I get up at 5.30am six mornings a week and on a Saturday I get up at around 7.30am or 8am. Maintaining my circadian rhythm is important to me – we know that the body clock is really important when it comes to our health. I do about nine sessions of exercise a week and Saturday is the one morning that I don’t do a training session but I still like to move as soon as I get up. I’ll do some stretching to mobilise the body and balance the nervous system. Some Saturday mornings I might be a bit anxious so I will do some slow stretching and meditation. I live in Dun Laoghaire, so I might jump into the sea, or I might simply have a shower and put the last 90 seconds on cold. I don’t watch TV during the week but on Saturday I love to sit down with a cup of tea and watch sport. I’ll watch anything that’s going on in the boxing world or in rugby. I like to give myself two hours to do nothing. It’s something I’ve become increasingly good at. Sometimes in life we wear ‘busy’ as a badge of honour. I’ll get up and feel that I need to do something but now I allow myself to do nothing. It’s something I’ve had to learn because, like many busy people, my nervous system is in flight mode. As a self-employed person too I have to be constantly thinking of what’s happening next, so if I’m watching a movie I’ve already seen, it allows my brain to freewheel. I think people suffer from decision fatigue so, even though it seems there is nothing going on for me on a Saturday, there is a reason why I do what I do then. I eat porridge, chia seeds, sunflower seeds and eggs with avocado 99 days out of 100. We’ll drop Eli to stage school and then I might bring Betty to the park or a playground so I can have some one-to-one time with her. They might fall asleep in the car on the way home. We will go to the supermarket for some shopping. We might go to visit a neighbour or to one of the lovely playgrounds near our house. We might go to Dalkey or to Ticknock – we try to get the kids out into nature and the fresh air. I didn’t have my first child till I was 42. It was during lockdown. I found becoming a parent a huge transition. When it came to having a second child we had just bought a new house. My wife Miriam is the brains of the business who brings all the organisation and structure to it. When we made the decision that she would stay at home to mind the children full-time, I probably struggled to bring enough order and structure to the business. I felt I wasn’t doing enough as a dad or as a business person, but the great thing was that we can talk about these things and it has made our relationship stronger. I had to do a lot of work on myself. We had to learn to back ourselves and our decisions and then to try to figure out how to make it all work. I think it’s important for people to ask themselves: “What does good parenting look like for me?” Everyone is going to give you advice but no two children are the same, no two parents are the same… just because something worked for your neighbour doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you. Parenting is a rollercoaster and on the very day you think you have it sorted you won’t. If you can keep your kids safe, make sure they feel loved and bring a bit of fun into the house I think that’s enough. It’s also not selfish as a new parent to find time and space to look after yourself. All you need is a space the size of a yoga mat and 15 minutes a day. Do a bit of bouncing on your feet, some resistance strength training (you can even use tins of beans)... a few simple postures and poses is all you need. We will have dinner around 6pm. We always try to ensure that we have breakfast and dinner together. The kids will have a bath and get into their pjs and we’ll try to have them in bed by 8pm. We have a ‘three stories and leave the room’ rule but Betty has a beautiful way of saying “Just one more story please Daddy”. Realistically the kids will be asleep by about 9pm. At that stage I will either head to bed or I’ll stay up and watch boxing for a bit. The latest I’ll stay up is 11pm – that’s late for me and I am fine with that because I don’t like burning the candle at both ends. If I think I’m not going to fall asleep I’ll listen to a meditation or affirmation. I like to listen to Joe Dispenza or Louise Hay. Gerry Hussey’s new book I Am, I Can, I Will is available now in all good bookshops and online. Gill. €19.99.