Jurica Picak

I’ll Sleep When I’m Dead “I have to get my beauty sleep.” This famous sentence no longer has any meaning. Are whole 8 hours of catatonic deep sleep considered beauty sleep, I wonder. We can all agree on sleep being important, but is it more important than making your dreams real by hard work? I don’t think so. Perception changes over time and I’m sure that different age groups have different, if not opposing, thoughts. I have been interested in this phenomena for a while so let me take you through everything step­by­ step. Younger me had too many distractions whizzing around my head for sleep to come easy. I would lie down and start fantasizing about heroes and imagining myself as one sometimes. In other cases I would wait for my parents to fall asleep so I could watch more of He­Man. This was the first phase where parents had to, sometimes literally, drag me to bed. As a struggling teenager, when I wasn’t sleeping I fantasized about sleeping. Those short afternoon naps ended up in snoring in long, deep sleeps often ended abruptly by my mother’s gentle shouts and shaking before finding an excuse to slide back to bed. It all changed when I started working. Getting a job, I believe, is the biggest change in one's life. At that point you start to value your effort, skill and goals. You get dragged into the oodles of progress and you get hooked to that satisfying feeling of success. These addictions are bad! They make you do anything and everything to get another fix. I learned this the hard way. At the very beginning, when I took first steps towards developing my business, I used to stay up late working and get up later and later in the day. However, I wouldn’t recommend following this routine. It might be efficient in the beginning, but, trust me, the cons greatly outweigh the pros. As I grew more mature, I started concentrating on my health and other things became more important. This was when I realized that this approach harmed me in more ways than one. In all effort to reach success, I was neglecting my health. This realisation was the turning point. I started working in a more organised fashion. Everyone has their perfect biorhythm and guess what ­ “Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise” became my mantra. When you are healthy, you may have 999 problems, but health is not one of them. In order to reach that “I am healthy” point, you ought to make some vast changes. It’s not easy for anyone and it sure as hell wasn’t easy for me. By the time I was 24, climbing 3 flights of stairs was as possible as thinking of a witty remark while writing a blog post. Now, I go to gym almost regularly, keep a balanced diet and generally take care of myself. It’s still me, just more grown up. It's really all about believing in yourself and being dedicated to reaching your potential, and consequently, your goal. Do this, et voila, you are a step closer to your aspirations. Give meditation a shot, it’s not just for Buddha's sake! Take my word for it. If it doesn’t help you can have your money back! (Sue that SOB Buddha!) It’s very effective. I started my meditation journey with help from www.headspace.com which I recommend wholeheartedly. I was more focused and my quality of life improved. Now it’s a part of my daily routine. Keep four things in focus at all times: work, health, love, and relaxation. Learn to maintain a balance between them. Do it! None of those should take over or be neglected ­ if that happens, it will affect your mental health. Even when one of those demands your undivided attention, always keep others in mind. Each night I lie down to sleep, only one thought hangs in my mind ­ I don’t want my dreams to stay just that forever. It’s also my first thought every morning. It is buzzing while I watch the sunrise with a cup of tea in my hand revising all ups, downs and lessons. I push myself towards my goals, no matter how hard it sometimes gets, and I remind myself that I need to keep moving because if I don’t they will slip away from me. I make sure I don’t forget my responsibilities and the people who are counting on me, myself included. Don’t you think these are reasons enough to follow in my steps? Finally, you might get beautiful getting that 8 hours of sleep (I seriously doubt that), but will you be able to fulfill your ambitions and goals in life? Not a snowball’s chance in hell. Please, don’t get me wrong here; I am not saying that you shouldn’t sleep, or spend some insanely short periods of time asleep. But, there are some talented young minds out their, wasting their time in bed for hours in, instead of using it to make some great sh*t happen. This is for them. So, get out of the bed now, and start working hard to live your dreams.