Gerald woke up groggy and irritable every morning. This started impacting all his relationships. He was snippy with colleagues in the office, often saying snide comments. His wife no longer wanted to socialize in the evenings and Gerald took his anger out on her.

One by one Gerald’s team started handing in their resignation letters. His supervisor, Vanessa, called him to her office. She stated, What’s going on? Three of your team members have resigned in the past two weeks. You’re sending emails out at 10pm at night. I want you to take a long weekend and seriously think about how to work differently. Gerald was in shock.

When he got home, his wife left separation papers on the kitchen table with a note saying her and the kids were taking staying at her parent’s house for the next week. She said they can talk if he can agree he would not raise his voice at her or the kids.

Gerald sat into his lounge chair almost paralyzed. How did his whole life unravel in 24 hours?

He stood up stern on the edge of the black leather chair and looked around his living room. This all means nothing without the most important people in my life. Tonight, I’m creating an evening ritual to get to bed by 10pm. A full 8 hours of sleep is what I need the most.

Over the next week, his body recovered from years of no sleep. He had a deep heart-to-heart conversation with his wife and they continued their marriage. He became a joyful, boisterous, fun-loving husband and boss again. Later in the year, he received a huge unexpected bonus at work. Now, he’s a role model for the rest of the company.

He changed one thing: sleeping a solid 8 hours. He wrote on a sticky note on his bathroom mirror, “Turn obstacles into opportunities. A better life awaits you.”

Sometimes it’s the least expected activity that can make a world of difference. When you tackle an obstacle and not a problem, the obstacle will never come up again.

What obstacles can you turn into your biggest opportunities this week?

Wishing you an abundant, joyful and prosperous day!

Lora Polowczuk

Chief Energy Officer

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