In most circles today there is a status upgrade to be had with “readiness.”
It’s the cousin of the “work 12 hours per day” attribute and the second cousin of the “I sleep 4-6 hours per night” claim.
There is a similarity.
Readiness is to be able to “hop to it” at anytime and get something done.
In the corporate or entrepreneurial circles it’s to wake up, often skip breakfast and get started on output.
In the gyms, it’s to be able and ready to do a high level skill on the rings at any time.
Well, when we start to understand circadian (hormonal) rhythms, we know that readiness has a time-frame.
For there to be light, there needs to be dark.
Continual readiness is mechanical, rather than biological. It is of the machine and there is the conflict.
Moment to moment readiness would be possible and helpful if we had the ability to also down-regulate and relax moment to moment (a healthy dog gets close, as does a frog I believe. Relaxed, yet alert)
As we lose our ability to relax in a given moment, we give away the right to moment to moment readiness.
When we force it, we simply dial up stress hormones and demand on our resources time and time again, until it is chronic.
So, it’s OK to not “train” at 5:30am every day.
It’s helpful (essential..) to not sleep with your phone on or near you.
It’s helpful to rest for an hour in the afternoon on a Sunday.
It’s great to doze in the sun for a bit.
As we let go of the idea of constant readiness, we allow for the practice of down-regulation.
Ironically, when we do this for a while, we get a little closer to what might look like something closer to moment to moment readiness.
