Recently, I was really excited about Monday. I went to bed early the night before, so I could get up early, got dressed, put makeup on, wore something other than yoga pants and a tank top, and actually got my son to school on time. I came home, mediated, and had coffee in my favorite mug on the back patio before I got to work. The day started off perfectly, and once it started, it didn’t stop. That Monday was literally the busiest Monday I have had in a very long time. I couldn’t believe the calls, packages I needed to sign for, papers I needed to file, and meeting after meeting. It was a lot. And even with all that, it was still a great Monday.

What do you think changed? The work wasn’t any different. The people weren’t any different. What happened?

I changed. My attitude changed. My intention changed. It was still the same Monday, but I was different.

Isn’t that something? We spend all week waiting for Friday and all weekend dreading Monday. We say things like, “ I wish I didn’t have to go to work” or “I can’t wait until Friday and it’s not even Monday yet.” We want our kids to be excited about school, and they think, “for what if I’m just going to grow up and hate my job like you do”. Ouch, right?

I know that’s not the message you want to send…Look, truth be told, we may not “love” our jobs, but to be frank, we have control over that.

If every day you complain about your job, your spouse, your kids, your finances, your weight, whatever the thing is…all you are doing is making you and everyone else around you frustrated.

You might not be able to change everything at once, but you can change something. Changing one thing or making a decision about one thing, helps you to regain your control. Once you take Monday back, you will feel empowered to make decisions in other areas of your life.

Try these 5 steps to get excited about Monday again:

1. Make a list of everything that is either frustrating you or causing you anxiety and overwhelm right now.

2. Start with number #1 and ask yourself these 3 questions:
– Can I do something about this today?
– Is there an action I can take right now that will move me one step closer to feeling in control again?
– Does this step only require me to take action?

You’re looking for three yes’s. If you can say yes to all three of these questions, you’re ready to take action and change your Monday!

3. Go down the list and begin completing only those items that you can answer with a yes using the questions listed in step 2.

4. Once you’ve completed those, go back to the ones where you didn’t have three yes’s and begin to work on those items. This is a working list.  Your goal is to keep crossing off the items that stress and overwhelm you.

5. Don’t forget to update your list as you go along, crossing off completed items or those items that are no longer relevant or causing you stress.

Let’s work through an example together. Say, for instance, your #1 is your job. You could apply for another job today. You don’t need help from anyone, or permission from anyone, you just search and apply for another job. Even though this might take months to actually achieve, you can begin the work today knowing that you are taking action for yourself.  Remember, don’t move on to the next thing until you have accomplished finding another job or your job is no longer causing you stress.

The main point is it’s important to do one thing at a time.

Put all your energy into that task and see it to completion. If we try to work on our multiple frustrations, we actually create more frustration because we feel overwhelmed and we aren’t getting results. So instead we do one thing at a time to build momentum through small wins.

In another example, what if your #1 is your spouse? Eek, right? In this case, you aren’t going to have three yes’s because the last question is a no. You will at some point also need your spouse to take action. If you started with here, you would lose momentum and likely get even more frustrated because your spouse isn’t taking action when you want them to. No worries, skip that one for now and come back to it after you complete something on your list that has three yes’s.

Make sense? Ready to get excited about Monday?

You have to start to take your life back. You have to find your joy again and what makes you thrive. No one is going to do that for you. The amazing thing is once you change one thing, that will be all the encouragement you need to work on the other stuff.

Is there one thing you can share from your list in the comments? Post it below and we’ll help keep you accountable.

 Talk soon,