Monday, 3/3/25: Talking about March planning

Happy Monday!

It’s a new week, which means it’s time for your next Monday motivation newsletter.

Read on below for some steps to a happier Monday and some positive thoughts to get your week started.

Three Steps to a Happier Monday

Each newsletter starts with three prompts to inspire gratitude and simple intention setting. Take a moment and jot down answers to these three questions. To give an example, I share my answers below.  

Step 1: What are three things I appreciated from the weekend? 

Step 2: What is one thing I can be excited about today?

Step 3: What is my intention for this week? 

GRATITUDE: From my weekend, I am thankful for sunny weather, downtime and my long walk outside yesterday. 

TODAY: Today, I’m most excited to try my new journaling routine.

INTENTION: My intention this week is to find moments to sit still each day.

Okay, your turn! And if you want to share your three steps, I am all ears. 🙂

Meaningful Musings: March Intentions & Goals

Hello, March! 

This year, I’ve been using these small “playbooks” to help guide seasonal planning. There’s a lot I like about these playbooks, but one thing is the external prompt to group months by seasons. 

At the end of last year, I filled out the “winter” playbook for December, January and February. 

And last week, I cracked open the “spring” one to think about March, April and May holistically.

The physicality of that made take a beat and recognize we are in fact changing seasons. As the season changes, does anything about my day-to-day need to change?    

Living in Chicago, I’m always hesitant to label March as “spring,” but the truth is, there is change happening around me, showing signs of a new season to come. After next week, the days will be longer (yay! Even if that means losing an hour of sleep). And while I can’t rollout a freezing day or two, I also know there will be those perfect spring days sprinkled in.

Seizing this season of transition and think about what matters most and what I want to focus on in the month ahead. 

But before we get into March intentions, let’s reflect on February.

February highlights: 

• We got our wedding photos back, which was such a fun way to relive some of the memories and start to think about how we want to preserve / feature the photos in our everyday life.
• Went to my friend Kara’s wedding, which was lovely! Always so nice to catch up with college friends.
• Celebrated our first Valentine’s Day as a married couple, which felt special! We even got each other the same card, haha.
• Had a quick work trip to NYC and got to see colleagues in-person that I frequently work with virtually! 

February goals & intentions: 

• No-shop February. Success! I love a no-shop month. It is such a surprisingly effective way to reset shopping habits and make me appreciate and get creative with what I already have.   
• Order wedding thank you cards. Yes! Ordered these once we got our wedding photos and finished getting the notes out this weekend. 
• Wednesday night game night with Matt. Any Wednesday Matt and I were both home (had some work conflicts), we did this game night, and it was so fun! We played Scrabble and both agreed it filled that “quality time” bucket. 
• Prepare for visitors. Made a plan and feeling ready for my St. Patrick’s Day visitors arriving in a few weeks! 

March 2025 Reflection 

What do I love about the month of March? 

• Fun celebrations and cultural moments – St. Patrick’s Day, March Madness.
• Here in Chicago, we aren’t necessarily out of the woods with winter just yet, but I’m hoping for and counting on a few warm & sunny spring days. 

Anything unique about this March? 

• Matt and I are spending a weekend in Indianapolis with his family
• My mom, childhood best friend and her mom are all coming for Chicago St. Patrick’s Day, which will be so fun
• Managing some longer-term projects, which is taking some patience and perspective! 

March 2025 Goals & Intentions

• Daily walks outside. Looking forward to being lighter later and hopefully some warmer temps! Hoping to do at least one walk outside a day (of varying degrees – just around the block is fine!) at either lunch or after work. 
• Finish recapping our wedding and designing our photo album. I had so much fun writing “part 1” of our wedding recap and need to carve out the time to write part 2. Also have been working on our wedding album through a company called Artifact Uprising and need to finalize and order. 
• Start a new morning journaling routine. I have an idea for a simple journaling routine I could do each morning in March. Will report back if it works! 

What are you looking forward to this March? 

From the archives: March 2024 | March 2023

Picture of the Week

That’s all for today! I hope you found something in today’s newsletter that sparked motivation, made you smile or inspired a positive Monday thought. Don’t underestimate the power of starting small… a fulfilling week starts with just one fulfilling day. You’ve got this! 

Let’s make it a great Monday!
Megan