Every December I go through a ritual that I've come to look forward to. I begin reflecting on the past year: what went well and what could have gone better. Being an Enneagram 3, I'm constantly evaluating situations and processes and looking for ways to improve upon them. While part of this ritual includes developing a business plan, a fair amount of it includes examining my personal life and scrutinizing what I can do to become better, achieve more, and reach a higher level of my best self.
2023 was such an incredible year for my family and business. I had the pleasure and honor of helping 13 families buy and sell homes. What made this even more of a proud moment for me was that of the 13 families, 11 of them were close friends and family. Building my business has been one of the most demanding things I've ever had to do so it was incredibly confirmational to have so many friends and family entrust me to help them with this process.
One of the things that separated 2023 from previous years was even though I was working hard and putting major effort INTO my business, the business I generated seemed to be effortless. By sticking to processes and systems I had put into place in previous years, business naturally flowed to me. During my time of contemplation, it occurred to me... what if the rest of my life could be so effortless?
Enter my dragons. I've been battling one of them for as long as I can remember. The one that I battle on a nightly basis is going to bed at a reasonable hour. Now, I KNOW how important sleep is. I know how much better I feel when I go to bed early and how much more productive my days are. EVERYTHING is much more effortless when one has had a good night's sleep. I have actually been doing research on this one subject for many, many years. Falling asleep was troublesome for me, even as a child. While I now have medicated assistance to help me drift off, I whole-heartedly put off actually going to bed as long as possible, making for extremely challenging 6:00 A.M. alarm calls.
It's not that I dread sleep, it just seems that whenever I'm watching a show I enjoy or am scrolling through my friend's daily activities on social media, that trumps the good intentions of a good night's sleep. I didn't say it made sense, I'm just telling it as it is. Using my word of the year as my lens, how can I make evenings and getting to bed effortless?
I know anytime I personally have to challenge a bad habit, it starts with a mindset shift. Thinking about going to bed needs to become a completely positive activity that I not only look forward to but also crave to the point where it beats out anything else I could be doing with my time. What better way to reframe my perception of bedtime than by including all five senses? By creating a fully sensory experience, my hope is to change my mind and habits towards those of a productive sleep schedule.
Taste:
Sipping on a hot beverage helps the coziness of the evening. I switch between hot teas and Beam Dream to help me wind down. I will only drink non-caffeinated teas such as herbal teas or sleepy-time teas. Beam Dream is a wonderful night-time hot cocoa treat that I've recently discovered. It has natural sleep-inducing properties that helps me wind down, fall asleep, and stay asleep!
Sight:
While I rarely have the overhead light on in our bedroom, it is especially important at night. I turn on my bedside light when the sun starts to go down to help set a mood conducive to unwinding and relaxing. Additionally, keeping a good book that I look forward to getting lost in can always be found on my nightstand!
Smell:
I save my favorite soy wax candles for the evening and enjoy local vendor's scents. Southern Wix ("Alive in Roswell" is my favorite scent!) and The First Burn ("Dream Weaver" is my favorite!) are two of my current favorite brands and I always keep them on hand!
Hearing:
Keeping the volume down, I generally opt for instrumental music while getting ready for bed.
Touch:
Nothing says, "It's time to wind down" like a hot bath. Keeping a variety of my favorite bath salts, oils, and bombs in stock adds to the excitement of the winding down time. I recently have gotten into sheet face masks (I know, very late to the party!) and try to incorporate one of these weekly.
Excluding the times I was pregnant, the longest I've been able to keep a healthy sleep schedule is approximately 5 days. It will be my goal over the next 30 days to follow a sleep regimen that consists of going to bed by 10:00 P.M. I am excited to see the results and especially to see if getting the right amount of sleep magically helps other areas of my life become more effortless.
Thank you to all of the Amazing Artist for their beautiful photography!
