Megan's Monday Motivation
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Monday, 12/9/19: Talking about a 10-year challenge, a Chicago gift idea and a new season of a feel-good TV series

Happy Monday!

It’s another 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 steps for 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 spent with friends (old and new), the Christmas decorations all over the city and having time to relax on Sunday.

TODAY: I am most excited that it’s warm enough for a run outside before the chilly weather arrives tomorrow.

INTENTION: Keeping my same intention from last week… my intention for this week is to get organized and wrap my mind around all that’s happening the rest of this month. Okay, your turn! And if you want to share your three steps, I am all ears. 🙂 

Lesson of the Week: A 10-Year Challenge 

Last week, I grabbed dinner with two friends from high school who were in town for interviews.

Thanks to group chats and traditions like our annual Christmas gift exchange, I thought I was mostly up-to-speed with what was happening in these ladies’ lives. But getting time to discuss life updates in detail with no interruptions? Wow, I learned so much. I was blown away by the milestones achieved and sheer volume of changes that have happened in the past couple years.

Inspired by the “’Decade/10-Year Challenge” I keep seeing all over social media, I posed the following question to the group.

Can you imagine if we could go back to 2010 and tell our high school selves about where we are at right now?

I don’t think my 15-year-old self would have believed she would be living and working in Chicago with these friends in town for medical residency interviews.

Thinking about all that’s happened in the past 10 years and because a brand new decade is just 23 days away, I can’t help but dream about all potential and change that will also happen in the next 10 years. What will I be doing 10 years from now?!

It feels good to think back on the past decade and remember the highlights. I hope that if you have the time today, you take a few moments and jot down some of your favorite memories and accomplishments from 2010-2019. I want you to look at that list and feel really proud of yourself.

After the highlights are accounted for, I also encourage you to spend some time thinking of the really hard things that happened over this time. Not to bring up hard feelings, but to remind yourself of your resiliency and how you are able to experience some really good times and achieve big things in the midst of hard things.

Because really great things are going to happen in the next decade. And really hard things are going to happen too. But you are going to absolutely rock it. Don’t believe me? Look at that list you just created. Look at what you’ve accomplished, experienced and fought through.

Now, that’s the message I would tell my younger self from 10 years ago.

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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