My family’s 2022 was painful. My sister completed 18-months of chemo to snuff out an aggressive form of breast cancer. She lost her mother-in-law to cancer while battling her own. My mother lost her sister and best friend. My family was sad.

A the same time, Integrant had a big year. We grew 34% in 2022 and nearly tripled since 2019. I was working non-stop and we had growing pains. Hiring leadership from the outside brewed mixed results. While we hired folks who were a great fit for our culture and values, we also hired others who caused a lot of damage – fear, uncertainty, politics. I spent November 2022 conducting skip-level meetings in Cairo and came away feeling determined and energized to make changes, but very heavy-hearted. I was terribly upset to learn we were not creating a happy work environment – one in which people felt stable, recognized, and heard.

I read an article in the Washington Post about replacing new year’s resolutions with a nudge word. A word that reminds you of good intentions for the year. During the holidays, I shared the concept with family and friends who chose nudge words too; Move, Blessed, Yes, No, Focus, Heal, Accept. My word was Happy.

I spent hours thinking about what happy meant at Integrant. In between packed meeting schedules, I booked even more time with my already-stretched leadership team to dive into deep discussions about what happy looks like and began building plans to execute. I was on a mission to make ALL 300 Integrant employees HAPPY and added undue pressure on myself and the leadership team.

The universe had other plans for 2023. In January, the dishwasher blew up and flooded the kitchen. Refusing to tear it all up as the flood specialist suggested, I became a mold expert. I memorized a chart detailing the conditions and number of days it takes for mold to grow. I ran dehumidifiers around the clock and zapped my walls with a moisture meter I purchased. The thought of remodeling my kitchen amidst everything else on my plate was more than I could bear.

I could not sleep.

We were concerned about our 2023 forecast given all the tech layoffs and economic uncertainty. Would we have to layoff too? How could I let people go when my renewed purpose was to build a happy workplace? I felt responsible for 300 employees, 300 families, hundreds of customers who trust us to help them grow their business and keep their own people employed.

I could not sleep.

For the first time in my life, I broke out in stress hives. Nothing else had changed – diet, soaps, detergents, and cosmetics. I took antihistamines with short-lived results. As soon as the hives subsided, they would return and I still could not sleep. 

My Quest for Quality Sleep: The Connection Between Sleep, Weight, and Happy

So, I decided, I was going to refocus my energy from being the happy shaman to getting more sleep. The following factors led to this life changing decision:

1. My friend Derrick teaching me the intrinsic connection between sleep, weight, and mental health.

2. My friend Jacques sharing the results of his quest to find the best sleep tracking device.

3. My brother Philip turning me on to a popular podcast Huberman Lab.

4. My Chief group reminding me to set healthy boundaries and the difference between sympathy and empathy.

5. My mentor Yousef sharing the power of micro changes.

I told myself, “Okay, Julie, we are going to reset and lunar new year is the start of your 2023.” I ran to Costco to buy a Fitbit. Have you listened to Andrew Huberman’s podcast? He's a neuroscientist and his advice on improving sleep is wildly popular. You will find many blogs and vlogs on how folks implemented his advice and the results they experienced.

Here is a list of steps he advises (not comprehensive, but a decent summary) and how I achieved better sleep with micro habits.