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Monday, 12/14/20: Talking about if 2021 will be the “year of yes” and festive phone backgrounds

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, a short story and a roundup of 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 time with my brothers watching all the sporting events on Saturday (although still hurting as a UF fan today), bonding with friends over “Evermore” and time and space to made headway on some work projects.

TODAY: Today I am most excited that my whole family will be home for dinner.

INTENTION: Reusing my intention from last week (it’s basically my intention for December at this point!). My intention for this week is to stay calm and focused as I wrap up work before the holidays next week.  

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

Lesson of the Week: Is 2021 The “Year of Yes?”

After a year filled with so many no’s, so many postponements, so many cancellations, I wonder if 2021 will become “the year of yes” by default. Will 2021 become “the year of yes” just because we can say yes to so many things we had to say no to this year?

I mentioned last week that I was reading Shonda Rhimes’ book, Year of Yes: How to Dance It Out, Stand In the Sun and Be Your Own Person. The book was published five years ago, but I somehow just came across it. 

I finished the book this weekend and really enjoyed it. Rhimes, the brilliant writer and producer behind shows like Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice, Scandal, How to Get Away With Murder and more, shares her story of being an introvert. Her answer to every invitation is “no” until she hears her sister call her out with a simple – but life-altering for Rhimes – phrase (“you never say yes to anything”).

The book follows Rhimes throughout the next year and a half as she says yes to everything and anything that scares and challenges her. Because it’s written by Rhimes, it’s as fun to read as her TV shows are to watch (although, I did have to get used to her writing style in the beginning). 

I feel like it’s the perfect book to read in the next couple of weeks as we cozy up at home for the holidays, reflect on the end of 2020 and get ready for 2021. It’s fun, it’s honest and it makes you think. Oh, and if you are a fan of Cristina Yang, just order the book right now and thank me later. 

What became clear throughout the book is that the life-altering phrase – “you never say yes to anything” – isn’t the full picture because of one important universal truth: every yes is a no and every no is a yes.

Sure, Rhimes was saying “no” to plenty of things, but all these things also had a “yes” flip side. As Rhimes puts it, she was saying no to herself, and yes to being an imaginary version of a “good girl.”

Every yes is a no and every no is a yes. It’s something I hadn’t thought of until reading this book. Yes to accepting a meeting at 9 a.m. tomorrow means no open time to work on a project. Yes to a happy hour invitation with coworkers/potential new friends means no to a relaxing, quiet night. Yes to eating dinner as a family means no to the last-minute work deadline. No one can say if any of these choices are any better than the other, proving that the power does not lie in either “yes” or “no.” The power lies in us using “yes” and “no” as tools to honor ourselves.  

Before reading this book, I would have thought a “year of yes experiment” meant just never saying no. But what I learned from Rhimes’ experience, is that every year is already a year of yes because we are making multiple “yeses” all day long. Saying “yes” to picking up our cell phone as soon as we wake up. “Yes” to staying quiet when we have an idea or opinion to share. “Yes” to mindlessly watching TV late at night even when we have to get up early. The question is, are we aware of what we are saying yes to and is it aligned with what we value? 

So, 2021 may become the “year of yes” by default, but what if we put a spin on it? What if 2021 is the “year of your yes?” The year when faced with a choice, we go inward and think about how we want to use our “yes/no” tools.

Of course, it won’t always be perfect and it won’t always go according to plan, but I have a good feeling about a year full of your yeses.

On My Monday Radar

Sometimes we just aren’t ready to jump into our Monday to-do list right away. In case you want some content to procrastinate with, here is a roundup of a few positive things on my radar:  

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

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