Energy is something we all want to possess, but often, as the saying goes, “Life sometimes gets in the way…”

Believe me when I say I know. Given the ongoing demands from Clients to help them strengthen and grow their businesses, I understand what it is like to be in demand. Fortunately, I love the work that I do as a Finance & Strategy Consultant.

One of the key items that I often need to remind myself of is that I cannot operate on thin air or without rest, any more than I can walk on water. What am I saying here? I need sufficient sleep to succeed, and so do you. This past week, I flew to California, held 14 Client meetings in four days, and managed to sleep around six to 6.5 hours per night. That was insane. After the fourth day, I concluded that I needed more sleep and proceeded to get eight hours of sleep that night and again last night.

Wow! What a difference that made! Yesterday, I felt like I was on top of the world. One key result of that change was my level of enthusiasm. The change was fabulous. Winston Churchill said, “Success is the ability to go from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” That’s hard to do when you are physically dragging…

The solution to this dilemma is to get adequate sleep. Eight hours of sleep works well for me when I am really burning & churning with Clients. Maybe seven hours is enough for you but grab all that you need. I understand that we all get an occasional night where we cannot sleep or those weeks where we are just overwhelmed with work or family challenges. Do your best to get through these and then recharge yourself by sleeping eight hours. You won’t regret it.

I was recently listening to a presentation by motivational speaker Les Brown in which he was talking about reaching his goal of becoming a disc jockey many years ago. Les was advised that it is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one yet, than to have one and not be prepared for it. He said, “You gotta be hungry!” While I agree with his thinking, it is a lot easier to be enthusiastic and “hungry for success” when you aren’t sleepy…

He added that we always need to be preparing ourselves to succeed, even when the opportunity to do so doesn’t seem to be available. Just as he found, in due time, the opportunity will often come, and you will recognize it if you are prepared.

Please remember: Don’t fall for the falsehood about rest. Get sufficient sleep, maintain your enthusiasm levels, and always be prepared for the next opportunity in your life!

This all requires discipline, but as former Notre Dame football Coach Lou Holtz stated, “Discipline is not something you do to yourself. It’s something you do for yourself!” I hope you found this discussion helpful. Wishing you the best of success this year!