Where There's Light There's HOP

I call it the Hour of Power. The acronym being HOP. In the notes folder of my phone, I keep record of how many hours I am in arrears. I am never in credit. I keep the log with the hope that one day I will catch up through a day or who knows weeklong sabbatical somewhere. The Hour of Power is broken into 3 x 20-minute sections. The first 20 for meditation. A practise I have done for many years. The second 20 minutes is reading. I probably didn’t realise how much I enjoy reading until looking back at all the books I have read. Based on math 20 minutes a day could see you reading more than 25 books a year. The final 20 minutes is for what you’re reading now. Writing.

Fortunately, my life supports this scared ritual and, on most occasions, a quick gym session prior and a beach walk and swim afterward. By 9am most days I am ready for the world. My HOP is seemingly under threat, however. Some outbursts from my family suggesting it is all a load of shit. Friends sneering and joking about it. My internal uncaged chimp brain saying it is a waste of time. I have come to recognise this as a spur to keep it going. The HOP has become an important part of my life. It best serves me between the hours of 6 and 7am. I have been known to squeeze it in during a later part of the day, but that morning hour is when it seems most natural and affective.

The HOP can travel with me. It is easy to carry a book, phone, headphones, laptop or simply a journal. Some days I dream that is all I will ever want possession wise. Materials to help me be, think and create. Stop gap ..…pause. It has been weeks since I have acknowledged my HOP. A leave of absence if you will. Not surprisingly I have had an indifferent period. Felt a bit grubbier. Less alive. Less enthused. Could my daily habitude and sacred kickstart be that important? Perhaps!

The HOP is a tool borrowed directly from the great thinker Robin Sharma. In his book ‘The 5am Club’ he educates us on the beautiful stillness and energy that can be found in the wee hours. His model allows for 20 minutes to invigorate your body, 20 on your mind and 20 on your soul. I have extended mine out somewhat with the exercise earlier. There wouldn’t be many health professionals now that wouldn’t endorse this self-development time. As the world returns to normal and life wants to kidnap you back it is important to stay true to any newly formed habits that may have developed. Especially if they serve you well. The balance of my life is ultra-important. To be able to do but be. The quality of the being most important. I could use that hour to binge the latest Netflix series. My wife would probably prefer it is spent domestically. Some peers would prefer I am writing policy or ideas for the business. But guess what? That will all still be there waiting after my HOP.

Foregoing it or as I came close to, disbanding it altogether would be such a shame. Because with every intent to allow myself time I simply wouldn’t. Hence why the time of the day suits it best. I don’t want to ignore an important meeting, a shot of basketball with my daughter or miss a call from a friend because the phone is on airplane mode in the middle of the afternoon. Like a daily chore a sense of accomplishment comes with having ticked it off first thing. It is a sanctuary that at times I quite look forward to. The meditation can be sometimes reward after the exercise earlier. To slow your mind and breathing and just be is an amazing tool. Immaturely I wish all people mediated. Particularly those who I have an interpersonal relationship with. I thrive on being calm but know when the tension boils over and I “kick the can” that I still have some way to go.

The reading component could possibly be the most undervalued of the three. Whilst recording episodes of a podcast with my daughter recently, I found myself effortlessly recalling information and anecdotes from books and authors alike. It is validating. It explodes my curiosity. When the timer sounds for 20 minutes, I generally get to the next page form a lovely little dog’s ear and look forward to picking it up tomorrow. The discipline it helps instil is also powerful. There have been many books not as good as others but the breaking down helps get through and often enough I can extract something worthy from just about anything I read. Fiction or Nonfiction can have the same affect. You can learn from both.

Finally, the creative 20 minutes or “soul” time could be spent doing a host of things. You could knit. You could cook. You could learn a language. I tried the latter for a period. Chinese. I can only recall some phrases but remember the joy of communicating with someone in another language. Time compounds and the results can be significant. Expressing, creating, or applying a skill can be so rewarding. Writing is not easy. I joked one morning when staring at a blank screen that I must have been suffering writers block. Hilarious considering, I was the grand master of approximately 15,000 words in total.

In essence it is a commitment to yourself. Time for you. I joined a lone beach goer in the surf just recently. He mentioned he enjoyed my blogs and enquired where I find the time. I felt like a fraud. I hadn’t enjoyed writing for over 3 weeks. That’s when it dawned on me. You don’t find the time; you must create it. The hard part is protecting it.