Christine Hansen: Helping The World To Sleep Like A Baby

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Interview Transcription Of Christine Hansen Interview

Intro [0:10]
When we’re young, we have an amazing positive outlook about how great life is going to be. But somewhere along the line we forget to dream and end up settling. Join Up Dots features amazing people who refuse to give up and chose to go after their dreams. This is your blueprint for greatness. So here’s your host live from the back of his garden in the UK, David Ralph.

David Ralph [0:36]
Yes, good morning to everybody. This is David Ralph. So it means you must be listening to Join Up Dots, Join Up Dots Episode 563, I believe, and it’s going to be a good one. And it’s one of those shows that I actually need. Myself. Yes, I am in pain. I’m in pain. I’m limping around like an old lady over the last couple of days don’t know what’s the matter with me. And adding to that, and this is why I’ve got a guest on the show. I didn’t actually sort of book her in to do this. But it’s going to be great because I’m going to research big time. It’s been so hot and sweaty in it Kingdom over the last few days. I haven’t slept a wink, haven’t slept a wink, I am so tired, I can barely open my mouth to record. And so it’s a delight to have her on because she is the lady who the majority of the world need to get into contact with because she’s a sleep expert. And over the last few years has positioned yourself as the go to person to help you drift off into pleasant restful and recharging sleep. As soon as your head hits the pillow. And she says I understand that sleeping one on sleep medication isn’t really sleeping. I understand that falling asleep, but then having to lie awake for hours in the middle of the night isn’t really sleeping. I do that all the time. And I understand that waking up just as tired as when you went to bed isn’t really sleeping either. So Hands up. Come on people be honest. How many of you have fallen into one of those sleep patterns over the last few years? Right? Okay, few hands at the bat. Yeah, I can split right. Okay, a few of us. Yeah, I know that we all have. So how is our guest managed to find a solution to something that plagues all of us at one time or another? And the answer is, she’s been on the journey of self discovery upscaling and putting herself and her knowledge out there. starting her journey. As an English teacher in Luxembourg. She had a pretty standard career for a few years until she got to the point where her interest in corporate coaching and sleep patterns became too much to ignore. And she took the leap of faith, leaving her career in education in 2015 to start something new and inspiring. And since then, with a huge amount of hustle, commitment, perseverance, and of course struggle. She’s built a hugely successful business coaching, career driven women and men are supposed on how to get a solid night’s sleep, allowing them to wake up refreshed with more energy and ready to tackle their legacy and personal life. So how has she managed to do all this while still getting a good night’s sleep herself? And is it as simple as learning to switch off from everything that needs to be done? Or is it so much more than that? Well, let’s find out. You bring onto the show to start Join Up Dots with the one and only am I favourite ever sleep expert? Christine Hanson. Good morning to you, Christine. How are you?

Christine Hansen [3:12]
Good morning. I’m so glad to be here. What an amazing introduction. Oh, wow, I have to listen to that to me to myself every morning. I think.

David Ralph [3:22]
You wait till it gets launched. You can have it by the side of your bed. When you reach out and you think to yourself alarm clock on either need another four hours, Kim, I don’t want to be teaching people about sleep patterns. I just want to roll over and go back to sleep. Do you have days like that? Are you? Do you jump out of bed? Are you the world’s worst woman in the morning to jump out of bed and dance around the bedroom?

Christine Hansen [3:45]
Yes, pretty much. I’m not a morning person at all, which is why I adore being self employed.

I do have a toddler though, who doesn’t agree with me all the time. But in general, I’m not a morning person. And it’s the biggest luxury not to have to get up at 6am was something I’d like seriously. I’m not a I’m not a person you want to meet with that having a coffee first.

David Ralph [4:08]
So it’s funny because most of the entrepreneurs I speak to and I’ve fallen into this trap as well get up at stupid o’clock. Now some of them get up so stupid that I actually think there there’s some kind of insanity there. You know, they say to me, oh, I go to bed at 815 in the evening. And I get up at three o’clock in the morning. Why? Why would you ever want to do that if you’ve got the whole day to create your own time. So you are somebody that goes against and sort of wakes up when you want to wake up?

Christine Hansen [4:34]
Yeah, I can I really go with my strength. Like I really know when I will be good to produce good content and to have great conversations. And I also know when I just be absolute rubbish. And I think that’s something that we all have this idea that it’s nine to five, or you know, the morning hours or the golden hours and the earlier you get up, the more productive you will be. The truth is if your body clock doesn’t work that way, you’re just tired and miserable, I wouldn’t be as strong and as creative and as imaginative as you could be if you work to your to your own strengths, basically. So it takes to get to know them and then also to be okay with that.

David Ralph [5:13]
So when you were a sort of corporate lady going to the classroom, which I imagine started probably eight o’clock or nine o’clock in the morning, when you somebody that would walk into the room ago, children sit down, would you would you be really grouchy? Oh, well, you get the lovely teacher that they all like,

Christine Hansen [5:29]
oh, it really depends. Um, I am in general, I’m a good human person. And even if I’m not, I’m quite a drama queen. So you know, it would first start when I’d go into the teachers conference, and they would already know my moods. Like if I come in in a bad mood, they’d know, oh, Christine, you’re in a bad mood. But in general, I would be in a good mood, and then it depended on which class I’d have to teach to me. But in general, I was I think I’m always once I’m running. I’m just good, good natured and positive. So put it back the agenda. Well, now I can manage I can manage. I just needed pizza to shower and a cup of coffee and breakfast and then Okay, I can get there.

David Ralph [6:08]
So I’m going to tell you something, Christine, that might surprise you. And this, this might shock you and this might alienate 50% of my audience. Women that genuinely moody anyway on me, I don’t know. I don’t like Christie. I live in a house of women. And you never know what you’re going to get within seconds they can go from one extreme to another. How do you deal with that? How do you deal with this positive energy? teaching people how to you know, wake up refreshed when actually you just want to stop them and he was a white five minutes ago?

Unknown Speaker [6:39]
Um, I don’t work with people like that as

Christine Hansen [6:44]
my clients are adorable. I really love working with them. Now

Unknown Speaker [6:47]
you don’t

David Ralph [6:48]
you don’t like them? Or do you don’t like them? Oh, there’s gonna be some that you think, Oh, God, I’ve got them today.

Christine Hansen [6:55]
Sometimes if I have to teach like corporate seminars, and I have just these dis dis negativity people around me, it’s just like, Okay, well, you be met negative, I’ll stay with I stick with the positivity ones. I just leave them. You know, it’s if they want to be a bad mood in broody, go ahead. It’s not my problem. So, but that’s the good thing about my private clients, because I can choose them. I really get to know them. And then I choose if I went to work with them, that’s so cool. Like, I couldn’t do that with my students, they would just have to deal with it. So lots of good stuff.

David Ralph [7:26]
No, I agree with that totally. And that’s one of the things that I love about doing my job. I don’t do too much coaching, I did do a lot of coaching. At the beginning, when I started Join Up Dots. I wanted to build income very quickly. And so I took on coaching clients. And to be honest, I they’re probably not listening to this show anymore. I didn’t like half of them. And I used to wake up thinking, right, what am I doing? Oh, God, I’ve got to speak to so and so today. And so I got rid of all of them. And little by little, I’m filling up a group called dream starters Academy, just following the most wonderful people, but I just want to be supporting them all the time is great, when you can do that, isn’t it and basically, everyone can come when they find that thing and they start nitpicking down, they can find the people that they want to work with in a subject that they love as well. And that’s what you’ve done.

Christine Hansen [8:18]
Absolutely. And that’s the beautiful thing about it like it is scary, because you are going to reduce yourself and you’re not going to work with everyone. But it’s so rewarding, because I truly, really adore my clients. And I would never have thought that that I could really build Connexions like that. But I that they are really important to have a connexion like that. And for me, it’s just I love helping them. And I’ve seen them change and cheering them on and see what they can do. And it’s just neat seeing things that they don’t see and having them get there. That’s amazing. And it’s true that it does take you need to be a strong person in order to, you know, as I said in the beginning to turn some people away. So I think it’s really amazing for every coach or everyone who services to take the time and get to know, potential clients and really go with your gut and on saying yes or no and working with them. I think it’s crucial for your happiness.

David Ralph [9:12]
So do you focus in now because my big thing this week is spider senses. I’ve had a couple of things over the last couple of weeks where I knew it was wrong. At the beginning, I just knew that whatever was going to happen wasn’t gonna land well, but I still went for it. And I was proved right. And I’ve been saying to people, you’ve got to trust your spidey senses by are there. And so are you lady that really goes yeah, hang on, doesn’t feel right. Not gonna do it.

Christine Hansen [9:40]
Completely. Yeah, I’m very impulsive. always happen. And, and whenever I thought things through, usually I took the wrong decision. So I really always go with my gut and really trust my intuition and that, and it’s not 100% accurate. Sometimes I do think that you know, what really stupid or that, you know, turned out wasn’t the best decision. But in general, I build beautiful connexion so that with that and chose the right people to surround myself with too, so and I’m the more independent I, which I’m still working on as far as the more independent I get, the more I trust that feeling.

David Ralph [10:21]
Okay, let’s sort of like, frame how you operate. You are in Luxembourg at the moment, you have got clients across the globe, when you first took that leap of faith and you left your job. Did you hustle, like made to get out there? Or did you have a few clients that you’d already started working with? On a side hustle? How did you go from there? earning income to no income to Yay, I’m Christine crimson, the world’s most attractive sleep expert. How did you do that?

Christine Hansen [10:52]
I didn’t think too much about it. To be honest. I started out with as a BBC consultant, that’s how I got started, until I realised how many adults were asking me for their help and how important it was to, to deliver that, too. So what happened was that I was not that happy in my job for a long time. But it’s like, you know, I studied English literature and children’s literature has a Master’s. So it’s really literally a Mickey Mouse degree. And here in Luxembourg, the main perception is still very traditional, like entrepreneurship is not something that you naturally do. It’s quite traditional, you go into banking, or you go to work for the government. So, you know, I had a nice salary, everything was great, but I just didn’t want to do it. And then I had my 23 year old cousin who died of a heart attack, like in an instant, which changed everything for me. And it really, that was like, you know, the, the you only live once moment where I thought, okay, you have to change something. And then you had the magical Facebook algorithm that turned up and showed me an ad to become a consultant. And so that idea was in my head. And it really stayed there. And I talked to my husband, and I thought he’d say, you know, no way we have a mortgage, and what do you think you’re doing everything is great. And actually, he looked at me, and he was like, do it, you’ve been so miserable, the last three years, I’m in a really horrible mood, whenever exams come up, just do it. And, and so yeah, I just went for it. You know, I just really, really went for it. And it turns out that I really adore marketing. And I think I was also lucky, I started with a cause and skill share, which was by Seth Godin. And so I think because of that I got to work pretty quickly how you should market. And because I had left education and the government to become an entrepreneur, which is something unusual, I was really lucky to get a lot of traction by national newspapers, because they were first of all, nobody’s doing sleep in Luxembourg. And I think not in many countries. So that was interesting to them, but also that I, I left a secure job to become an entrepreneur. And to be honest, I never worried about how it would go, I just always thought, Okay, I have to do this, I want to do this, I know how to do this. So I just ploughed forward, and you know, I pivoted my direction from babies to adults. And that’s where I really feel home, that that’s is really what I want you to do, I still just go forward, I don’t look back. Except if it’s okay, I made that mistake already not doing that again. But apart from that, I just go, I just go and I trust that everything is is working, and I’m doing the work. So I’m not just manifesting, I also do work, I really try to keep a positive mix of everything. And I’m just not worrying about things that haven’t happened yet. You know, it’s just like, everything will work out. And so far everything has. So I just trust in the process. And I trust the people who I select myself with who give me advice to coach me through different stuff. And so far, it’s been an amazing, amazing journey. So I still have my my main end goal ahead of me, and I’m just going there. And I don’t know which kind of Route it’s going to be or where it’s going to lead me and who I’m going to meet. And it definitely had its ups and downs already. But I think it has to be if you know that everyone has those, if you’re prepared that you’re going to have very bad days, then they are not that bad. Because you know that they’re going to be good days again. But I think if you’re just thinking everything’s going to be positive, then you’re going to have a hard time sticking to it. I don’t

David Ralph [14:41]
know if I’m totally in belief or bad because I I’m positive every single day. And even though some days are crappy, not very often, because I believe it’s positive every single day. I kind of almost don’t notice the bad days, I just kind of breeze through them. I think if I was going into my journey thinking always going to be tough. It’s gonna be tough and beat so more wide open with my eyes. I think I would struggle I think I would hold back somehow from that sort of ignorant just ploughing on which I’ve done. And I look back over my own life in Join Up Dots. And it’s been sometimes I look back on it now. And I think How the hell did I get through that? Because I shouldn’t have got through that. But I think it’s just because I’ve been absolutely ignorant to the fact that it could go wrong or it was going to be hard work. But I’ve just ploughed through, I’ve just kind of done that. But with yourself. Christine, what fascinates me is you have created a business for yourself but successful business on something that is all around us. Now, I know a lot of guys and ladies in the world, they think that they’ve got to create some new amazing idea that nobody’s ever seen before. As long as it’s not Pokemon Go. Now, if you’re creating value, I don’t know who that was. But I’m going to come for you. It’s a bad thing. People are getting run over Lyft one centre, but you’ve created something that’s kind of veil. And if I was sitting here thinking what I need a business, I need a business. What should I do? Sleep everybody needs to sleep. Yeah, but we’ve all been doing it for all our lives. We should be experts at it now. How did you sort of overcome that feeling, but I might have had but actually, there’s nothing that I can teach people people just sleep Don’t let it just learning from as a baby and move through always that simplistic way of looking at it.

Christine Hansen [16:29]
The way that I knew that it was a great idea was simply by demand. It was really having so many people asking me that it actually occurred to me because I never really felt that I do sleep for adults. I knew that I wanted to do it for babies, but I didn’t know that I wanted to do it for adults until I had so many people come up to me asking me about it. And the thing with sleep is that even though it is a natural thing, you cannot control it. Like you can you can control it the reverse you know you can control can be controlled or control yourself to wake up there’s an alarm clock and a go but the other way around, you cannot take sleep and force it to come like okay, you can take a sleeping pill but even that is not real sleep. So and some people for some people it’s very easy. I’m sleep just comes until he adores them. I like to personify sleep. So for me sleep is like, you know this a little bit high maintain his friend that you have that is like a little bit pitchy and who you know, everything needs to be perfect. And then

David Ralph [17:36]
the lady I’ve already said that.

Christine Hansen [17:38]
For me, it’s the lady because I think there’s sometimes some of them are a little bit more high maintenance. So I imagine it like this kind of odourless lady who everything needs to be perfect with and then she’s great, then she’s like she’s giving it your all, you know, and she will hug you and adore you. But if not everything is just in place, then she just a nightmare. And you know, she won’t have it. And that’s a little bit how I sleep for some people. For some, this lady is just much easier and content very quickly. And for others. It’s just like, Okay, this and this and this is not right, I’m going to give you a hard time. And then my job is really to optimise everything so that when she comes in everything is to her liking. And she’s like, Okay, then we’ll work it out. So that’s a little bit how work. And that’s also how I think that some people are struggling with sleep and some are not. So it’s very individual.

David Ralph [18:34]
Because Yeah, it makes total sense. But I think there’s a sort of genetics as well to it. Because when my son was a baby, we used to put him down at six o’clock at night, he would sleep through till midnight, and then wake up to a bottle, and they need sleep through till six o’clock the next morning, then he’d go back to sleep at nine o’clock in the morning to about 11 and get out for a couple of hours. And many go for another sleep in the afternoon. He was basically we thought we had a vampire. Basically, we never saw him he was sleeping all the time. And all our friends were saying, That’s weird. That’s weird. And we were going is it our fault. That’s just how babies operated. And then my daughter came along and she was the opposite. She never went to sleep at all. And we were basically stapling her into her bed to sort of keep it was dreadful. Now my son is 14, and he will go to bed at nine o’clock at night or about quarter to 10. By the time he sorts himself out. And literally he will sleep till two o’clock in the afternoon. He just eats bone to sleep. So is it kind of genetic thing or people naturally more sleepy? Or is it just that he’s kind of trained himself over the years.

Christine Hansen [19:44]
Um, I think it can definitely be genetics in terms of how much you see or how you see. But very often, it’s also just a habit that you start to create or something that is just not working the way it should be in terms of what you enjoy and dislike in what you do as well like how what your body is working like. So whenever people say for example, okay, Anna, bad sleep. And my whole family has always been a bad sleeper. I’m very wary of that. Because it can very easily become an excuse. And you can change so many things. But you have to be aware and ready to understand that you are your own person. Having said that, though, I think that you know, biological clocks are very different from each person. And some people will need a lot more, some people will need a lot more sleep than others. And others will need less sleep too, which I think is important to mention. Because I have some clients who freak out and they say I don’t get eight hours of sleep, I only get six. And when I asked them, so do you tired when you wake up with them? No, I’m great. Well, and that’s perfectly fine. So it’s it’s very individual. And I think genetics can play a role. But I think it’s often overestimated, and I think it’s underestimated how much you can actually still do.

David Ralph [21:03]
Oh, easy, lazy, Ben, Is this it? Christine? Can I say to him, but you know, just say yes, I’m gonna play back to you

Christine Hansen [21:11]
already. Tina just need a lot more sleep than they’re getting most of the time, they need up to 10 hours of sleep, which they don’t get, especially during school during the week when they have to go to school. So that’s also the reason why they see so long during the weekend. It’s basically because they catch up. And there’s actually a huge movement, starting to advocate school for teenagers starting later in the day, because their clocks, their body clocks work a little bit different for teenagers. And so actually having them I don’t know, if some school starts at eight, and sometimes at 730. So some of them have to get up at 530 in order to take the bus to go to school. And it works completely against their rhythm. And so during the weekend, they they are like you’re you’re describing, they catch up and they see easily till noon and have a great nap again. And I used to do that too. I used to catch up everything on the weekend. So, you know, he could be more productive, of course, but it’s not unnatural what he’s doing.

David Ralph [22:09]
My parents would never let me I remember, on a Saturday morning, and my wife always says to me, be quiet. Don’t make any noise to lunchtime, like lunchtime. I’m not waiting till lunchtime to move along. You could put a bomb in his room and it won’t wake him up anyway. But my parents used to go I remember it like nine o’clock on a Saturday morning, which is I suppose still quite early. It’s wasting the day you’re sleeping the day away. And I used to think I’ve got nothing to get up for, you know, what am I doing? I’m getting up just to get up and let me sleep lady. And, well, moms moms have to be a beta somehow until you get to my age. I’m in a scalar by a summer. But yeah, you just couldn’t sort of push through. But I remember also we might my daughter say my daughter. We used to have different ways of operating during the night and my wife used to go in and give her a bottle. And she’d been there for like two hours and she picked her up. And she gave her a bottle and she window and she’d walk around the room and all that kind of stuff. And I used to be in there for about maybe 1015 minutes. I’m going to confess here, Christine, I’ve never confessed to anyone before nobody listens to this show. But I had a little routine. My wife never understood how I did this. But if anyone’s got babies out there, and I don’t know if it’s changed now, maybe you but you used to have these teats on the bottle. And it used to have an S and an M, or slow flow and medium flow. And so when they really little, you give them an f1 so that they can just sort of suck, you know, gently and it’s all right. And then the meeting ones when I get a little bit bigger. And I used to be in her room and I used to think this is boring. Come on, just drink it, just drink it. Let me get back to bed. And of course she was she was on the slow flow. So what I did, I got my own teeth, but I had right high in a cupboard down in the kitchen. My wife’s only at 10. And I cut the top off of it. And I called it my turbo teed. And during the night, I would use fat and put it in my daughter’s mouth and she was on her back in the bed. I didn’t even pick her up. It sounds bad now. And she’d be half asleep and go go go. And I used to watch the milk actually go down, straight down. And then I used to just walk out and as I was walking out the door, and normally I’d hear this huge burp and it was dropped down. I was back in bed. And my wife used to say beaten it so quick. Did you change her? And I go Yeah, yeah, I changed her. Yeah, I saw it. She didn’t need changing. But now Yeah, turbo t so but any dads out there who want to get their sleep. That’s the way Yeah, little tea and cut the top bit off. And then your wife never knows. I mean, 15 years later, you can confess and get it off your chest. Is that the way that I should have been operating? Am I now a baby expert? Christine, Have it. Have I taken your business?

Unknown Speaker [24:57]
Yeah, that’s it. I’m just going to

David Ralph [25:04]
isn’t it is funny how we all say, Oh, you sleep like a baby? What? You don’t sleep like a baby. We should be saying you sleep like an old man, old man in the middle of the afternoon. That’s what we want to sleep like.

Christine Hansen [25:16]
Yeah, but they don’t sleep at night sleep.

David Ralph [25:20]
And I’m going through a way all the time, is it all those kind of things as well, if the poor people that are struggling with sleep, should they do things like, obviously reduce the temperature in the bedroom? Stop drinking after eight o’clock at night easy, those kind of little habits that make a lot of difference.

Christine Hansen [25:41]
They are all part of the picture. But for true insomniacs, usually that’s not quite enough. So there’s tonnes of things that go into it, a lot of people struggle with what’s going on in their heads, actually, you know, like you have this, I think everybody can relate, you know, you have this busy day and they you’re shattered and you want to go to bed and you’re lying there. And that’s when everything starts, you know, you have all these thoughts racing in your head, or you have that at 3am. And you wake up and you just kind of fall back asleep, and you have so much to think about. So a lot of the things are also related to that. So that’s why I usually start with the whole perception with sleep is in what you know what the idea is about sleep. And then slowly I do integrate all the external factors like nutrition routines, environment, movement, hydration. And that’s why I call myself also an integrative seed consultant, because it’s really going from the inside and then adding tweaks and changes from the outside in. So it’s it’s very complex. And I think for some people, you know, obviously packs that you get out there, I think the article with most is 3737 30 packs. But even if you apply all of those, it might be a little element that has to do with how you think that could make all the difference. So I think that’s also why I struggle a little bit with giving too many generic tips, for example, and and also with something which doesn’t surprise me when people come to me and they said, I focused on one area of seed like my nutrition or just my mindset, and it’s not changing anything. And it’s because it’s much more complex than bad. So for some people just having a bedroom to bedtime routine and changing that is going to be more than enough. And for others, it’s going to be more tricky.

David Ralph [27:30]
What about a bit of sexy time, Christine? Is that? Is that what

Unknown Speaker [27:35]
it does? Does? The doctor

David Ralph [27:36]
is good doctors advice about one?

Christine Hansen [27:39]
Absolutely, you can take my word into that. Also something that really have some massages. So you know, now you have the official green light can you require or request a massage in the evening that also helps.

David Ralph [27:54]
Now my problem is that when I go to sleep on the sofa at eight o’clock at night, and then I wake up and my wife says, going to bed now and I go, I’m not tired? I think I’ll just watch this. What can I do about that? Then how can I sort of push through from eight o’clock to half past 10 and then go to bed like a normal person.

Christine Hansen [28:14]
Um, I think you probably already know the

David Ralph [28:18]
time is that is straight straight to sexy time. Even if she’s watching halfway through a film, I stop the film and say, This is what I have been told. Now. Now now Give it to me, Lady Give it to me.

Christine Hansen [28:32]
That’s not quite what I had in mind. But yeah, let’s try that too.

But I think if you’re always falling asleep at eight o’clock, you probably have to catch up on some sleep in general. And then I’d really avoid, like, just get a bit earlier like not necessarily at eight, but your natural bedtime is probably a lot earlier than you think. And it’s just weird, you know, to go to bed bed early sometimes, like for many adults that actually optimal bedtime is 9pm. Which seems ridiculous, I think especially in the UK, because it’s only at 9pm that, you know, the TV programme is actually started. Yeah, so it’s like, Yeah, but for many people, that’s the ideal time to actually go to bed. So it really depends. But if you always fall asleep at eight, yeah, that’s something’s, yeah, I’d look at what your rhythm is actually like.

David Ralph [29:23]
Because I get I wake up about five o’clock in the morning. I never my alarm clock rarely ever goes off. And then I find by about, I don’t know, two o’clock in the afternoon, I could have a little nap. I really could. And then I don’t I just sort of push through to eight o’clock when I sit down. I mean, I’m fast asleep. So you think I should shift it around a bit. But then you don’t have a social life? Do you because I hear this. I had a guy on the show recently called Craig Ballantine. And he goes to bed at eight o’clock at night. And in the evening, you know, kids are still up on my screen veins are still going around. And he’s going to bed at eight o’clock. And I said to him that just lunacy and when Yeah, but you’re not missing out on much. He’s only sort of TV, maybe watching a film, you know, not much happens at that time at night. And I thought, yeah, okay, you got a fair point. But it still is only when my kids go to bed.

Christine Hansen [30:12]
Yeah, it is very unusual, like eight o’clock is maybe a bit early. But in general, I think is more or less, right. If you are grouchy your first of all, you see the anyway from eight to 10. So, and if you don’t have that gratitude during the day, because you’re not sleeping, well, then I think there’s nothing to lose. Plus, it’s not like every night, you’re going to have a party every night. And you can still when you have friends around, of course, you make exceptions. So I do think that a lot of people should listen more to their inner clock and just tell us all of those ideal, or Yeah, fixed notions that we have about when you should see even when you should be awake, you know, just just throw those away. Of course, it is not possible for everyone, like if you have to go to a job and do an office on location during certain hours. Obviously, you can’t do and change your work day around as much as if you are, for example, an online entrepreneur or just an entrepreneur looking for yourself in general. But I do think that in long term, you working to your strength and sleeping to your strengths is going to be a lot more productive, and you’re going to be a lot more fun to be around with.

David Ralph [31:21]
But let’s play some words. Now that’s going to move us to the second stage of the conversation. I normally play bees a lot earlier, but I got so engrossed with your sexy talk, I forgot all about it. This is Jim Carrey, my

Jim Carrey [31:32]
father could have been a great comedian, but he didn’t believe that that was possible for him. And so he made a conservative choice. Instead, he got a safe job as an accountant. And when I was 12 years old, he was let go from that safe job. And our family had to do whatever we could to survive. I learned many great lessons from my father, not the least of which was that you can fail at what you don’t want. So you might as well take a chance on doing what you love.

David Ralph [32:00]
Stepping back to that conversation that you had with your husband, when he said Oh, you’re such a misery guts just go for it, just just go for it. Was it that you knew you were gonna love it? Or did you find the love afterwards, I’m very interested in how people take that leap.

Christine Hansen [32:16]
I just knew, I already knew that. It was just once I had this little seed planted in my head, it just took roots. And the way I explained it is that I was I’m now the happiest I’ve ever been. Because before I had a bad conscience because I was really happy in terms of my family and in terms of my friends and everything around me. So I have a little bit of a bad conscience actually, you know, to feel miserable. And now I still have my family and my friends and everything that I adore. And it’s great. Plus, I’m actually doing what I love to do. And it very quickly, it was just confirmed like I had this, it sounds really corny, but I really did have this this little flame that ignited into a huge fire. And I was just like, okay, I’ve never had this feeling about working before, like ever. And it’s like, Monday mornings don’t exist anymore. It’s just like another day that I adore. And very quickly people came to me and were like, are you missing your holidays? And I just had to laugh because I was like, for me every day is a holiday because I don’t consider my work as being tedious and horrible. Yeah. So I just, I really feel like I came home and I I really feel that, you know, entrepreneur has it in his genes, you know, you have this entrepreneurial, crazy gene, or you don’t. And I think once you find that, and either it connects a new, your complete, or you’re not, which is fine, too. But for me, I know that I can never go back like ever. I do this. I love this. I love this journey. I love the people I made. I love what I do. So I and I know that I can do a lot greater, greater things than I ever could in the fixed job. Because it is madness, isn’t

David Ralph [34:06]
it? Yeah, it’s totally madness that people go, right. Okay, what I’m going to do, I’m going to get up at 630. In the morning, I’m gonna have a shower, and I’m going to run down to the train to catch a train, stand there with a load of stuffy people with their armpits in my face, get to work, and then have a cold cup of coffee, sit there for eight hours, bored out my skull and then come back. And then someone’s gonna say so many. We don’t want you anymore. Build your own dream people. It’s so easy. No, it’s not easy. It’s easy after you’ve done it. But it’s not easy at the time. But as Christine was saying, if you find the thing that provides great value to people and you love, you will be able to push through because times are difficult. Now, my problem Christy and I don’t know if you have this as well, I think you do from this discussion we just had, I can’t switch off from it. This is the problem. I love doing this so much. On a Saturday afternoon, when I think to myself, it should be weekend, I’m doing this. And I say to my wife, now there will come a time there will come a time when I switch off and she says no, no, you’re addicted to it now. And I kind of think, yeah, I know I am, you know, we’re going off to Spain in a couple of weeks. And the last holiday I had, I took a laptop with me. And when she was just like cooking yourself around the pole, I’d be looking around thinking, I can’t just sit here doing this, or I can find some shade and some Wi Fi and just carry on working in it. And it’s falling into that trap. I love it so much, but I can’t actually escape from it. But I don’t know if I want to escape. It’s like the best girlfriend I’ve ever had. But I keep on wanting to creep back and spend some time with she’s gorgeous. This girlfriend.

Christine Hansen [35:44]
I completely agree. Although I have a boyfriend. But yeah, I completely agree. And then we had two holidays ever since I became an entrepreneur and the first time, I remember that my husband and my daughter were fully dressed ready to go to the playground. It wasn’t really so they were dressed in coats and everything. And I was like just five more minutes, five more minutes. And before I understood what was actually happened an hour had gone by and the two had been waiting for me for an hour because I think I wanted to tweak something about Facebook ads. And it completely took me into this vortex of where just going for tunnel vision. And the only time that I actually really noticed that I let go which, which was actually very helpful was when I went snowboarding in winter. And I was so focused on not dying to go down that I really had to switch off, you know, and we were you know you’re in the mountain, there’s no wife, I did nothing. And therefore we did manage to switch off. And I have to say that it was amazing. But I had something else to focus on. So really getting down the mountain life. So but that was amazing. And after that I felt a lot more creative again. And it just shifted my perspective, lots of things. So I think it’s important, but it is really hard, especially if you don’t have distractions. And that’s very hard to switch off. Like, I work every weekend, because I love doing it. But then again, when I was a teacher, I also worked at the weekends, but I had to mock tests and homework, which I hated. So when people now telling me but you’re working the weekend, it’s like I did before, but this time I love doing it. And I just I literally it’s very hard for me to take a day off work completely. It’s a little bit antisocial, I suppose. But yeah, you know, it’s boring

David Ralph [37:34]
isn’t it is boring with you, you’ve got 150 million channels on the TV. And if you aren’t going to watch something tonight, and you look at it, and after about three minutes, you can’t be bothered, I just can’t be bothered, I just run back and check things. Now I created a whole recording studio at the beginning it says live from the back of his garden or something. And I knew right before I did this, but I had to have a way of leaving it behind. So I do I have a little laptop, a little sort of tiny little thing which I take on holiday with me. But I rarely use that at all. And I have to walk away from the recording studio, turn my PC off, walk away, because otherwise I’m just going to be on it all the time. But if that is something are we saying? But that is what you should be aiming for? Or are we saying for the listeners? that’s actually something to be aware of?

Christine Hansen [38:21]
Yeah, I think you’re not aiming for it. I think it’s just, it just happens. Before you know it, it just happens. And I think it’s a good sign. I think it’s the sign that you arrived and that you’re where you’re supposed to be. But yeah, if you are, you know, in a surrounding or in a relationship where your partner wants to have a lot of attention, then it’s not the best idea. But in general, I just think it’s a beautiful thing. I mean, how rewarding is that to create to spend your life doing something amazing, loving doing and just so much positivity around you. But yeah, it’s something I think it’s a telltale, that you’re on the right track.

David Ralph [39:04]
I go into the house, sometimes at night, well, I go home every night, their stupid thing to say is where I live, where I live. And so I go home, and the wife says, Oh, we can watch something tonight. And I go Yeah, what we’re going to watch because she gets into this box sets on Netflix. And yeah, she says, oh, should we start on this? I go how many episodes and she says 165. I know I can’t get into 165 episodes or something. If it’s one episode, fine if it’s to a push, and I say oh, what you’re going to watch? And she says, Well, you choose a film. And so I choose the film, and I don’t watch it. But it’s just like, images floating in front of me. And she says, What did that person just say? And I don’t know, I wasn’t really interested in the first place. I’m only sitting here because of you. Well, our relationship is going wrong. Well, she doesn’t. But in my head in my head, that’s what she’s saying. She’s looking at me going, where has the communication gone? Where has the love got? Where is all that sexy time we had at the beginning about relationship? And I think, well, 26 years later, love is going to change is going to change. That’s why I got Netflix to take the pressure away from yourself. So how do you switch off from everything you say snowboarding, but when you can’t snowboard when you in house? How would somebody be able to do that? I’m fascinated, because it does tie in with sleep, doesn’t it? If you can switch off long enough before you go to bed, then I would think that sleep would come easier. But because we’re always looking our laptops and stuff all the way up to that five minute before we turn the light out. How do you do it? What’s a good way of doing it?

Christine Hansen [40:36]
I think it’s incredibly individual have, we have the Netflix situation going on too. But I’m I actually enjoy it a lot. So that’s my way of doing it. And that’s also where I’m not really communicating that much with my husband, I suppose. But just watch the comment. But that’s like time when we just both kind of relaxing, I suppose that’s how I managed to switch off. But again, you know, you have your iPhone with you. And so you know, you check your emails every now and then. But I think for people, it’s so individual, but I know that some of my clients, they really enjoy having a last walk before they go to bed just to let the thoughts come and just hit them there. So at least this diffuse by the time they go into bed.

David Ralph [41:20]
That would be perfect late night walk just before you go to sleep is the perfect love

Christine Hansen [41:24]
was my public clientele it was that.

But in general, I think I the easiest thing for me to switch off is when I am with friends and family. Because you just talk you know, you just talk to so many people and have fun. And that’s the easiest for me to just put my iPhone away and just completely forget it for six, six hours or 12 hours. And obviously I freaked out when I switch it back on because I haven’t gotten any emails. But that’s that’s my easiest way of switching off. I’m maybe I could do exercise, but that’s not waiting my thing. So

David Ralph [42:00]
if you don’t do exercise with Netflix, we have got so many blooming exercise machines and I turn up but my wife says, I bought that I saw it on the TV and I’m going to use that one I’m watching Telly. No, you’re not you’re going to hang clothes on it. That’s all they’re there for you never use them at all. Oh, nice exercise when you got Netflix. Now, just before I play the words of Steve Jobs, who created a whole theme of the show? Where’s your dream building? Because when you start something, you want to create income, and then you start building something that’s very successful. And then you start believing in yourself somehow. And you start thinking oh my god, yeah, this is just a starting point. Can you see that? You’re in that point, at the moment where you’re actually realising that it’s not enough for you what you’ve achieved so far.

Christine Hansen [42:46]
Yeah, I mean, I set off with a huge vision that I want to be, which is crazy, like the crazy thing huge, of really happening, like my ultimate goal is really to create to charity, like million euro pound dollar charities. That’s my ultimate goal I’m going to. So right now I’m still at the beginning. And at least I’m moving, you know, so at least I’m moving towards it. But how the dots are going to connect to get there. I don’t know, like, obviously, I’m working for it for it and stuff. But I’m happy with where I am right now. But it’s it’s moving forward. Let’s put it that way.

David Ralph [43:28]
Let’s play those words, because you’ll get some inspiration on how those dots will join up.

Steve Jobs [43:34]
Here is Steve Jobs. Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was in college. But it was very, very clear looking backwards. 10 years later. Again, you can’t connect the dots looking forward, you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something, your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever. Because believing that the dots will come neck down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leaves you off the well worn path. And that will make all the difference.

David Ralph [44:10]
really true words unlike Christine?

Christine Hansen [44:12]
Yeah, no, definitely. actually something that came into my mind is I’m so I’m from Luxembourg, but I was adopted when I was four months old. So I was born in Colombia. And for me, that’s already the first dot, you know that I was supposed to be somewhere else supposed to be in a family that made it possible for me to get all of this education and this great connexion and basically my whole future. So looking at it in terms of how all of this connected and will connect again. I think it’s it’s certainly relationships, I think for sure, in my case, but we’ll see. We’ll see. But I think that’s how I created everything in the past. That’s how I developed that’s my strength. And I think that’s also what’s going to lead me to the teacher. Rather than anything analytical. I’m ready. Yeah.

David Ralph [45:04]
I mean, that’s, I think that’s absolutely true with you. And I think that’s how business is built, isn’t it? It’s about Connexions. You know, I’ve become a great believer now that you don’t build a business with outward Connexions. You build a business with inward Connexions, you have to start to really know yourself, first of all, and once you know yourself, then things start to magically occur around you. And I think that’s really what sort of Steve Jobs says, You’ve got to trust in something, you’ve got to have faith, you don’t know the answers, but you just got to go for it. But it is all to do with connexion somehow, isn’t it?

Christine Hansen [45:36]
Absolutely, completely. Yeah. I think that’s the trust the Connexions that you have, and also the part that you said of knowing yourself, and that can be very, very exhausting. Like, I think when you have a nine to five job, you just work. And you just do and you have your free time where you’re really busy, because you work all the time. And you kind of lose touch. And when you become an entrepreneur, I think especially when you are in a service based business where you have to connect with people in order for them to trust you to become a client, you need to know who you are. And you have to go back to that. And it’s basically getting to know yourself again, which is tough work. And I think I never thought spend as much time thinking about what I do, what my weaknesses are, what my strengths are becoming aware of myself as much as during the last year. And it was sometimes exhausting, but it’s so rewarding to I can really say that I’m in a good place like that. I am aware of the flaws that but that I’m also aware of my strength and that I I can say that I like myself as a person, which I think is also an amazing thing. If you’re aware of that.

David Ralph [46:47]
Now love yourself, don’t like yourself, love yourself.

Christine Hansen [46:51]
I do it myself, but well, you know you want to become

David Ralph [46:54]
he doesn’t want to be humble on this show. I’ll tell you what I do. I do love myself and I say to my kids, it’s like a I love you dead. I’m like, Oh, yeah, but I hope you love yourself more. Because I do think that that’s true, not that you go around sort of staring at yourself all the time in mirrors and kissing yourself and stuff. But it does come to that point, doesn’t it? When you actually go Look, I am who I am. You know, I know that I’m at heart an idiot. And I do know that. But I like to have fun. I like to play I like to embrace laughter and enjoyment. And that is my thing. That’s it. But for a long time I ran away from that I thought that I had to be serious about had to be you know, frown in board meetings and stroke my beard like all the other women in the room. And I am totally in love with how I can be on the microphone, because I think that is when it comes together for you. That’s that’s your super talent. That’s when you go this is I am who I am. And you just want to you just want to be that. So love yourself. Christine, let’s let’s have a big loving.

Christine Hansen [47:58]
Yeah, I give you a hug right here.

David Ralph [48:01]
It’s real. It’s real listeners. She says it’s virtual. I tell you what. She’s She’s been stalking me for years. You can’t keep away from her? Well, this is the end of the show. And this is the bit that we’ve been building up to, which is the Sermon on the mic when we send you back in time to have a one on one with your younger self. And if you go back in time and speak to the young Christine, what advice would you give? And what age would you choose to wear? We’re gonna find out, because I’m going to play the theme tune. And when it Phaedra up, this is the Sermon on the mic. Go

Unknown Speaker [48:38]
with the best bit of the show.

Christine Hansen [48:55]
Okay, Christine, so you are 22 you’re back from uni. And that as it happened, you started teacher training, because circumstances let you there. And you kind of just went with it. And my message to you is, don’t ever hesitate or don’t ever doubt what you can do and who you are and that that’s perfectly fine. And don’t let any people who really suck at that job tell you things that you know are not true. Don’t let you don’t let that drag you down and go for it. Do what your gut tells you trust your voice, and you will get to somewhere beautiful.

David Ralph [49:37]
And little Christine, when you get older and you’re on a podcast really emphasise the fact that sexy time is good. All podcasters out there that don’t hold back on that. Don’t hold back on that. That is the advice. Now you don’t know who this voice is, but just get it into your brain into your brain. I should have done it in a floaty voiceprint. Well, what’s the number one best way that our audience can get neck with you, Christine?

Christine Hansen [50:02]
Yeah, you can always find me on my website. And so sleep like a boss.com or LinkedIn where you can find me under the by Christine Hansen. And I just love you to reach out and just send me an email. And we can talk together immediately. And you can just do that at Christine at sleep like a boss calm. And I’d love to hear from you seriously, like don’t hesitate to reach out. It’s always great to go Connexions. And to help really

David Ralph [50:30]
write stuff. We have all the links in the show notes. Christine, thank you so much for spending time with us today. joining up those dots. Please come back again when you have more dots to join up because I do believe that by joining up the dots and connecting our past is the best way to build our futures. Christine Hansen. Thank you so much.

Unknown Speaker [50:46]
Thank you David. It was great.

David Ralph [50:50]
sexy time sexy time I tell you what I’m going to cancel the rest of the day’s shows that lady has inspired me well least to get some good night’s sleep because it has been bad this week. But I think it’s more the temperature and stuff I’m going to look at my bedtime routine because I do I always fall asleep about eight o’clock at night more often than not because I’m kind of bored. But I’m gonna see if I can do something about that. And I will report back so that I have got more energy to record episodes of Join Up Dots. And the bottom line on that show is you can do something that you love, and you can create work life balance that doesn’t exist, work is life. Life is work and you just enjoy it, all of it. And that my friends and listeners is the key to Join Up Dots. Thank you so much for listening to this episode. This was David Ralph. That was Christine Hanson, Episode 563. And we’ll see you again soon. Cheers. Bye bye.

Are you tired of the same routine that nine to five the mundane? Or perhaps have lost touch with the dreams and passions that led to a life that’s a wow, and simply don’t know where it is start that Join Up Dots has the answer. Dream starter Academy is the number one group mastermind online today showing our members how to create their own business lifestyle or dream job teaching you how to find your thing teaching you how to build income around your passions and giving you a life where you leave out of bed with a set of up. We surround you 24 seven with the greatest entrepreneurs, business owners and dreamers online today who are ready to help you get going. They followed the simple steps laid out for them and saw their lives changed forever and you can do the same. So are you ready to change your life explode your income and create the dream life that you have always dreamt up? Enjoying with us today by heading over to Join Up dots.com and look for dream starter Academy. We look forward to working with you see you on the inside.

Outro [53:01]
David doesn’t want you to become a faded version of the brilliant self you are wants to become so he’s put together an amazing guide for you called the eight pieces of advice that every successful entrepreneur practices, including the two that changed his life. Head over to Join Up dots.com to download this amazing guide for free and we’ll see you tomorrow on Join Up Dots.