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Sleep: The Ultimate Performance Sport for High Achievers

Posted by James R. Barchiesi | Mar 09, 2025 | 0 Comments

High achievers don't leave success to chance. Whether in the boardroom, on the trading floor, or leading a team through uncertainty, you master the art of execution under pressure. You strategize, adapt, and dominate when it matters most.

But there's one critical area where even the best falter—sleep. Not because they lack discipline, but because they treat it as an afterthought rather than an arena for mastery.

The truth is, sleep is not a passive event. It's an elite-level performance sport. And like any high-stakes challenge, it demands preparation, control, and a winning mindset.

You Already Have the Skills—Now Apply Them to Sleep

Dr. Gregg D. Jacobs' research on insomnia reveals a game-changing insight: the battle for sleep is won long before your head hits the pillow. The same mental discipline that fuels your success in business is the key to mastering sleep.

  • Racing thoughts? You don't let them rattle you before a billion-dollar pitch. You acknowledge, compartmentalize, and refocus. Apply that same discipline to bedtime.
  • Reliving past mistakes? You don't let yesterday's setbacks dictate tomorrow's strategy. You extract the lesson and move forward. Sleep works the same way—tomorrow's performance isn't dictated by tonight's overthinking.
  • Trying to force sleep? You know that forcing a negotiation, a creative breakthrough, or a market trend never works. Sleep is no different—it's about creating the right conditions and allowing the process to unfold.

Master the Night Like You Master the Day

The biggest mistake high performers make is treating sleep like a roll of the dice—hoping it just happens. But winners don't hope. They prepare.

  • Pre-Sleep Strategy: Just as you don't walk into a high-stakes meeting unprepared, you don't stumble into sleep. You condition your mind and body for peak recovery—winding down with intention, disengaging from unnecessary inputs, and shifting into a state where sleep becomes inevitable.
  • Execution Under Pressure: Sleep isn't about silencing your mind—it's about directing it. Use the same focus techniques that keep you sharp during intense negotiations. Anchor your mind to something neutral: slow, deliberate breathing, a repetitive visualization, or a simple mantra.
  • Mental Reframing: If you believe sleep is elusive, your mind will make it so. Instead, approach it like any other high-performance event: I'm prepared. I have everything I need. It's already happening.

Win the Night, Win the Day

Here's the ultimate truth: Sleep isn't the absence of performance—it's part of it. It's the silent engine behind every decision, every deal, every moment of clarity. Just as a championship is won in practice, your success tomorrow begins with how you sleep tonight.

If you can train your mind to thrive under pressure, you can train it to power down with precision. If you can control your focus in high-stakes moments, you can control it at night. The same mental framework that makes you a force in business will make you a master of sleep.

And when you master sleep, you don't just win the night—you seize the day before it even begins.

About the Author

James R. Barchiesi

Executive Chairman

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