It is Monday.  The week is ahead and rather than joy and opportunity too many see dread, frustration and a long week that they would prefer to avoid.  Why is Monday so hard?  Do you have too much fun on the weekends and too little fun during the week?  How do we take that dread out of Sunday night and Monday and totally change our perspective on the week? It is hard, however without changing that perspective you will have over 2500 days (50 days a year working for 50 years) in your life that you don’t enjoy and would rather avoid.  Pretty sad and filled with missed opportunities.

Here is the reality:

• Monday is filled with tons of fresh opportunity.  The weekend away (or even a day) gives you new perspective, new motivation and a chance to implement changes.
• Monday is the beginning of a new week and time to accomplish the tasks that you have planned (assuming you planned out the week).
• Monday is the best day to stand out from everyone else and show your energy, your passion and your commitment – while everyone is recovering and or dreading the day.

It is your mindset, how you look at the week’s opportunities and how you have planned out the week.  Monday’s that I resist are the ones I haven’t planned.  Mondays that are hard are the ones that I haven’t determined my passion for that week, nor determined how accomplishing the plan takes me one more step closer to my goal.

One of my clients last year challenged me with his lack of passion.  He was tired, not enjoying his job, not feeling motivated.  That lack of passion was reflected in everything he did.  His time management, sales goals and interactions with fellow employees and management were all missing the mark.  Our conversation focused on 3 points:

1. How much of your lack of passion is due to what you tell yourself every day?  Do you constantly tell yourself you aren’t motivated, or do you continually look at what you are grateful for – maybe even just having a job.
2. How much of your issues with colleges, customers and management is a failure to look in the mirror to see how you are causing the issues – most of the time we are at the root of the challenges we face.
3. Are you doing fun things on weekends so you are rejuvenated on Monday?  Or are you sitting around and not challenging yourself, getting outside, learning something new, trying something new, getting together with the “right” friends (not those that complain all the time).

Try these simple steps and Mondayitis may not be quite so bad – if your attitude is more positive and you stop allowing yourself the permission to have Mondayitis.  Let me know how it works and have an awesome week!