Dr. Peggy Marshall

 The Power Hour

“Time is at once the most valuable and perishable of all of our possessions.” -John Randolph

David Lakhani in “The Power of an Hour”  suggests that it only takes an hour daily to create change in our lives. If we could turn that hour into a power hour what would it look like for you? Where would youPeggy_crop put the power hour in your schedule? What would you do during this hour? Many authors have revealed what they believe to be the activities that set successful people apart including but not limited to; time for daily focus, reflection, gratitude, and setting intentions. When I engage in this discussion with my clients, they all agree that an hour set aside to focus, reflect, express gratitude and set intentions would be nothing but a positive add to their day, however the challenge is in finding that hour.

We all have the same twenty-four hours available in the day to create success for ourselves. It’s up to us to determine when we can carve out that hour as we will be making sacrifices and changes in routine to make it happen. Most of my clients find that scheduling the hour at the beginning of the day works best. To get started think about what you do during your first hour? Are you engaged in an exercise routine, news routine or something else that eases you into your day?

Focus What are you paying attention to that is not taking you into your best self? Are you a news junkie who wants to hear what is happening as soon as you wake up in your community and your world…the good, the bad, and the ugly? Sometimes that information functions as nothing other than noise. Shawn Achor in “Before Happiness”  categorizes noise into four categories; unusable because our behavior will not be altered by the noise; untimely in that we are not going to use information imminently and the info could change by the time its usable; hypothetical noise is based on what “could be” instead of “what is”; and finally distracting noise keeps us from our goals. Think about how much noise you ingest in the first hour upon wakening and then determine if cancelling the noise would allow for more focus and setting intentions. What happens when we cancel noise? We pay attention to signals that could take us into greater successes and happiness!

Reflection When you think about your past, whether it is yesterday, last week, or last year, what are you thinking about? Are you focusing on successes and how to create more of them or are you focusing on what went wrong? Reflection is a powerful tool when used to move us into our best selves. When it does not take us into our possibilities, it becomes a weapon of mass destruction. Many authors have shared with us the power of beliefs when advancing our goals. Both Wayne Dyer in “When You Believe It, You Will See It” and Jack Canfield in “The Success Principles”  guide the importance of reflecting positively about our experiences in order to create a future of our dreams. Jack shares that believing in ourselves is a choice and an attitude that we develop over time so if you ever find yourself in a situation in which you are not believing in a positive outcome, know that you can make a shift by choosing to believe (and think) differently about any given challenge.

Gratitude Shawn Achor, in “The Happiness Advantage” states that “consistently grateful people are more energetic, emotionally intelligent, forgiving, and less likely to be depressed, anxious, or lonely.” In fact, researchers who trained volunteers to focus on gratefulness found increases in optimism, social connections, happiness, better sleep patterns and even decreases in headaches in just a few short weeks. Imagine what you could do if you began to include a focus on gratitude in your life! Other benefits of the experience of gratitude include; instant lift in spirits; synergy and closeness in relationships, stronger resiliency; more creativity, and a deeper appreciation for life and sense of contentment.

Intention Setting Setting our intentions for what we want for the day or for the week will help us focus our energy on what matters most. Have you ever heard someone say “I had the best of intentions to meet that commitment, I don’t know what happened!” What happened was not placing attention on the intention. So if you are going to make a list of intentions for the day, you have to ensure that you keep your attention on the intention! What are some of the tools to help you stay focused on the intention? Writing down the action steps either in a log or journal can help you maintain focus. If you choose this option, you will want to keep your journal or action plan readily available so that you can document progress and success. Another tool is to create a key word or mantra that can be repeated throughout the day. Words like “healthy, congruent, positive, family, etc.” or other simple phrases can be used. Finding someone who can be supportive of your intentionscan also help reinforce them. Choose these support people wisely as you will need to be in frequent contact with them. Finally, make sure you build in rewards and celebrate quick wins as you follow-though to ultimate success!

This month as you think about what your power hour might look like daily asking yourself how this hour can contribute to the best version of you engaging life in the most successful way.

To Your Success! Dr. Peggy

 

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