Training smart and eating well is great. It’s going to enhance the quality of your life immensely. However, there are other factors that influence how you you look, how you feel, and how you perform.

• Sleep. If you’re not sleeping…what are you doing? Sleep, or lack of sleep, can effect everything we do. Most people need somewhere between 7-9 hours of sleep a night. For most people that’s really hard. Many people giggle in my face when I suggest 8 hours of sleep a night. I understand that working a different shift or having children can disrupt your sleep. If you don’t have those barriers why are you not sleeping 7+ hours a night? Please turn the TV off, put the phone away, and stop surfing the web on the iPad. You can do it. Increase your sleep by 15 minutes everyday until you find your optimal amount. It makes a world of difference. On a side note: If you happen to have the time to catch a quick power nap of around 20 minutes…do it!
• Stress. Stress is a part of life. There’s good stress and bad stress and things that always stress us out and things that only sometimes stress us out. Your body has a response no matter where the stress comes from. Exercise, caffeine, your 2-year old, too much sugar, your finances…it’s all stress. Learning to manage the stress that you have in your life is a fantastic thing to master. If you are frazzle all the time you will break down eventually. Even if you do not feel frazzled stress could be coming from somewhere. Are you training intelligently? Is your caffeine intake in check? Do you get enough sleep? Do you eat foods that won’t cause unnecessary stress to your body’s systems?
• Happiness & Energy. What do you do in your life that makes you happy; makes you feel revitalized; actually gives you energy? When are you at your happiest? When was the last time you really laughed. Happiness, smiling, and laughter can be some of the best medicine. If we discover what makes us tick as people, we can spend more of our time doing just that and less time trying to find happiness.