To tell you the truth, I always felt this was a lacking on my part. I mean after all, I had the very best of intentions, didn’t I? It wasn’t rocket science — I just wanted to drink 8 glasses of water every day, for goodness sake — or something else as simple as that.

So why wasn’t I successful?

It turns out, it wasn’t my fault. Seriously! And it isn’t your fault when this happens to you.

When I was doing my insomnia research last year, I learned that some of the actions we could take to improve our sleep would require that we, gulp, change our behavior. This made me nervous about whether I could help people learn how to get better sleep, because I know how hard it is to do that – change our behavior, I mean. After all, I still wasn’t drinking 8 glass of water every day, even though I absolutely believed it would improve my health.

Thank goodness I learned about Dr. Steve Levinson’s research on why we don’t follow through on our good intentions. He is a clinical psychologist and inventor who has been studying this problem for decades. When I talked to Steve, everything started to make sense – I finally understood why following through on our good intentions is so hard. And, I learned from him that it isn’t our fault. It’s the way our brains are wired.

You really must listen to my interview with Steve to learn the truth about why we fail at keeping our good intentions. It’s only 16 minutes, and believe me, what he has to say can be life changing! I know it has changed mine.

Audio: Why we fail at keeping our good intentions

So – this is pretty amazing stuff, isn’t it? I’ve used what I’ve learned from Steve, along with his great little invention, The Motivator, to finally become a person who actually drinks 8 glasses of water a day!  I’ve also become a person who gets her exercise every day, who meditates every day –and a few other things I’ve always wanted to make part of my life.

You can hear my other interviews with Steve by getting my Insomnia Relief Recipes e-program. Order it now for only $15.95. Order Insomnia Relief Recipes.

You will be able to order the Motivator that Steve developed through Insomnia Relief Recipes as part of creating your own customized sleep program, but it you want to get it now, you can. Just click The Motivator.

I sincerely hope you will decide to take action today – because, as Steve says, “Every time we fail to keep our Intentions, we are breaking a promise to ourselves.” It’s about time we changed that, don’t you think?

You too can master the Art of Sleeping. Being a Confident Sleeper means you have the knowledge, understanding, and tools to get the sleep you need, no matter what the circumstances. To learn more about how to do this, please click here.

One trend is the ever more rapid change driven by new technologies and global competition that will require us to be sharp, agile, and sure-footed if we are to be successful.

The other trend is the growing frustration of baby boomers as they face the reality of aging and health issues at the same time they are recouping from major financial hits.

Tough times ahead, fellow boomers. . .

We need to be at the top of our game, just when the game is changing and we are feeling a little nervous about our ability to keep up.

So, what happens when we are nervous, maybe anxious, possibly stressed a great deal of the time? Many will very likely have trouble sleeping, and – please listen carefully to what I am about to say – this is precisely when we need to be very smart in our choices about how to “fix” these sleep problems.

Choice A. We can knock ourselves out with sleeping pills – and damage our ability to think clearly and make good decisions during the day.

Choice B. We can tough it out and make do without sufficient, restorative sleep – and we degrade our ability to think clearly and make good decisions during the day.

Choice C. We can take charge of our health, educate ourselves about sleep, and develop strategies to help us get the sleep we need, no matter what the circumstances – so we can think clearly and continue to make good decisions even in turbulent times.

I have been down the road of sleeplessness, and I know first hand what a devastating impact it has on our mental, emotional, and physical well being. I was walking around like a zombie, unable to come up with creative ideas, making costly mistakes, caught in a spiraling trap of frustration, anxiety and stress that just made my sleeplessness worse.

You don’t have to go through the same struggle I did. 2010 looks like it’s going to require your full attention – you can’t afford to be stumbling around in a sleep deprived haze.

When it comes to sleep, ignorance is not bliss. You need to know how to help yourself get the sleep you need. My e-book Insomnia Relief Recipes provides you with the most up-to-date information and personally customized solutions for better sleep – guaranteed.

Seth Godin’s message is that you can’t take much of anything for granted going forward. Don’t take old notions about sleep for granted either.

I’m making it a no-brainer for you to make the right choice.

I’ve extended my gift for the entire month of January to will allow you to get my Insomnia Relief Recipes program for just $5.95 (instead of the regular price of $17.00)

Act now and start learning today how you can get the sleep you will need in the challenging times ahead. This is my New Years Gift to you.

Just click on this link to order: Your New Year’s Gift

(This offer expires on Sunday, January 10^th)

I’ve known for some time that stress, worry, and anxiety play a major part in our ability to get the rest we need. In fact, many of the sleep experts I’ve talked with say that these three “devils” are the biggest culprits behind insomnia.

My own experience has shown me that the way I think about sleep is as important as anything else I do. That’s why I decided to learn more about sleep and insomnia, so I could develop strategies for getting better sleep – and along the way, I gained competence. I found tools to help me feel that I was not a helpless victim of that dreaded “insomnia.”

What happens when we are afraid? Our stress hormones keep pumping, and cortisol streams through our bodies and minds, damaging our ability to calm down and think clearly. (See my post on “Are you a Salmon, Hamster or Cat” to explore this process more fully.)

I have been focusing on stress, worry and anxiety as the culprits. Then this morning I got an email about FEAR, and that’s when my aha happened. Of course – fear is the source of our stress, worry, anxiety. Plain old FEAR.

What happens with fear? Statistics show that many people have a fear of speaking in public. They feel like they are going to have a heart attack. They get the shakes. They throw up. They sweat. They can’t think. They can’t even remember their name, much less what they were going to speak about.

Now let’s look at sleep. If you have a fear of not sleeping, what happens? You begin to worry and feel anxious as night falls. Will this be another bad night? You approach your bed with trepidation. You anxiously lay your head down on the pillow. Oh no, not another bad night, you think to yourself. What happens? You got it, another bad night.

How do people overcome their fear of public speaking? They learn tricks, they learn techniques, they get support. Same applies to sleeping. Bet you know more about how to write a good speech, or how to paint a room, or how to plant a garden than you know about how sleep works.  Am I right?

So – let’s begin stripping away the mystery of sleep. Let’s pull back the curtain on the “scary monster” of insomnia. We are afraid of what we don’t understand, what we feel is beyond our control. Easy enough to solve, when you think about it. As Winnie the Pooh (one of my favorite philosophers) says: “Before beginning a Hunt, it is wise to ask someone what you are looking for before you begin looking for it.”

Here’s the key: Stop looking for a quick fix for something you don’t understand. Knowledge comes first, then understanding. After that, you will see clearly that you have been in charge all along.

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You too can master the Art of Sleeping. Being a Confident Sleeper means you have the knowledge, understanding, and tools to get the sleep you need, no matter what the circumstances. To learn more, please click here.