Did you know how you end your day is just as important as how you begin your day? What are you taking with you to your bed? Anger? Frustration? Stress? Over-stimulation? Whatever it is, you will not only take it to your rest time, but it will also follow you to the next day.

When we run ourselves on high speed minutes before we go to bed, our bodies, our minds and our spirit miss out on the chance to sit in peace. Reflection and recovery are needed for everyone. We can’t expect to start a fresh new day if we are still holding onto remnants from yesterday.

I am the worst offender of “running ragged.” Like many of you, I will legitimately just run my self straight into the bed. Raise your hand if you’ve ever been working in the bed and wake up at 3am with your laptop precariously perched on your knees and drool coming from the side of your mouth? I like to call that “extreme productivity!” What I should really call it is epic fail. What standard am I settting or role modeling for those around me if that’s how I end my day?

I want you to practice this phrase I tell myself at least 3-5 times per week, “It can wait.” Not everything is an emergency and not everything is as urgent as you tell yourself. Yes, sometimes you have to “burn the midnight oil.” But, if sometimes is almost every day, I ask you… who is telling you that they can control your rest time, and what have you role modeled that allows them the luxury of controlling your rest time? As a dear friend and mentor always says, “what you permit, you promote.”

I challenge you this week, set one purposeful nighttime routine into motion that you will carry with you for the rest of 2018. Is it turning off your electronics an hour before bed? Talking with your boss about your workload balance? Giving yourself a quiet, peaceful hand massage before bed? Or indulging in a sunset glass of wine? Whatever you choose, you must own it, live it and be as prepared for your night as you are for your morning.

Tags : recovery