1: “There is one specific hour—the ‘sweet spot’ of our day—that has the biggest impact on both our short-term and long-term success,” Dan Sullivan and Dr. Benjamin Hardy write in The Gap and The Gain: The High Achiever’s Guide to Happiness, Confidence, and Success.
“What we do during this one hour has effects that far outweigh what we do with the other hours of your day,” they write. “It determines how productive and purposeful we are, as well as influences how well our brains function.”
When exactly is this “sweet spot”? The hour before we go to sleep.
The research shows that 91% of us are on our phones in bed just before we call it a night.
“That’s the culturally accepted norm,” Dan and Ben write. “The last thing most people do before falling asleep is look at their phone. The first thing most people do upon waking up is look at their phone. They aren’t waking up with a plan. Instead, they’re waking up tired, reactive, and directionless. The rest of their day is spent distracted and reactive.”
There is a better way.
“Every night I visualize myself winning the Olympics, standing on top of the podium, hearing the national anthem, watching the American flag go up,” says two-time judo Olympic gold medalist Kayla Harrison.
Other high-level athletes like Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, spend their time before bedtime visualizing exactly how they will perform.
But being intentional about the hour before we go to bed is not just for Olympic athletes. We, too, can use this final hour before we sleep to transform our lives.
Because what we do during this critical hour sets the tone for everything we do.
“This is where our deepest habits are formed. How we end our day doesn’t only determine how well we sleep,” Dan and Ben write. “It orders how clear and directed we are when we awake. . . It defines how effective and alert we’ll be the next day.”
Simply put: If we aren’t proactive about creating a plan for the following day, we set ourselves up to live reactive lives.
“Reactivity breeds more reactivity,” Dan and Ben write.
2: Author Josh Waitzkin calls it “a proactive day architecture vs. a reactive day architecture.”
The research shows that our creativity is prompted following sleep, especially after REM-based quality sleep. So, before Josh goes to bed, he sets aside time to consider the most important question he’s trying to answer or the problem he’s trying to solve.
Then, he sleeps on it.
The following morning, “he meditates and journals about the same question or problem he was thinking about the night before,” Dan and Ben write. While journaling, he often “gets flashes of insight and creative breakthroughs. He’s able to tap into the subconscious integration and connections his brain processed and developed while he was sleeping.”
As Thomas Edison said, “Never go to bed without a request to your subconscious.”
3: While Ben was a PhD student at Clemson, he created evening and morning routines that resulted in him writing hundreds of blog posts in the mornings before class.
“Those blog posts were read over 100 million times, enabling me to grow a large email list and become a professionally published author before finishing my PhD.”
What exactly did he do?
Before going to bed, he would write in his journal for 5-10 minutes. “I’d write a to-do list of what I wanted to accomplish the next day,” he shares. “I’d also sketch out ideas for a blog post I’d write the next morning.”
Then, he’d sleep for 7–8 hours. When he awoke, he would drink a big glass of water and immediately head to the gym—usually around 5 a.m. The Clemson gym opened at 5:30 a.m., so Ben would park in front of the gym before it opened and spend another 10-15 minutes writing in his journal.
“I’d write about what I was going to accomplish that day, and further sketch out the article I wanted to write that morning. I’d also write my big picture goals and anything else that randomly came to mind.”
While working out, he’d listen to an audiobook to continue to learn and motivate himself. Then, he’d write a blog post for 30–90 minutes before class and the busyness of the day. Late afternoons and evenings were dedicated to his wife and three foster children.
Wash. Rinse. Repeat.
Ben’s advice: “I’m a huge believer in planning our days and thinking about what we’re trying to accomplish the night before. Then, in the morning, and before we start looking at our phone, give ourselves space to meditate and journal about our goals and what we’re trying to accomplish.”
More tomorrow.
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Reflection: How do I spend the last hour of my day before I go to sleep? How and why might I transform this time? Which of Dan and Ben’s ideas resonate with me?
Action: Experiment today with one or more of Dan and Ben’s ideas
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