Buddhist Catholic Contemplative Evangelical General Christian Hindu Jewish Latter-day Saint Muslim New Visions Progressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos

Shrinking the Camel

Home
Careers, Workplace and Religion
How One Hour a Day x Three Years Can Change Your Life

How One Hour a Day x Three Years Can Change Your Life

Last updated on: August 12, 2010 at 6:59 pm by JBW

How One Hour a Day x Three Years Can Change Your Life 2010-08-12T18:59:12-05:00 JBW

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

What if you committed just one hour a day to work on that dream project you’ve been thinking about all those years?

That’s what Geoff Edgers did.

Edgars was a 38 year old arts reporter for the Boston Globe who had reached that enviable point in life where he was settled down with a good job, a nice house and family. But he couldn’t shake this dream he had to make a movie.

Not just any movie. He was obsessed with the band, The Kinks, and had this crazy idea that he could reunite them by making a movie about the legendary founding brothers, Ray and Dave Davies. The problem was that he knew nothing about making movies, nor did he have any money to do it. But he decided to spend an hour a day working on it.

Three years later, he had a movie documentary in the can, called “Do it Again.” It premiered at the International Film Festival in Rotterdam to smashing reviews.

Of course, there are about a hundred thousand little details and obstacles and victories between here and there, but the point is, he took a risk, made a commitment, started something, and saw it through to completion. But not in a way that would have broken apart his entire career and family. He spent an hour a day for three years.

“If you wonder if you could write a book or run a marathon, don’t waste a minute calculating your chances. Instead, spend an hour a day on your dream. It’s how I suddenly found myself on a bridge in London, cameras rolling, wondering what took me so long.”

Breaking it down.

Okay, so let’s say he spent one hour a day, say six days a week (I’ll give him credit for resting on the Sabbath), over three years. With two weeks off per year, that’s 150 weeks.

1 x 6 x 150 = 900 hours.

That’s the equivalent of about four months full time.

If you think about, that’s a lot of hours to get something done.

Six Reasons Why One Hour a Day Can Change Your Life

Whether you are thinking about writing a screenplay, training for the senior olympics, or starting an online yarn business, one hour a day over a longer time frame can be a realistic way to get things up and running. Here’s the thing about one hour a day:

1. It’s enough of a commitment to show you are serious. A bunch of sagging middle-age guys around my office have been doing a fitness program one hour a day for the last two months. Every single one of them is starting to look great – losing 15, 20, 30 pounds. They are being transformed. But it is only because they all got together and swore that if they signed up for this thing, they were going to commit. And it shows.

2. It really gets you focused. By putting aside a chunk of time each day, you are telling your brain: “Hey, this is important!” Although you are physically devoting just one hour, your brain will start working around the clock thinking about it. Soon you’ll see your progress accelerate as the strange synergy of the subconscious mind kicks in.

3. It is realistic to find one hour a day. You can get up an hour earlier, use your lunch hour, or shut yourself away for an hour when you get home from work. Or, you could stop doing something else that is less important: reading the paper, watching TV, posting on Facebook, even exercising. It’s a trade off. I know you’re busy, but so am I, and there are no excuses for not being able to carve out one stinking hour in the day.

4. You can actually get something done in one hour. One hour is substantial enough to allow you to really accomplish something. And since you are doing it every day, you can come back tomorrow and have a sense of continuity with what you were working on.

5. It’s easier to get friends and family to support. What do you think would have happened if Geoff came home one day and said to his wife, “I’m quitting my job to go figure out how to make a movie about a band from the 70’s.” Right. You know the answer to that one. We’ve all got obligations at home to consider: financial support, being with the kids, fixing the deck, hanging out with your spouse, etc. etc. But one hour a day to achieve your dream? I think your spouse and kids could support that, and you can still spend quality time with your family. Rather than making it a big production that’s all about you, bring the family in to share the dream and support the hour.

6. Three years is a realistic expectation for a time frame. I had once heard Seth Godin say that if you are serious about blogging, don’t even think about starting it unless you are going to commit to three years. Because no matter how good you are, it takes that long to establish a foundation, a community of followers, a reputation and the right visibility. Nothing substantial happens in a flash. Three years? Yes, that’s long enough to see some kind of result.

So come on. Do something fantastic. Stop waiting around for the right time to show up. Get started today with just one hour, and then keep it going. See what happens.

The time is going to pass by anyway, whether you do this or not.

And I’ll go first. You see, I’ve been thinking about writing this book…

Photo by Nancy Rosback.

Previous Post

August 10, 2010

Is it Taboo To Talk About Your Beliefs at Work?

Next Post

August 17, 2010 It's Okay to Feel Stupid Sometimes

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Ambition Blogging Career Culture Executive Career Development Failure Faith in the Workplace Family Feeling Stupid Leadership Managing People Purpose Reviews Spirituality Uncategorized Work-Life Balance

Select a Month November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

Which prophet confronted King Ahab about his sins?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Elisha Elijah Ezekiel Jeremiah