Do you consider rest a luxury? I often do. That is when energy and motivation about a project take over me and I run mostly on adrenaline, hungry for oxytocin. I forget that, sooner or later, tiredness will take its toll.
If I continue with the same pace, exhaustion will overwhelm me. Trying to fight it, I end up with constantly raised cortisol levels. I feel tired for days. I bet you do the same.
I bet you feel tired after you wake up, all the time, and especially after eating. Tired, and sometimes weak and nauseous.
Feel Tired All the Time? Blame it On Cortisol
No one want to end up like that. Raised cortisol levels:
- Build unhealthy stress
- Destroy your body’s capacity to thrive and grow, and
- Harm your immunological defenses.
Because you think you have limited time, you try to pack as many activities into a day.
You drink cleansing juices, exercise, meditate, do tech detoxes, work on self, and build relationships.
You listen to self-development advice from high achievers. They tell you that the only way to do something with yourself in life is to get up at 4 am and work on our goal.
Photo by Steven Lelham on Unsplash
You need to start doing the side hustle, the creative project, the learning you have to do to make your dreams come true.
It looks like there is so much to do and so little time. Isn’t sacrificing sleep a smart thing to do? After all, you do nothing when you sleep, right? All that time has gone to waste while you could be seeing places, doing things, building stuff, and meeting people.
Driven by the FOMO, you forget that sleep is essential to a healthy, feelgood life.
The #1 Reason Why You Feel Exhausted All The Time
Unfortunately, many high achievers are insomniacs. This is great when you are performing under tight deadlines, but awful when you want to keep your optimal health in check.
Sure, you can ditch sugar, go keto, eliminate unhealthy patterns in your behavior. However, if you miss on sleep, get ready to welcome disease.
Even if you just want to sleep so badly at night and stay awake until late or wake up in the wee morning hours, the main problem is not the lack of sleep.
The main problem is that you cannot give yourself the permission to be tired.
Stop Doing This for 2 Months to Boost Your Energy Levels
To be tired is easy. You are usually tired at night although a racing mind is still there.
Photo by Anthony Tran on Unsplash
But instead of feeling the tiredness to its core and recognizing that you are a wreck, you resist. There is a train of thought that’s keeping you in the loop of constant doing.
This is the inertia of doing and achievement. Unfortunately, it is often a sign of not feeling good enough.
You want to stop, but you can’t because the force you used to get you going has gained a momentum. It now resists your new command.
You have completely forgotten what it is like to feel fully rested and in your best state of well-being.
Give yourself time to unwind. Stop racing towards your goals. Do this for at least two months to imprint new brain habits. (Is a 60-day sabbatical in the wind?)
Give yourself the permission to feel tired. Say it aloud and look forward to the hours you give your body and mind to replenish.
Featured image credit: Spring Fed Images on Unsplash
Stories about Dogs and People 