,
You may not be able to turn all your ideas about rest and sleep around in just one day after listening to just one speech.
Give yourself permission to take it one day,
One night,
One nap at a time.
If you have any questions or you'd like to chat about the role sleep and rest play in your life,
Come say hi.
I wish you a very restful 2023.
