The Sleep-Decision Loop That's Wrecking Your Leadership

Let me guess:

You’re wide awake at 2:00AM.

Replaying conversations, second-guessing choices, and thinking about the decisions you didn’t make yesterday. Plus the ones waiting for you tomorrow.

That’s not leadership. That’s cognitive debt.

Last month, a CEO client couldn't sleep for 2 weeks straight.

Being awake for 24 hours is equivalent to having a BAC of 0.10%! That’s above the legal limit in the US.

And he was running a company that way!

Trust me, that wasn’t his Genius Talent.

The real reason? Not the decisions he made - but the ones sitting in his mental queue.

Essentially, he maxed out his cognitive load, and then every decision sits in the queue.

CEOs Lose Sleep Because of Decisions They Haven’t Made

Your brain needs rest to reset.

When decisions pile up, especially unresolved ones, they steal bandwidth.

They wake you up at night.

They cloud your judgment during the day.

And they erode your edge over time.

The best CEOs protect their sleep like it’s oxygen. Because it is.

Last week, I broke down why private equity is outpacing venture capital and what that means for CEOs.

If you’re still playing the VC game, you’re behind. Read it after this because the money has moved.

The Real Cost of Poor Sleep

• You miss nuance. Small cues get overlooked.

• You overreact. Stress spikes. Patience drops.

• You delay key moves. Decision fatigue sets in.

• You stop seeing opportunities. This gets you fired.

Worse yet? You normalize it.

You tell yourself,

“This is just part of being a CEO.” 

No, it’s part of being a CEO without a system.

Want to Sleep Better? Make Decisions Faster

1. Close Open Loops Before You Leave the Office
Unmade decisions act like bricks in your backpack.

Clear them daily.

Even a placeholder decision (“We’ll revisit this Friday at noon”) reduces cognitive load.

2. Create a Weekly Decision Meeting with Yourself
Every Friday, I disappear.

No team. No meetings.

Just a quiet place to process, review, and reset.

When you give yourself space to think, you stop carrying your company into bed with you.

3. Sleep Is a Strategy, Not a Luxury
You can’t lead well in a fog.

Build real recovery into your calendar.

Seven hours minimum. No excuses.

The Best CEOs Make Sharper, Faster Decisions Because They’re Well-Rested

The full-circle moment.

Tired leadership looks a lot like indecisive leadership.

If you’re always wired, worn out, or waking up in the middle of the night, you’re not leading at your best.

What would change in your business if you were sleeping through the night and thinking clearly by 8AM?

Better yet, what impact could you make if you knew your one-in-a-million genius talent?

If you want to know your superpower, let’s chat.

When you’re ready to discover your genius, here’s how I can help you:

1. Genius Talent Discovery. Are you ready to discover your hidden superpower? Join today and embark on a transformative journey.

2. 1:1 CEO Coaching. Schedule a no obligation first session to find your superpower, connect with your highest ROI activities, and succeed with less effort and stress.

3. 3:1 CEO Coaching. Embark on a transformative journey toward realizing your limitless capabilities, partnering with two other CEOs. Learn and grow together.

Go forth and scale,

— John Hittler