Why I’m Failing at Business (It’s Not What You Think)

So I have a lot on my plate right now. I'm running a lot of businesses. I'm building software, managing dev teams, running YouTube channel, personal stuff, being a dad. One key thing that we talk about in business is that you can only improve what you track, what you measure. If you start a new ad campaign in a business and you're not measuring how it's doing, you really, you're just guessing if you're improving or not. And I'll be real with you guys. I've been going through kind of a hard time personally, hard time emotionally. Life's been very heavy. And I noticed this pattern where I'd be sitting at my desk and just have no motivation. I can't get anything done. And then I would think, oh, I haven't slept more than four hours for the last five nights. And I've started to really realize that I need to improve my health. I need to exercise better. I need to eat better. I need to sleep better. I think that's a big one. You see bags under my eyes. Editor, can you zoom in on these bags? I do not sleep well. I never have. And I've tried different things to improve my sleep over the years. I've tried melatonin and face masks and earplugs and fans and white noise. I mean, I've tried about everything there is, but I just do not sleep well. But then it clicked in me. I don't measure my sleep. How would I even know if I'm sleeping better if I have no metrics to track? It's just a feeling thing. And I would never accept that in business, but somehow I've accepted that in my own life. So about this same time, this company Panther Wearables reached out to me and they sent me this Panther Eclipse device, 304L stainless steel. It's the same thing they use in like fancy Swiss watches. And I'm a tech guy, but I have never liked Apple watches or weary. I just, I don't want another thing on my wrist. I don't want something else I have to charge. I've just not been a fan of those. And so this was perfect for me. It has no screen. So it's for people who want the data, but they don't want the distraction. And has a 15 day battery life. So I only have to charge it once every few weeks. And the biggest thing was there is no subscription fee. I am instantly, if there's a subscription fee, I'm out. I'm not gonna pay monthly. I'm a cheapskate, okay? But you buy the hardware, you own the data. I think that's the way it should be. So, and I hate putting on watches. I'm not good at it. But this just has this magnet thing. It's super easy to adjust. It doesn't come off even when I'm doing exercise. I can wear it in the shower. And I'm excited about this. I think this will be a game changer for me and my health. So let's look at my actual numbers. I'm gonna open up my personal life to you here just a little bit. So first thing, it tracks your steps, which is, I know that's a thing you should do. I've heard walking is good for you. I do a very good job at lifting weights. I don't know if you can tell. But I do not get any cardio. I sit at a desk about 12 hours a day and then I go from my desk to the couch to the dining room table, back to the couch, to my bed. That's about the extent of my activity. So I got the Panther here and it gave me a suggestion, try to aim for 8,000 steps per day. And day one, I got 345. Yesterday was Sunday, so I walk a little bit more because I walk from my car into church. Had 806 steps. So this, very quickly, this data, these metrics, I had no idea I was this far behind in how many steps I should be taking. But great data here about how many calories you've burned. You can personalize it for yourself based on your height and weight and activity level. It also measures stress. So it keeps track of your heart rate, your heart oxygen, and it can tell you how stressed you are. It gives you a number for that. And I've looked at it at some very high stress times and it seems pretty accurate. So this is another metric. You know, when I get stressed, I wanna take it in prayer. But I think this is another good metric just for me to keep an eye on. But the number one thing, my number one problem by far, I feel it in my eyes right now, is I don't sleep like at all. So I've worn this for two nights now. Night number one, it says I fell asleep at 2.44 a.m. And you know, that sounds about right. It looks kind of embarrassing, honestly. But I have so much going on that I stay up super late on my laptop getting stuff done and then it's hard to fall asleep because I've got all the blue light from the computer. And I think I'll be more productive staying up late. But then the next morning, it's so hard to get going. It's so hard to be motivated. Then five hours, 31 minutes of sleep. I know that's not enough. I need more than that. I feel it. I drink tons of coffee. Maybe most alarming was 40 minutes of REM sleep. That's about how I feel, an hour of deep sleep. I did take a short nap on Saturday, so I guess that is good. But I have metrics. I can show, I can see, hey, am I doing better? Did I get to bed before 2.45 a.m.? Last night was not better. In fact, it was maybe worse. I slept four hours, 47 minutes. Fell asleep at 2.30 a.m., 33 minutes of REM, one hour, six minutes of deep sleep. I mean, it's no wonder I feel absolutely terrible. So again, and it keeps track of your heart rate, your heart rate variability, blood oxygen levels, resting heart rate, body temperature, blood pressure, insight, has quite a bit. And even though there's no screen, it still has smart features you can turn on. It buzzes you when you get a text. It has alarms. You can still do some of those smartwatch features if you want to. But again, number one for me, I want a metric for my sleep and I want it to improve. My goal for tonight is I'm gonna get six hours of sleep. I'm gonna be in bed by one, okay? I gotta work my way back to reasonable numbers. But I would love for you, if you're watching, take your health seriously, okay? This is, people are looking for investments and get-rich-quick schemes. Investing in yourself and your health is honestly the best thing you could be doing. And I'm being a fool. But it's a new year. If you're setting goals for your bank account, set some goals for your health as well. How much sleep do you want to get? How much exercise do you want to get? How much water do you want to drink? And if you're wanting help, two things. First off, my app program has put out a sleep app called Sumnera that gives you a sleep score. It'll keep, you know, you can log your sleep to see how you're doing. It gives you insights into your sleep. It has sleep sounds. Helps you do breathing exercises. This is a free app. I'll leave a link down below. My team built this. But then also a device like the Panther Eclipse looks super cool, can really help you with tracking some of this stuff, especially your sleep. So I'm gonna leave a link to pantherwearables.com. I have a promo code 15% off with promo code James15. They've got a lot of customization options. It does look pretty cool. I'm pretty happy with it. So make an investment in yourself. Let me know in the comments what's your sleep goal for the year? How much sleep are you gonna try to get? And let's start this tonight. When tomorrow when you see me, I'm gonna look way more alert. I'm gonna be a new man. So appreciate you guys very much. Again, Panther reached out to me because I have an audience like you guys. So thank you for watching so I can meet companies like Panther and I can get these devices and test them out. Appreciate you all very much. God bless you all and have a great rest of your day.