Vodcast #001: 3 Elements of Uninterrupted Sleep for Entrepreneurs

In this episode of the Healthy Hypergrowth Show, Anna had the opportunity to interview Wesley Delbaere, a holistic health expert. During their discussion, they talked about Delbaere’s venture into body recomposition, how stress impacts high-impact individuals such as business owners, entrepreneurs, intrapreneurs, executives, the balance of cortisol & melatonin being the key elements of getting a good night’s sleep, and the correlation between health and venture success. Listen now to learn more.

The Correlation Between Physical Health & Business Venture Success - A Personal Trainer’s View

“You are what you eat” isn’t a cliché saying - if you want to see the physical manifestations of leading a stressful lifestyle, you need only look at the radiance of someone’s skin, or the clarity of the whites of their eyes, the presence of dark circles under their eyes, or even how much body fat they carry around the waist. These, amongst other things, are the tell-tale signs that an entrepreneur is not taking care of their physical body. 

Wesley Delbaere, fitness expert from Omnia Gym in Amsterdam has always been fascinated by how individuals can work closely with their personal trainers and turn around symptoms that we see as an inevitable part of success.

The Physically Damaging Effects of Hustle Culture

Entrepreneurs, founders, intrapreneurs, and business owners need energy, focus, attention to detail, and motivation, as well as to allow their bodies to recover from the stress of running a venture - and ensuring that said venture becomes successful.

The same principles that are found in regaining control over an individuals health can be applied in business

Wesley Delbaere notes that a lot of business leaders have turned unhealthy habits such as losing sleep and sacrificing other parts of living a balanced life into a badge of honor, although their bodies have slowly disintegrated from the stress.

While that has been the trend for a while, more young founders and stakeholders are seeing the value in prioritizing both their mental and physical health and using that as a competitive advantage in business.

Getting Uninterrupted Sleep as an Entrepreneur

If you are constantly subjecting your body to pressure and stress, one day, something is going to break. Wesley cautions that chronically high cortisol levels will result in body fat gain over the long term. 

Although cortisol gets a bad rap, as a stress hormone, the reality is that we need cortisol in order to evolve as individuals. Cortisol management is therefore an important life and business skill.

As much as  it’s hard to believe, all entrepreneurs need to have high cortisol levels in the morning, in order to get things done, however, cortisol needs to be low in the evening in order to get proper sleep, as well as sleep the whole night through…

Lowering Your Cortisol Levels and Maintaining Your Sleep Hygiene

You can lower your cortisol in the evening by eating high-quality complex carbohydrates and protein, and by doing your best to help your body create more melatonin. 

For starters, avoid looking at screens 1 hour before heading to bed, and if you simply can’t avoid checking your phone, or sending one last email, try to get blue light filters for all your devices, as well as glasses with blue light filters.

An interesting recommendation is trying an ayurvedic supplement, called “ashwagandha” that aids with reducing anxiety and cortisol in the evening. 

Other easier-to-find household items that you can also use to increase your likelihood of a whole night’s (uninterrupted) sleep are 

• High-quality Himalayan sea salt, and 
• A tablespoon of lemon juice mixed into
• Half a cup of water

This concoction will help to nourish the adrenal glands- the glands are responsible for helping your body with producing cortisol in the morning.

 Do this often enough and you’ll find that working out, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle will soon become addictive - but in a good way!

Omnia Personal Training provides online consultations for clients all over the world and has partnered up with a Functional Doctor in order to create programs that help clients manage their hormone levels, optimize their sleep, and create a new lifestyle that’s conducive to hyper-growth, without the use of stimulants.