There are days when nothing works.
The to-do list stares back blankly. The coffee goes cold. The conversation didn’t go how you hoped. A setback stings more than it should. Maybe there were tears, maybe just the familiar ache of disappointment. Whatever the cause, the spiral feels real. We’ve all been there – those slow, quiet descents where frustration compounds, self-doubt whispers louder, and time feels both too fast and too slow.
But here’s the thing about downward spirals: you can interrupt them. And it doesn’t require a grand gesture or an impossible rebound. It just needs one intentional hour.
Most of us overestimate what we need to do to turn things around. We plan to fix the whole week in a single sitting. We wait for energy to return before we act. We think clarity comes before motion. But it’s often the opposite. Action, even small, creates momentum. And momentum is clarity’s closest cousin.
So here’s a radical thought, softened only by its simplicity: choose one hour. Not to conquer the day. Just to reclaim it.
Do one thing. Not the biggest thing. The right thing. Maybe it’s stepping away for a walk, unburdened by headphones or to-do lists. Maybe it’s writing the message you’ve avoided. Maybe it’s putting your phone down, or picking up a glass of water. Maybe it’s asking for help. Whatever it is, it doesn’t have to solve everything. It just needs to change something.
In leadership, in business, in life – we don’t always get to decide what hits us. But we always get to decide the story we tell next. That’s the power of one intentional hour. It’s the reset button disguised as discipline. It’s the opposite of spiraling – it’s scaffolding.
What does intentional even mean in this context? It’s not about perfection or productivity. It’s not about getting back to 100%. It’s about presence. About saying: I will not drift. It’s about showing up for yourself when you’re least convinced you can.
I’ve worked with leaders who build empires and still question their worth. I’ve coached change agents who are brilliant and stuck in the same breath. I’ve watched momentum return not because of breakthroughs, but because they made a small, honest decision to shift the energy. One email sent. One drawer cleaned. One breath taken. One conversation started. That’s it. That’s the thing.
The same principle holds true in design thinking and strategic planning. When systems get stuck, we don’t bulldoze them – we prototype. We run a small test. We change one variable. Complexity doesn’t scare us as much as inertia does. Because inertia is a lie. It tells you to wait, to collapse inward, to let the day win. But inertia is interrupted by agency. And agency is reclaimed in hours, not eras.
We spend so much of our energy avoiding failure, discomfort, and shame. But sometimes, the way forward isn’t avoiding those feelings – it’s walking through them with your head up and your shoes tied. You don’t need to fix your life. You need to change the slope.
And sometimes that starts with deciding this next hour is yours.
You don’t need to believe everything you think when you’re low. Your most exhausted version of yourself is not your most honest narrator. So thank it for trying to protect you, and keep going anyway. Show yourself you still have some say.
No one’s asking for a miracle. Just an hour. Just one. One hour to take back your voice. To move your body. To breathe with intention. To show up as the kind of person you hope to be, even if it feels distant.
Leadership starts there. Not in titles, or strategy decks, or public wins. But in the quiet defiance of small moments where you choose not to give up on yourself.
So … if today is hard, let it be hard. Cry if you need. Pause if you must. But then take the reins. There’s still time to make this the best hour of your day.
One intentional hour. That’s all it takes to remember who you are.