L.I.V.E B.E.T.T.E.R Framework Part 3- “V” for VITALITY

“Find out what the true value of sleep is so that there is no question why you need to get more.” -Kim Sutton

 

Are you tired? Is your energy level nearing a dangerous state? Our lifestyle has had us living an impossible life. No wonder we are always exhausted, not only with our jobs and responsibilities but in life in general. Sometimes, we even get drained faster than our smartphones. If only we are rechargeable like our batteries. 

Oh, wait!… We are! 

We do have something called “sleep” and “good food”. We just forget to get ourselves on that charging mode because of our list of unending tasks. We skip meals, we cut short our sleep, and we know we don’t want to live like this anymore. This week, Kim talks about vitality and how we can get more as we can build our business and fulfill our responsibilities. 

Tune in for part 3 of the  L.I.V.E B.E.T.T.E.R Framework where Kim takes you on a fascinating transformational journey of Working Smarter Not Harder, one letter at a time!

 

Highlights:

02:40 “V” for VITALITY
04:33 What Sleep Can Do For You
06:08 You Deserve More
08:28 Vitality and Nutrition
10:40 Start Doing Better

 

Tired! Tired! Tired! We live in a very tired generation. Where can we get more energy to get things done? Join @thekimsutton for part 3 of the L.I.V.E B.E.T.T.E.R Framework series— VITALITY. #WorkSmarterNotHarder #podcast #rebranding #LIVEBETTERFramework #vitality #energy #sleep #nutrition Listen at https://thekimsutton.com/734 Click To Tweet

 

 

Resources

 

Inspirational Quotes:

05:04 “Find out what the true value of sleep is so that there is no question why you need to get more.” -Kim Sutton

06:08 “You deserve more, and so does everybody else. So sleep is the first component of vitality.” -Kim Sutton

10:30 “Proper nutrition and proper sleep are vital ingredients to the recipe of a successful business and a successful life. -Kim Sutton

Meet Your Host!

Kim Sutton

Kim Sutton is a Business and Marketing Automation Mentor, Speaker, and Author. She is the host of the Positive Productivity Podcast. Having been through so much including depression, domestic violence, and lack of self-care, Kim’s mission is to help her clients be positively productive by empowering them to achieve success without the burnout. She believes that positive productivity stems from system+support+self-care. Positive productivity is not about perfection, it’s about having Prioritized Purposeful Actions. Today, Kim is out to help fellow entrepreneurs reclaim their lives and make their business work. 

 

How many hours of sleep did you get last night? If you got two or three, then I want you to turn off this episode right away, and go take a nap. I know you might be driving, just pull into a parking lot, put your seat back and sleep for a little bit. 

In this episode, I’m going to be talking about Vitality, or energy, and how we can get more as we build our business and serve our role in our family. And I want to make sure that you have as much energy as possible. Stay with me and we will discuss. 

My dear friend, today’s episode is probably one of the most important to me, personally, as I go through the LIVE BETTER framework of working smarter, not harder. If you haven’t been part of this series so far, I want you to go back and listen to the last three episodes, because the first episode talked about the rebranding from the Positive Productivity Podcast to the Work Smarter, Not Harder Podcast as it’s now called. There’s a reason behind it, and I really want you to hear it. 

The second episode talked about the first letter of the LIVE BETTER framework, L, and we had a discussion about Love and the role it plays in our business. The second letter, I, took us into a discussion about Integrity. And today we’re gonna address V, or Vitality

Back in 2016, I went through one of the darkest phases of my business because I was only sleeping two or three hours a night. For 18 months, I went through this horrible phase where I thought I had to say Yes to everybody, and anybody, and all their requests in order to grow my business. In the end, and going back to the integrity episode, I was over promising under delivering, and every part of my business was taking more effort than it showed up, just because I didn’t understand or know how to say the word No. I was letting down my family, I was letting down my clients and, most importantly, I was letting down myself. 

I remember sitting in front of my computer so many nights with my eyes crossing in my head bobbing because I was so tired, but I would just keep on telling myself that “I need to get this done. I need to get this done. I need to get this done.” And then I would look over at my to-do list and see that I only had 30 more items to do, because I had over committed. If this sounds like you, we need to break this pattern. 

Starting tonight and every night moving forward, I want you to commit to getting six to eight hours of sleep. Most of the population needs at least six or eight hours in order to properly recuperate. Our bodies need time to heal, mentally and physically. And I’m not a doctor, I’m not a nutritionist, I’m not any type of holistic practitioner. If you want more information on the benefits of sleep for our bodies, please go Google it.

I never had a clue what sleep actually did for us. I thought it was a waste of time. I knew I got tired, but I thought if I could develop a perfect sleep schedule of a half-hour nap every four hours throughout the day, I would be just fine. I could stay awake 24 hours with the exception of those naps and keep on going. I was wrong! So I want you to do research on Google. Maybe I’ll bring a sleep expert on in the future, but find out what the true value of sleep is so that there is no question why you need to get more. I understand that you might be in one of those tricky seasons where you’re having trouble paying the bills and you’re working three jobs, and maybe you’re starting your business and you’ve got your family, I understand. 

But trust me when I say that getting just a bit more sleep every night will do wonders for your productivity and your focus. 

I found that when my sleep increased from two hours to eight, activities that were taking eight hours to complete went back to two hours. Those tasks should have only taken two hours, but when my eyes are crossing, I’m falling asleep, I’m making mistakes because I’m so tired, everything took longer. And I don’t want that to be happening to you, I don’t want you to be struggling, I don’t want your clients to be getting frustrated. I don’t want you falling asleep every time you sit down to just take a couple minutes to relax with your family. You deserve more, and so does everybody else. So, sleep is the first component of Vitality

Now, as I’ve already said, I am not a nutritionist. I am not a holistic practitioner, I am not a doctor. The advice given in this episode, or any episode of the Work Smarter, Not Harder Podcasts, is to be used with discretion because you need to do your own research and contact your own professionals before implementing anything in your life. 

But the second component is nutrition. What do we feed ourselves? What we eat, what we drink, plays a major role in the energy that we have in the day. I found that I was eating so much junk and drinking so much sugar, that I would have peak times and I would have crash times, and the crash times were beginning to take over my life. Was this related to how much I was sleeping? Yes… But when I’m carving up and eating tons of bread and tons of sugar, and then drinking 18 sodas, there’s a problem. I’m going to be going through massive waves of energy all day long.

I’ve been consciously working on altering my diet for the last couple of years. I have for the most part cut out all soda. Do I still drink caffeine? You better believe it. I start my day every morning with a cup of coffee, but whereas I was drinking four cups of coffee before, followed by six Mountain Dews a day, I am down to a cup or two. Today, I’m only on one, I’ll be at a large one of coffee a day. The rest of the day, I am drinking water with lemon juice in it. Apparently, the lemon juice has some acidic quality that helps keep bad stuff away. But again, you’re going to have to do your own research. 

I don’t remember what I was told. I just know that I have begun to love the taste of lemon water and I really don’t like drinking water on its own anymore. When it comes to food, I have also been really conscious. I’m cutting down how many carbs I’m eating. I’m up in protein, I’m upping my good fats. For example, this morning, I ate eggs and cheese. This gave me a ton of protein to start my day, and it didn’t give me the crash that bowl of sugary cereal or pop tarts would have given me. 

So, what did you eat this morning? Did you even eat anything? 

Proper nutrition and proper sleep are vital ingredients to the recipe of a successful business, and a successful life. 

So today, I want you to figure out just two small simple changes that you can make in your life to start doing better on both the sleep stand front, and the diet stand front.

Please come back and share those changes that you’re making with me by visiting thekimsutton.com/podcast and leaving a comment down below the show notes with the changes you are making. Until the next episode my friend, Work Smarter, and Not Harder.