you are also the solution.

This is a one liner I tell myself multiply times a week. Anytime I am feeling anxious, stressed, or not like myself...I remind myself that I have the power within me to conquer anything that I am dealing with.

You have the same power.

The universe gifted humans with all the tools already within us. Unfortunately though, many times we are too smart for our own good, and we have built a society that tries to cut corners, rather than do the inner work and lean into the power already within us.

What is something that all human beings cannot live without? Something that also helps reboot our power?

SLEEP.

Sleep has been something I have struggled with my entire life. I'm sure you have had your fair share of battles with sleep as well. Restless nights, turning into groggy days. It is part of the human experience.

The problem is the fact that so many people believe it is the norm to have trouble sleeping, rather than it being a rare occurrence / exception to the rule.

I was one of those people. I'd rather be the hero that didn't sleep well, yet could still achieve just as much, if not more, than everyone else. What a crockpot full of bullshit. That was just me feeding my ego.

Over the years I have done a lot of inner work to stop feeding this ego.

And this past week, it was another step in the direction towards reducing my ego, and becoming my own solution.

I decided to invest into the Oura Ring and learn more about my sleeping habits. (I chose the Oura Ring over the WHOOP band because I didn't want to wear a watch and also a band. So the ring made more sense for me. If you are looking to invest in your own sleep & recovery analysis, do research on both and decide what works better for you.)

I don't want to bore you with too much science, so I will just tell you my ultimate goal with this...

I want to improve my REM & Deep Sleep, while also reducing my total hours. I am a life hacker at heart, and I want more time spent awake so I can enjoy all the things I love to do!!! :)

Ideally I want to sleep between 6-7 hours, but yield a high enough REM/Deep sleep cycle that gives me the same cognitive abilities as I would receive from a longer total sleep cycle.

So this week I began the testing.

First night with less than 6 hours of total sleep...you can see the results are shitty. LOL.

Deep sleep and REM were both horrible.

So the second night I did the exact opposite and spent almost 9 hours on total sleep. As you can see below, my REM/Deep sleep did not improve that much even with 3 more total hours.

On the 3rd night I did my best to test the "8 hours of total sleep" theory to see what the results would be. On this night I finally got my deep sleep into an efficient state, yet my REM is still lacking.

Note that during all the sleep sessions my restfulness is high. This gives me something to research. Aka going on google and typing in "how does someone reduce their restfulness while sleeping."

My assumption is that I am too warm during the night. I have been looking to invest in some form of chill-pad to go underneath my sheet to keep my body temperature cooler while I am sleeping. But we shall see as I keep testing. :)

The reason I am telling you all of this is because we live in a day and age where we can literally solve our own problems. I want to inspire you to take things into your own hands. Take complete ownership over your life.

If you are not happy with your current circumstances, stop complaining, and get to work on solving them. YOU HAVE THE POWER WITHIN YOU!!!

I hope you have an amazing Friday and weekend ahead. Stay tuned for more on this topic as I continue to learn more.

#thriveon

CJ

p.s. what a cool time we live in where I can put a ring on my finger and understand more about myself. I am beyond grateful for the opportunity to improve my own quality of life, as well as potentially help others do the same. That is a freedom I think too many people take for granted.