I had lunch in Paris last week with my wife and three friends. It was a beautiful spring day, the food was great, the service first-rate and our outdoor restaurant was right under the Eiffel Tower.
No, it wasn’t on the Left Bank of the Seine, it was on the east side of ‘The Strip’ in Las Vegas. The Eiffel Tower was a half-size replica of the real one and the hotel-casino is called Paris. It was still very nice, though.
During our delicious lunch we got to talking about sleep—how much we get, how well we sleep and how much we think we need. I mentioned that I rarely get eight hours of uninterrupted sleep. I often wake up in the middle of the night with ideas that seem to keep rolling around until I get up and do something with them.
At one point, my friend Mike Foster—one of my mentors and mentees—asked me if I still taught the use of affirmations. I said, “Yes, of course”.
“Well”, he said, “You sure use them. You’ve said about nine times that you can’t. You said you can’t sleep all night, you can’t get eight hours, you can’t sleep in, etc.”
I was stunned. I think he might have been exaggerating just a bit with the nine times, but he certainly made his point. I never looked at it as something I couldn’t do. I saw my sleep patterns as just the way it is. It never occurred to me that I should change them myself.
Mike’s observation was right on. It smarted a bit—sometimes your mentor can be a tormentor—but it was valid nonetheless. There was no doubt that I was affirming what I didn’t want and giving instructions to my subconscious to continue not sleeping soundly.
We all have blind spots. We’re often unaware of the obvious. Having friends who can challenge us and tell us the truth is a blessing indeed.
Just the awareness of what I was doing has already helped. Without much focus, I’ve already begun sleeping better. I even slept in until 8:30 yesterday morning.
Thanks, Mike.
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