Sleep yourself to the top!

I admire Arianna Huffington for so many reasons. She has not only created a media empire, she was also chosen by Time as the World’s 100 Most Influential People – a true success in my eyes. I also admire her message about how we should sleep ourselves to the top. And she’s right!

In 2007, Arianna collapsed from exhaustion and lack of sleep. She fell in her home and her head hit the corner of her desk, cutting her eye and breaking her cheekbone. She visited doctor’s office after doctor’s office to determine the cause of the collapse – without a conclusive diagnosis. Introspection led her to admit she was plain exhausted, and that the speed of her life was not agreeing with her health.

In terms of the traditional measures of success, which focus on money and power, Arianna Huffington, a household name, was very successful. 18 hour days, seven days a week building a business was what led her to a state of chronic exhaustion.

The current model of success can work – or at least appear to work – in the short term. But over the long term, money and power by themselves are like a two-legged stool – you can balance on them for a while but eventually you’re going to topple over. And more and more people are toppling over.

Huffington suggests that we redefine success to include 4 pillars – money, power, well-being and giving.

Let’s focus on the well-being component – According to a study from the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, sleep deprivation reduces our emotional intelligence, self-regard, assertiveness, sense of independence, empathy toward others, the quality of our interpersonal relationships, positive thinking and impulse control. We need to redefine what we value and change workplace culture so that working till all hours and walking around exhausted becomes stigmatised instead of praised.
There are 3 simple steps that each of us can do to make a dramatic impact on our well-being.

1. SLEEP! You can improve your health, creativity, productivity and sense of well-being by getting just 30 more minutes sleep than you are getting now. Take a short nap during the day too if that’s more convenient.
2. Move your body daily – walk, run, stretch, do yoga or dance. At work, have a walking meeting. Just move. Anytime.
3. Introduce 5 minutes of meditation into your day – Even a few minutes will open the door to creating a new habit and all the many proven benefits.

Arianna‘s commitment to well-being is authentic. Check out these cool innovations she has implemented at the Huffington Post:

• No one is expected to check work email and respond after hours or over the weekend. Everyone has at least 3 weeks of vacation time, which they are encouraged to take.
• There are two nap rooms in their newsroom, which are now full most of the time, even though they were met with scepticism and reluctance when first installed.
• In the NY office they host meditation, breathing and yoga classes.
• The have refrigerators stocked with healthy snacks including yoghurt, hummus, fruit and baby carrots.

Let’s hope these trends can continue and companies can realise that employee health is an important predictor of company success. For more innovative thinking, read ‘Thrive’ by Arianna Huffington (but let me warn you, its captivating, so don’t let it keep you up past bedtime!)

So what do you think, is heading to bed 30 minutes earlier a likely option for you? Sleeping your way to the top seems like a pretty good idea to me, how about you? Comment below.