Success is often equated with the number of nights sacrificed. We’ve been misled into thinking that compromising sleep is necessary for professional achievement, financial success, academic excellence, and more. We count success based on what it looks like from the exterior — position, status and money earned; the kind and number of cars owned; handbags and clothes, not realising that all of this means nothing without health.
What we perceive as success is merely a surface view; we don’t see the behind the scenes struggles – compromised health, pain, suffering, anxiety, and reliance on sleeping pills and drugs. Success doesn’t guarantee happiness; in reality, high-profile individuals often grapple with issues like suicides, depression, and broken relationships. In fact, observing top executives and CEOs facing lifestyle diseases, obesity, and emotional challenges despite their achievements prompted me to address this gap. It became my motivation to work in Integrative and Lifestyle Medicine, guiding individuals on the significance of sleep and overall well-being.
Add sleep to your equation of success.
Sleep is everything, and it’s a myth that the most successful people sleep less. Sleep rejuvenates, repairs, heals, protects, grows, balances, and so much more. Human beings are the only species that sacrifice sleep to fulfill their career, professional, social, and personal goals, to live and achieve more. Burnout, due to a lack of rest, sleep, and focus on health or eating right, is a common phenomenon today.
The science of sleep is undebatable. The laws of nature never change, like the laws of gravity, motion, electricity, cause, and effect, no matter how advanced and jet-set our lifestyle gets. There are enough instances and scientific evidence to support the connection between sleep deprivation and sickness. It is the number one reason for low immunity, poor growth, delayed healing, bad moods, mood swings, crazy cravings, belly fat, and rapid ageing, all of which are critical for success in any area of life. In fact, the night shift is classified as a “carcinogen 2A,” which means cancer-causing, yet we take sleep for granted.
Often, people, in their defence, will say, “…but I am resilient.” This is a very carelessly used statement. Building a company, a brand, or success of any kind at the cost of health is a failure. Not success.
Rest is where magic happens. When we rest, we rest the body, mind, and heart. Thinking the faster we move, the faster we will achieve our goals and wealth is a huge misunderstanding. Rest daily, as it will rejuvenate every cell in you. You can still achieve what you want, but with adequate rest, you will be able to without destroying the beauty of the body, mind, and heart.
Our bodies only care about survival
Our body does not concern itself with our company goals, profits, or the number of meetings planned throughout the day. What our body cares for is survival, and it will do anything for that. Sickness, in essence, is our body’s way of trying to slow us down. Therefore, challenging nature and its perfectly designed circadian rhythm serve no purpose. Even the best treatments, medicines, doctors, nutritionists, spiritual healers, or yoga experts cannot effectively address a body that is sleep-deprived. The crucial processes of healing, recovery, detoxification, repair, muscle growth, and fat loss occur during sleep.
You do not have 24 hours in a day!
The way I like to plan every day of my life is by acknowledging that I do not have 24 hours in a day. I have 24 minus eight hours in a day, as those eight hours are reserved for my sleep, and nothing can come between that. I then organise my work, meetings, workouts, family time, personal time, entertainment, reading, and study within the remaining 16 hours. Sleep is my lynchpin, and I cannot function without it. Prioritising sleep doesn’t mean giving up on all the aspirations, fun, and socialising – it’s about doing so in a smart way.
Half of the efforts we make for good health and great bodies may not even be necessary if we just focus on our sleep. Because sleep is the most underrated tool for good health and longevity, and yet it feels elusive to many of us, we launched a ‘Sleep Deeper India’ movement. Through this initiative, we aim to educate, inspire, and help people sleep better. It is a fundamental aspect of every human being, and we hope the message of sleep spreads across to everyone.
Having said that, yes, cases of insomnia and the inability to fall asleep, no matter what one does, are real, but only a few cases like these are genuine. For everyone else, it’s their wrong mindset around sleep, bad lifestyle, and habits that hinder the natural process of falling asleep.
Sleep is a free drug. Perhaps that’s why it’s also taken for granted by humans. Sleep is a crucial investment to make for your good health and life. We can abuse our bodies however much we want to, but there will be a point when our body can’t take it any more, and it will crash in the form of sickness, depression, and anxiety. No one is a superhuman. We are all creations of nature, and nature is above all of us. We are products of nature and thrive when we live within its laws.