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Have A Hate on For Mondays?
(Snippits from our oh so popular Digital Glue Podcast!)
Today is NOT Monday. But yesterday was. One of many Mondays that already passed this year, and only one of the many more waiting in the future.
Just hearing the word … Monday … is sometimes enough to fill one with feelings of dread. For a lot of people, it is a painful reminder of the routines, the not-so-good ones. This day is something that they would rather avoid if possible while holding feelings of resentment for it and ultimately believing it to be the worst day of the week.
But is it though?
There are many reasons why people can justifiably hate Monday. What makes Monday so bad for people all around the globe? Is it really that different from any other day of the week? How can we change that frame of mind thinking and start relishing the start of the week?
According to a Gallup poll conducted many moons ago, roughly 2/3 of people dislike their jobs or businesses. That’s friggin’ 70% and to me … that’s depressing and way too high a number. And sadly, to this day, that number has lingered much lower.
If this is you, hating Monday’s then let me say, you cannot go through life accepting that 5 out of every 7 days are going to be spent doing something undesirable!
If you’re listening to this podcast episode right now in an environment that is not stimulating you, why are you even there to begin with?
Because it’s easy?
Because it’s comfortable?
Because it pays well?
If your answer is YES to any of those questions, then you aren’t just doing a disservice to your business — being simply along for the ride — but you are doing a disservice to yourself.
Strong words, but they are true and needed to be said. When it comes to justifying how you spend 35 to 50 hours of your week, or more, you must face the truth — and the sooner, the better. And no words could be uttered any truer than those by Germany Kent …
Your Monday morning thoughts set the tone for the whole week. See yourself getting stronger, and living a fulfilling, happier and healthier life.
Having a hate on for Mondays is a mindset. And to stop having this “hate on”, your mindset needs to be changed. Before you can turn this situation around, you have to dig a little (or a lot) to understand why you have a hate on for Mondays so much. Here are some possible reasons …
- Your work is not challenging or stimulating enough.
- You’re not getting paid enough to cover much beyond the necessities.
- You work with people who do not respect or appreciate your contributions.
- You do not receive credit for the work you do.
- You are expected to work far too many hours per week.
- You feel you have no control over your work environment.
- You’re not prepare for Monday and feeling overwhelmed.
- Monday means you’re “doing it all over again”.
Everything on that list sounds unbearably depressing, doesn’t it?
Some of these very descriptions applied to me at one time. Fortunately, I was able to pursue my passion for creativity and develop some new skill sets in the land of #AllThings digital. I was able to combine the two kinds of work as a cohesive package of service offerings and I sensed that I could build my own, instead of working for corporate companies that would funnel work to me. My income would have been quite limited had I chosen that path.
Luckily, I had already started a freelance design business on the side many moons ago, so I didn’t have to launch an entirely new business from scratch.
- Is that something you could consider doing?
- Laying your foundation by creating a side gig?
- Or a full-time one?
I am not a career counsellor or a life coach. So, during my early transition from the land of 9-5 to the virtual world; working for myself, I consulted a professional career and life coach. And let me tell you … that made a huge difference! It’s sometimes hard to be objective about your own situation. It can take an outsider to see the answers that are lingering right in front of you. It can take a coach to encourage you and help you believe in yourself. Talking with a professional can bring insight and clarity.
Your biggest pain point could be the routines you partake in. Way too many people become slaves to their routine when consciously or not. So instead, they place the blame on the things that simply can’t fight back or convince them otherwise. And in this case, that just happens to be poor ‘ol Monday.
Every day is a new opportunity. A new gateway to living your best entrepreneurial life. So, stop looking at the glass as half empty … You don’t have to wait for “the right” moment or wait for an opportunity to present itself to you. Every moment is the right moment, and every day is a new opportunity. You need to seize it!
I guess what I’m getting at here is, Monday … it’s not the bad guy. The core problem of all this dread and unhappiness is you. (Sorry to say it, but it needed to be said.)
It’s truthfully not that difficult to make a mindset adjustment to this single day once you start making better choices and changing up your ragged routine. Plus, it’s wasting all your precious time by making all your Mondays less than outstanding. Trust me, it’s simpler than you think!
Ready to rid of your Monday blues?
Here’s 2 things you can do right away …
#1. FIND A COACH OR MENTOR.
If you cannot afford the expense, set aside a few dollars a week until you can. Get recommendations from friends or your network. This will be money well spent, and you’ll save yourself time and agony by taking this key step.
If you are concerned about finding the “right” coach (which most are as there are tons of faux experts out there) select a few from the recommendations you were given and conduct a brief interview with each. You can say something like, “Before I make the appointment, I need to ask you a couple of questions to see if you’re the right fit for me.”
If they are not willing to answer a brief question or two, move on.
#2. FIGURE OUT YOUR TRUE PASSION.
You need to be working toward doing something you are passionate about. That alone is a huge incentive to keep you going. It’s also the topic of another entire blog entry by itself, and I have written about it before.
Over the summer months, I came across a Special Edition TIME Magazine called: “The Power of Positive Thinking: Why Attitude Matters”. It was a great luxury read through topics such as optimism bliss, seeing the sunshine through the clouds, greening your viewpoint, how to see the glass half full to build up resilience, and oh so many more. Another 88 pages to be exact — filled to the brim with positivity.
Now even though my team and I already regularly practice many of these things, it was still an eye-opener to how important of all this positive thinking stuff really is. And when we’re not in that frame of mind, how it can damper and linger, thus ruining things that are exceptionally wonderful in our life.
There’s growing evidence that humans are optimistic by nature, but that doesn’t mean it’s all sunshine and rainbows and unicorns all the time.
Experts say that the key to living your best life is finding the right balance between being positive and pragmatic. And I couldn’t agree more. It’s all in our mind … this “hate on” for Monday’s type thing … So, try to see things from a new perspective.
Here are 6 signs you absolutely must make a change …
- The only item on the list that we just talked about that may appear completely hopeless is #3, working with people who do not respect or appreciate your contributions. You probably need to move on. Then begin the process of getting to where you really want to be.
- As for everything else on the list, I recommend you talk openly with your peers, mentor or coach, family, and other like-minded entrepreneurial friends if they are at all receptive. Even if your path will soon lead you away from your business offerings, you do not want to spend another week being this miserable. Do not assume you know what these lovely peeps of yours are going to say (even if you are right). Give them the opportunity to surprise you.
- Creatively find ways to improve your current situation while you plan your next steps, goals, and long-terms dreams.
- If you enjoy any aspects of your business, focus on those.
- If you are bored, search out additional and more stimulating projects, ideas, and responsibilities.
- Recall aspects of other jobs you have enjoyed and try to incorporate some into your current business plan.
- Determine realistically what it will take for you to be able pursue your dreams. You are not going to accomplish it all at once. But you won’t get there if you don’t start now. Map out a big-picture plan listing what you need to acquire then isolate the first step you can take — and take it!
- If your business is a stepping-stone to your ultimate long-term dreams, desires, and goals, so keeping that in perspective may help you cope with an undesirable situation. See your current business standings as the means to an end.
Now I can’t tell everyone to become an entrepreneur. While that was the answer for me, it is not right for everyone. You must be incredibly organized, disciplined, determined, resilient, and persistent to make it work. You must find your passion, make it your life’s work, and make it work for you.
Your greatest weapon against the stress and anguish over hating Mondays so much is your ability to choose one thought over another. This isn’t wishy-washy hogwash … You get to the choice to wake up and be grumpy every single Monday, or you can wake up with blissful optimism and say, “Just what is this beautiful new day going to bring me?”
So, don’t envision every week as a sprint. Enduring it with the hopes that one day you’ll be “done”, and you can finally “enjoy it and relax,” you’re doing it wrong. You’re missing the entire journey. You are aiming for something that doesn’t actually exist. Fulfillment is found along the way, not in a treasure chest at the end of the rainbow.
I do know this … You are stronger than you think you are.
And Mondays really aren’t that bad! 😉
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Crystal Kordalchuk
Crystal is an artist, a writer, an organizer, a dreamer, a doer, and down-right proud of it NERD!.
Struck with a love for #AllThings creative at a very young age, Crystal dreamed of a life fueled by her passion for creating and bringing the stories and images in her mind into reality.
As she worked toward her dreams, she earned a diploma as a Computer Applications Specialist then another in Graphic Design and from there began to develop her extensive background in multimedia and the arts. She began her worked in the magazine industry as a layout designer and had a succession of design jobs thereafter. It was her role as a graphic/web designer that gave her the first real glimpse of her future. Soon she began a side job as a freelance designer while keeping one foot in the corporate world. A spark was lit! She turned her freelance gig into a full-time business combining design work with her other passion: creating organization from virtual chaos.
Crystal is one of the most organized individuals on the planet. She is by all means a Zen master of her crafts. She excels at helping others become “untangled” and provides her clients with tools to run their businesses smoothly while she takes care of the details behind the scenes. Thus Virtually Untangled was born. A successful business where her work as a top notch creative in graphic and web — with a twist of virtual assistant — married into one amazing place where clients can come with their virtual messes and become magically untangled. Crystal can always make sense of even the most unorganized chaos and offers a virtual detox of order and peace, so her clients can get busy doing the work that they love the most.