I Thought I Needed More Discipline — I Actually Needed Better Sleep
At 5:45 a.m. every morning, my alarm sounds. And while I would love to stay in bed 15 minutes longer (who am I kidding—more like two hours longer), I usually roll out of bed within a few minutes.
I’ve been waking up around this time for about six or seven years now, and I genuinely love the early mornings.This is my quiet time before the day starts, time to move my body, focus, and get things done before emails and notifications take over.
Get things done…
Yeah. That’s not always how it played out.
My early mornings weren't always productive
I’d go to bed with ambitious plans: wake up early, hit the gym before 7, finish that project I’ve been chipping away at, maybe even squeeze in a run. But then morning would come, and I’d wake up feeling groggy, foggy, and unmotivated, even after a full night in bed.
Those big plans I made the night before? Gone.
For a while, I chalked it up to discipline. Maybe I just needed more willpower. Maybe I wasn’t as “motivated” as I thought. But the more I paid attention, the more obvious it became. This wasn’t a motivation issue; it was a sleep quality issue.
That’s when I started looking for a real solution.
Enter: sleep support+
When I started working at mindbodygreen, I was immediately interested in sleep support+ and ordered the supplement right away. Each serving provides a blend of a magnesium bisglycinate, jujube, and PharmaGABA® to support sleep , without the groggy side effects.* And it quickly became a staple in my nightly routine.
The first thing I noticed? I fell asleep fast. I drifted off within a handful of minutes of my head hitting the pillow, no tossing or turning involved. Even more importantly, I stayed asleep. No more 3 a.m. wake-ups. No staring at the ceiling, mentally replaying tomorrow’s to-do list. I slept soundly until the morning.*
After about a week of taking the supplement nightly, something shifted.
Those commitments I made the night before? I actually followed through on them. I showed up to the 6 a.m. gym session and made it out for that run (even when it was cold).
For a long time, I treated my mornings like a test of character, when they were really just a reflection of how well I’d slept.
My current wind-down routine
What made sleep support+ stick for me is how low-maintenance it is. I didn’t have to suddenly become someone with a flawless nighttime routine or a perfectly consistent bedtime to feel a difference.
I take it about 30 minutes before bed, usually while I’m doing my nighttime skincare. Over time, it’s become a quiet cue to my body that the day is over. No forcing sleep or obsessing over how fast I fall asleep. Just easing out of go-mode.*
That distinction matters, because my sleep issues were never about being exhausted. Instead, they were about being wired. A brain that wouldn’t stop spinning. A nervous system that didn’t quite get the memo that it was time to shut down. sleep support+ helped close that gap in a way that felt gentle and supportive.*
The takeaway
These days, sleep support+ is part of how I protect my mornings. It comes with me on trips, gets packed before anything else, and stays in my routine no matter what my schedule looks like.
Not because I’m chasing perfection, but because I’ve learned that showing up energized and clear-headed isn’t about pushing harder. It’s about setting myself up the night before. Better sleep changed how I wake up, how I follow through, and how my days actually feel.
