After midnight I stopped looking at the clock. From experience I knew that being aware of the precise time we were still awake did not induce sleep. Also from experience I knew that even if I didn't get that revered, at least by conventional people, good night's sleep, I would still likely be able to perform in a superior way. I was going to be pitching to two prospects.
On about two hours sleep, I did the pitches. On the spot I got the two accounts. A fourth of a century ago I had started that pattern of not sleeping, at least not long and well, and succeeding. Without much sleep I had dragged myself from Connecticut to suburban New York to take the law boards. Although I had had a history of being a lousy scorer on standardized tests, I aced the boards, at least well enough to be admitted to Harvard Law School.
Of course, I have a theory. Mine is that adequate sleep removes my edge. I go through the whatever a little too relaxed, not alert enough to pick up on the subtle signals which guide our moves. Recognizing that I am in an impaired state of not having slept, I tend to overcompensate. For example, at both pitches to prospects I listened more deeply and provided enhanced responses, including recommendations for their tactics.
If we want to extend that theory we might speculate that well-cared for human beings - physically, emotionally, spiritually - might lack the internal drivers to speedread reality in ways that make for breakthrough performance. So many giants like John F. Kennedy and Steve Jobs were wounded.
That's an odd theory. Focus and attention is not encouraged by lack of sleeping hours.
Posted by: Auping bedden | February 21, 2013 at 10:11 AM