Sensei Darren Breaks it down: My Hour of Power 

I’d like to share a training concept I use Called “My hour of power”. I use this everyday to set myself up for my day.
Let me start by asking you, have you had a morning where everything that can, does go wrong?
Have you ever said to your self “What a day I’ve had?” or “I should of stayed in bed this morning?”

This is due to reacting to the day instead of controlling your day. We can’t stop bad or negative things happening in our day but we can control how we react to them.

With smart phones, social media has been accessible 24/7 and this has changed our lives. A lot of people now as soon as they open their eyes reach for the phone beside their bed, scrolling social media news feed, wondering if the comment someone has made is aimed at them or you hear about all that is bad in the world.

When you first wake up in the morning, you don’t have a worry, you are in charge, you’ve rested and then you start letting in the world; “I hope I don’t have to do this today, I hope I don’t get a bill” and so on!

The problem now is you’re not thinking for yourself, you’re just reacting to problems or bad news, filling your mind with lots of negativity which will influence your mindset for the rest of the day. You end up making poor choices.

Now lets start the day positively.
Start a new habit of not looking at your phone when you wake up, place your phone away from your bed. Take time in the morning to wake up, enjoy breakfast and collect your own thoughts, before taking on other peoples thoughts.
When you do this your mindset is to tackle the problems of the day instead of reacting to them.

Here’s what I do, my Hour of Power.

I set aside one hour in the day just for me, first thing in the morning. I wake up and do a 30-minute workout.
The workout helps me in two areas, helps keep me fit so I can help others at my SOLO Studio and it helps keep my mind in the present.
By exercising I release endorphins into my body, which help to calm me, my mind focuses on the task in front of me, nothing else! The Japanese call this mushindo, meaning “No mind” I focus on my breathing, I focus on stretching.

After my workout I take a few moments to think positively about my self, what am I grateful for? What I’m I looking forward to doing today etc.
After this I will then get into the meat of the day, check messages, go to work etc.

Difference is I’m in a mindset of finding solutions to problems instead of hating on the day.
This is a concept I use at SOLO, on a evening you may have had one hell of a day, so my team help to motivate, de-stress through kickboxing workouts and work on mindset through breathing and motional training, to remind you your day is what happened to you, not what defines you.

The modern world demands a lot of our time and we forget to just take time for ourselves, its important that we remember we are important too.

Here are some idea you can do with an “Hour of Power”

⁃ Watch inspirational videos, messages
⁃ Read a book for just 20 minutes each morning
⁃ Go for a morning Walk
⁃ Listen to motivating music
⁃ Write done each morning what steps your taking today together your goals
⁃ List thing things your grateful for
⁃ Workout

I hope you have found this article helpful and given you some food for thought , it may sound a little strange but I assure you it does help.
My goal is to help you, you can follow me on my personal instagram page (@darren_hunter_ ) where I post about my Hour of Power.

Much respect
Sensei Darren.