New Year's resolutions - love them or hate them?
Now, I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions. I don’t buy into the concept of ‘new year, new me’ because I just think, if you really wanted to make a change, why would you wait till the end of the year to implement it? That being said, I am a firm believer in planning steps towards your goals and for many people this motivation is more likely to appear at this time of year.
The premise behind Adrienne Herbert’s power hour is that your first hour of every day should be used to improve your life and work towards certain goals you have set for yourself. In Power Hour, Herbert notes that the first hour of your day is critical in impacting your energy, mood and decision-making for the rest of the day. The idea is that if you start your day on a productive note, particularly involving things you put off or rarely make time for, it will help you to get the best out of yourself, whilst also not taking much time out of your schedule. Fear not, this is not a book that is going to shame you for not being productive enough: Herbert fully acknowledges the fact that we are going through a pandemic and that life is not moving at the pace we’re used to. Instead, throughout the book, Herbert offers useful and genuine tips on how to alter small aspects of your life which amount to a much bigger change for the long term.
I’m not going to pretend like I’ll be up at 6am every morning training for a marathon, like Adrienne Herbert does, but I have found much in this book that I can apply to my own life. For example, in recent months I have noticed myself lacking any drive to workout or run my blog - completely understandable of course, given the current state of the world. However, these are things that I usually find so much joy in and I know would make me feel happier if I could force myself to do them. I tell myself that I’m too busy with other projects, but the reality is that I’m just not carving out enough time in these areas to see the progression I want. On some days, I hope to use this power hour to read, other times it might be to write blog posts, or even to work out in my garage. I’d also like to try my hand at journaling and practising mindfulness, which I definitely need to do more of. Ultimately, your power hour doesn’t have to be filled by something that’s super productive, but it does have to take place during the first hour of your day and it should contribute to improving the quality of your life in some way.
Power Hour gave me the final push I needed to create a routine for my tier 4 days and, in reading this book, I hope it too can help you find a greater sense of purpose and fulfilment.
Power Hour is out tomorrow! Thank you to Lydia and Hutchinson Books for my advanced reader copy.