Skipping sleep hurts performance

- [Announcer] This is an audio course. Thank you for listening. - [Pete] I want to start with your story. It sounds pretty dramatic and interesting with regards to you have experienced some burnout and in a powerful way and also bounced back in a powerful way. How's that work? - [Guest] I would've told you probably back in 2015, when I started experiencing some of the burnout, the fatigue, the self sabotage, that stuff had been going on long before I actually got into it, but it really hit a head. It really came to a head I guess, and really came to a point where I was like, I can't do this anymore. There was a lot of pride wrapped up in that. I'll be transparent with you there was a lot of, people are not going to out-work me people are not of out-sleep me. (Pete sighing) Sleep was a big thing that I had a lot of pride wrapped up in. My parents could operate on very little sleep still do to this day. In 2015, I really thought my brain was turning to cabbage. That's the best way I can describe it. Like I just couldn't focus on anything. I couldn't look people in the eyes and have straight conversations because my brain was sending signals to my body that things are not right. And I didn't know what to do with that because I'd never experienced that before. But I went to a neurologist, one of the leading neurologists here in Dallas and he got in there with his staff and for like two hours they just typed away on computers. (Pete chuckling) And he came back to me and said, "we're going to run you through a bunch of tests. We're going to run you through a lot of scenarios as far as like testing out what this is. Because if there's something there we want to know what it is. But my friend, I think you need to get some sleep." And of course I'm like, "okay, doctor." (guest laughing) (Pete chuckling) I'm like, okay, I kind of want there to be something. Like it's a... you never wish there to be something, but it's like, I want there to be something because that can't be the answer. And he comes back and says, "like I said, we'll run you through the tests but you need to get some sleep. And what I want you to do is I want you to track your 10 day rolling average of time in bed. From the time you go to sleep or from the time you get in bed to the time you get out of bed. I want you to track your 10 day rolling average." I said, "okay, I'll track my 10 day rolling average." And on my first 10 day rolling average, Pete, my time in bed was four hours and three minutes. And that was a 10 day rolling average. - [Pete] That's just time in bed. That's not even you are asleep yet. (Pete laughing) - [Guest] Exactly. So that's time in bed. I reported that to him and his team. He said, "look, we got to get you to five. And it's still going to suck at five hours but we got to get you to five. Then we get you to six." And I'm proud to say that since the end of 2015 to right now when we're recording this in 2018, and really for quite a while in 2018 now even since almost the beginning of the year I've been right at seven hours of sleep per night. - [Pete] I'm intrigued then because we have a unique situation like sleep has come up numerous times on the on the show as one of the top things you can do to boost your performance. And so, in you we have an intriguing case study in that you were hardcore doing very little sleeping and now you're doing normal... recommended amounts of sleeping. - [Guest] Right. - [Pete] And so you experienced, a huge relief, release, no longer this crushing weight and pressure, which is awesome. Tell me, how has your performance been enhanced or impacted by increased sleep? - [Guest] Oh, it's been unbelievable. Just, and the way my brain works the way my body works, the way I process things, even down to the level of forming sentences differently than what I did before. Because remember early on, I told you I thought my brain was turning to cabbage and people kind of laugh when they hear that and I'm like, no, really. Like, that's not me just fabricating an idea or a thought I really thought that something was super wrong. And what it showed me was it showed me the the true importance of sleep.