When you’re having sleep issues, a mind and body approach is always going to be my recommendation for you to get better.

I blog about the body part of the approach pretty often, so today I want to tell you about a tool for the mental side of things.

So, let’s dive in…

What is the ground breaking tool to control your mind for better sleep, success, and happiness?

Anxiety is common amongst people with sleep issues, so dealing with the anxiety is key to getting a good night’s rest.

But how do you deal with anxiety?

The ground breaking tool to control your mind (and your anxiety) for better sleep, success, and happiness is Positive Intelligence or mental fitness.

Positive Intelligence (PQ) was created by Shirzad Chamine who is the author of a bestselling book, trainer of faculty at Stanford and Yale business schools, coach to hundreds of CEOs and their teams, and CEO of the largest coach training organization in the world.

He sure has a lot of experience!

You can think of positive intelligence as similar to life coaching, if you’ve ever experienced that. It’s not just about thinking positive thoughts more often. It’s increasing the percentage of time your mind is being your friend, instead of being your enemy.

How positive intelligence or mental fitness can impact your life

The research on positive intelligence is incredible. Here’s just a little bit of it…

Research shows that people with a higher PQ have a higher salary and greater success in work, marriage and relationships, health, and creativity.

If you are a salesperson with a higher PQ, you’ll also sell 37% more than those with a smaller PQ.

People with a higher PQ tend to take fewer sick days and have less burnout.

If you’re a doctor with a higher PQ, you’ll make accurate diagnoses 19% faster than other doctors.

Manager’s in charge of teams tend to perform 31% better than others.

And get this: research shows that people with a higher PQ have a better immune system, lower levels of stress hormones, lower blood pressure, less pain, fewer colds, better sleep, smaller change of heart disease, diabetes and stroke.

A higher PQ reduces stress and improves success, health, and happiness!

This is interesting and motivational data to show you how your life could change with a higher PQ, which you do have control over, by the way. Great news, I know!

The importance of sage vs. saboteurs in positive intelligence

Let’s be real…all humans have both the sage and saboteur inside them.

But if you want to increase your PQ, you need to learn how to control these parts of your brain. Understanding what the sage and saboteur are inside of you is key to being able to accomplish that.

So, let’s talk about it.

The sage part of your brain is like your friend, and the saboteur part of your brain is like your enemy.

The saboteur part of your brain is located on the left side which is known as your primal, survivor-like thinking.

And you guessed it, the sage part of your brain is on the right side where you can grow your positive intelligence. This is found in the prefrontal cortex, the part of your brain known for calm, clear, focused thinking.

Saboteurs

According to PQ, we have 10 possible saboteurs.

The judge is the universal saboteur. It finds faults with yourself, others and circumstances. It's responsible for any anxiety, stress, anger, disappointment, shame and guilt that you feel.

Many people think the judge is tough love that drives them to succeed but this isn't true. The judge saboteur is why many successful people aren’t happy

Here are the 9 other saboteurs:

Avoider (avoids conflicts)
Controller (feels anxiety and impatience when they can’t control others)
Hyper-achiever (needs achievement for validation)
Hyper-rational (values the rational over emotions which ends up hurting relationships)
Hyper-vigilant (anxiety about what could go wrong)
Pleaser (gains acceptance by people pleasing)
Restless (great excitement or busyness, not content or celebrating the present)
Stickler (wants perfection)
Victim (uses internal feelings for attention and affection from others)

We usually have only a few these saboteurs that stand out. And they can change over time.

If you want to take a short quiz to find your saboteurs, click here.

Here are a few characteristics of the sage part of your brain:

Wise
Perspective that everything that happens is a gift and opportunity
Explores with curiosity
Empathizes with self and others
Is innovative and creative
Navigates to find the path that aligns with their values and mission
Activates to take decisive action without input from the saboteurs

How to increase your positive intelligence or mental fitness

To be clear, the goal is not to get rid of the saboteur side of your brain. It’s a part of you and it isn’t bad.

The goal is to simply increase the positive intelligence side of your brain, and to get the benefits we discussed earlier in this blog post, including better sleep.

With that said, there are 3 steps to increasing your PQ.

Step 1: Weaken the saboteurs. Pay attention to what you’re thinking, observe your thoughts, and label the saboteurs when they come up.

Step 2: Improve the sage powers. When the saboteurs come up, shift to the sage perspective and use their powers.

Step 3: Strengthen the PQ brain and weaken the saboteur brain. You can do simple mindfulness exercises to accomplish this. 10 seconds or less is all you need. You can rub your fingers together, listen to sounds around you, pay attention to your breathing, or anything else that feels good to you.

How increasing my own PQ has affected my life

Last June I spent time reading this book on the beach in NC and I helped more clients than ever in July.

The book showed me how my doubts held me back and influenced my actions in my business, in my marriage, and in my own personal self development.

I realized that I can best help others and fulfill my life purpose by spending more time in my sage brain.

I highly recommend Shirzad's book Positive Intelligence: Why Only 20% of Teams and Individuals Achieve Their True Potential AND HOW YOU CAN ACHIEVE YOURS.

Ready for a body and mind approach to solving your sleep issues for good? My team and I can help. Find out more at www.thesleepdetective.com.