Your Soul Food for the week of Lunar New Year 2026: “A bad day for the ego is a great day for the soul”

Happy Soul Food Friday,

With the year of the Fire Horse, here’s to major changes that break old patterns and inspire new growth!

This week:

Happy Lunar New Year, the Year of the Fire Horse! 11 things to know…
A Poem for People in Pain from Robin Sharma
Frontier Leadership: Maintaining Our Humanity, One Decision at a Time with Dr. Rick Morales
You Can Double Your Deep Sleep in 4 Minutes thanks to Dr. Tim Patel

Happy Lunar New Year, year of the fire horse! 11 things to know:

Cultural Significance: In East Asia, Fire Horse years are seen as both auspicious and challenging — bringing transformative opportunities but also requiring careful guidance and wise leadership.

Symbol of Transformation: The Fire Horse is believed to bring about major changes that break old patterns and inspire new growth.

Chinese New Year begins Feb. 17, year of the fire horse

A Poem for People in Pain

From Robin Sharma:

We all have hard seasons.
Stages where the ground on which we stand seems to crumble, nothing seems to be in our favor and the winter seems endless.
To know pain, to endure suffering and to feel as though the trial will never end is to be fully human. And to become most intimate with life itself.

“A bad day for the ego is a great day for the soul”, though.

From what I can tell—and who truly knows the way the world works—that which appears to unmake us is the very season that rebuilds us.
Our pain, in truth, becomes a purifier. Difficulty softens us, unmasks us and opens us—allowing the gifts of wisdom, humility and patience to become our new way of being.

As I listen to a precious song called “For My Little Man” by Cody Ray, on a stormy day on the farm, I write you this poem. So that you remember your winter will pass. Your luminous Spring is coming.

The Dark Woods Season:
There are times in a human life.
Of hurt, hardship and hollowness.
To meet them is not to fall.
These times are times of our rising.
Dissolving for rebuilding.
From a young age we are trained to run.
To escape from seasons in the wilderness.
To betray our growth. To neglect the needs of the soul. So, we prosper in the world.

Yet the dark woods are the gateway into light.
The light of your wisdom, art, and magic.
You have magic in you, you know. You do.

So, while the many stay busy. Trust your season of pain has fortune. It is here to wash away that which limits you.
From the brilliance, awe and wonder.
That in your own true way. Is all you truly are.

Love + respect,
Robin

Frontier Leadership: Maintaining Our Humanity, One Decision at a Time with Dr. Rick Morales

With the world moving at the speed of light I’ve wondered how best to describe our moment in time. Like many of you, I’ve too often been at a loss for words.

My mantra – what drives my work and life – is to help people find their power, their voice. This has led me to reconsider what leadership is; or what we assume it to be.

With this exploration I’ve developed a framework, available for anyone to practice, create community and generate momentum. I call it Frontier Leadership.

The basic tenet of this practice is that dignity is non-negotiable.

Frontier Leadership: Maintaining Our Humanity, One Decision at a Time

You can double your deep sleep in 𝟰𝗺𝗶𝗻𝘂𝘁𝗲𝘀 thanks to Dr. Tim Patel:

Not with supplements.
Not with gadgets.
Not by going to bed earlier.

By telling your nervous system the day is over.

Most people don’t have a sleep problem.
They have a 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝘁𝗱𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

They go from: Slack → phone → bed
And wonder why they’re “tired but wired”.

That state kills deep sleep.

Here’s what actually fixes it.

𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗦.𝗟.𝗘.𝗘.𝗣 𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗥𝗜𝗧𝗨𝗔𝗟 (𝟰 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗦 𝗧𝗢𝗧𝗔𝗟)

This is a 𝗯𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗵𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗿 from stress to recovery.

𝗦 — 𝗦𝗔𝗠𝗘 𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗘, 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗟𝗬
↳ Start the ritual at the same time every evening
↳ Consistency trains your nervous system faster than duration

𝗟 — 𝗟𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧 𝗗𝗜𝗠𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗚
↳ Lower lights. Warm tones only
↳ No light control = no melatonin. Full stop

𝗘 — 𝗘𝗔𝗦𝗘 𝗬𝗢𝗨𝗥 𝗕𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗡𝗚 (𝟮 𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗨𝗧𝗘𝗦)
↳ 4-7-8 breathing. Inhale 4. Hold 7. Exhale 8
↳ This flips your nervous system into rest mode

𝗘 — 𝗘𝗟𝗜𝗠𝗜𝗡𝗔𝗧𝗘 𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗠𝗨𝗟𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡
↳ No work. No news. No scrolling
↳ Boring is a feature, not a bug

𝗣 — 𝗣𝗥𝗢𝗚𝗥𝗘𝗦𝗦𝗜𝗩𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗔𝗫𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡 (𝟵𝟬 𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗦)
↳ Tense and release muscles from feet to head
↳ Your body can’t stay alert if it’s physically letting go

𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧 𝗖𝗛𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗦 𝗪𝗛𝗘𝗡 𝗬𝗢𝗨 𝗗𝗢 𝗧𝗛𝗜𝗦 𝗡𝗜𝗚𝗛𝗧𝗟𝗬
↳ Cortisol drops instead of lingering
↳ Core body temperature falls (required for deep sleep)
↳ Melatonin rises naturally
↳ Deep sleep expands instead of getting compressed

Sleep labs see this pattern consistently when pre-bed routines are applied.

Same bed. Same hours.
Different signal.

Deep sleep isn’t luck.
It’s what happens when your nervous system gets a clear off-ramp.

Four minutes is enough.
If you make it non-negotiable.

♻️ Most people try to sleep harder.
The ones who recover best shut down earlier

💾 Save this for the next night you’re lying awake, wired, and exhausted.