Are you healthy? I don't just mean physically healthy (though that is definitely part of it). Most people aren't really sure. I recently spoke with Minneapolis resident Matt Norman about this very topic. Matt is the President & CEO of Norman & Associates as well as the author of the book The Four Patterns Of Healthy People. Here is a summary of our conversation.
Matt’s Story
Matt realized that we all develop ways of thinking and behaving as an adaption to our environment. And every day we repeat those thoughts and behaviors in order to succeed and maybe even survive in our environment. And one day, it’s likely that we realize that those ways of thinking and behaving no longer serve us, well, we realize we’re stuck. And so because of that, we have a decision to make, whether we’ll remain stuck, or self confront and grow. And because of that, Matt wrote the book to help people grow into healthier patterns. In addition, the book focuses on how successful people think, relate with others, view themselves and make choices about how they operate.
The Four Patterns
The first pattern is our thought patterns, which is how we think. Then our relationship patterns, which are how we view ourselves. Our relationship patterns are the third, which are our ego patterns. Then fourth is our operating patterns, which is really about the choices we make and about how we engage with our environment.
A good example is with energy. When we’re tired, it’s hard to have healthy thought patterns. It’s harder to relate well with others, as we become less patient. And we also become more self protective, more focused on our own needs, which is when the ego comes into play. So simple things like getting enough sleep, from an operating pattern standpoint can really fuel the other patterns.
The Importance Of Sleep
Matt mentioned that the Stanford University’s sleep Center has produced really interesting research showing that for about 99.5% of the population. This organization says we need to have at least seven hours of sleep on an ongoing basis in order to function properly. In fact, they recommend between seven and nine hours of quality sleep. So a key part of sleep is just making a commitment to get that amount of sleep.
You also have to start asking ourselves how we can optimize the quality of our sleep or ability to go to sleep. Studies show that screens activate parts of our brains and make it harder to enter into REM sleep or just shut down our thoughts. Food and alcohol consumption affect our sleep. So it is important to not eat or drink anything but water before bed. Stretching, for example, or having a nightly routine is really important.
Your body builds circadian rhythms. For example, if one day, you’re waking up at 7am, another day, we’re waking up at 5am and then another day at 10am. Your body just doesn’t know quite what to do with it. We’ve all had the experience of going to another timezone where it’s hard to fall asleep or wake up at certain times. Keep in mind that circadian rhythms are really a thing.
When Do You Have The Most Energy?
There are certainly people that tend to be morning people. There are people that are night owls. And then there are people that have the most energy in the middle of the day. We must know what kind of person we are, so that we can do our most vigilant activities or most thought intensive activities during our most productive time period.
I really enjoyed my conversation with Matt, and I hope it inspired you as well. I have a feeling most of us need to get more sleep and start doing more activities when we have the most energy. What did you learn from this article? Thanks.