Monday, 2/10/20: Talking about a motivator for keeping habits, Hamilton the movie and an Oscars recap

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 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 spent with a sweet family I’ve been connected with in Chicago, a new perspective I heard in a Soul Cycle class (talked about it on my Instagram Story last night) and that a bus appeared at the perfect time Sunday to rescue me from the snow. 

TODAY: I am most excited about my friend coming over to hangout and watch the Bachelor. We used to work together and I’ve missed her so much! 

INTENTION: My intention for this week is to get back to my morning gratitude routine. Okay, your turn! And if you want to share your three steps, I am all ears. 🙂

Lesson of the Week: Continuing vs. Starting

My plan for today’s newsletter was to write about hobbies. I even have a draft written that I cannot wait to share with you. But then I got notification from the library that a copy of Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic was available. I started the book this weekend and got chills as I read because it closely relates to my thoughts about hobbies!! Talk about serendipity. So, I want to finish the book, reflect and add in some of Elizabeth’s perspective. I’m telling you this in case any of you want to read the book along with me! I would love to know your thoughts. Let me know if you read it. 🙂

So instead, today I’m writing about a little mind trick that helps me stay motivated with good habits. Maybe you will relate to it and want to try it out too!

Last week I found myself with a unique schedule thanks to a great visit from mom and some travel for work. Even as someone who loves routine and structure more than the average person, I can admit that it felt nice to change it up. 

Then, I was in the warm-up section of my barre class early Friday morning and found myself thinking, “Is this class always this hard?” 

I called my mom – who is also a barre devotee – on my walk home because I knew she would understand. We reminded each other of our running joke that what keeps us coming back week after week is the fact that “starting” is so hard. Sure, we love the physical and mental strength gained from class, but we kid with each other that we’ll do barre classes forever because we never want to have to begin again.

It was a playful conversation, but one I kept thinking about. I’m motivated to keep up with my habit of attending barre workout classes because 1) the way they make me feel 2) I’m paying for a membership and 3) I don’t want to risk having to start over again. 

While no. 1 and 2 are specific to the above habit, no. 3 feels transferable. I bet there are other habits where I could apply no. 3 as a motivator.

For example, is there a task at work that I consider daunting? Would it be as daunting if I found a way to practice it weekly? Or, as I talked about in this newsletter, I recently set a screen time limit for my Instagram app. There was an adjustment period at first, but now I am accustomed to spending less time on the app. I was going to remove the limit on Feb. 1, but I haven’t yet. I don’t think I am going to because I don’t want to ruin the momentum built.  

The idea is simple, but it can be a powerful motivator to help us keep good habits. 

Additionally, this story also has another meaning: give yourself some grace when starting something new.

Accept that you are going to fall out of a good habit now and then and have to start again. External circumstances are going to happen that will change up your routine. 

This is totally fine (and sometimes energizing!). Just be sure to give yourself grace and know that after returning from the break, it’s going to feel hard to start your typical day-to-day routine back up. This isn’t because you lack motivation. It’s just simply because it requires more energy to start something than to continue. 

Instead of feeling down on yourself and rejecting all the good habits you’ve worked hard to build, focus on picking just one to focus on. And then the following week, add another. 

So whether you are continuing your good habits today or giving yourself some grace as you build up the strength to start again, I hope you have a great Monday!

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:  

• Carly’s morning routine: Speaking of routines… I absolutely love reading about other people’s morning routines. I enjoyed this blog post from Carly the Prepster about her ideal morning routine. It’s such a fun way to get a peek into people’s lives and pick up ideas for your own morning routine! 
• Hamilton… THE MOVIE!: Freaking out because Hamilton is going to be a movie (!!!) featuring the ORIGINAL CAST! I haven’t been able to see Hamilton yet and while I anxiously await the day I see it on a stage, I’m so excited to know that – at the very least – I will see it on the big screen in October 2021. 
• Loving this shade of nail polish. I have this mauve color on my nails right now and it feels just perfect for February. Not too bright, not too light, just right! (And to my five male readers, yes, it is harder than you think to get the right shade of color. :))  
• Podcast interview about body image. I really enjoyed listening to this incredibly real, incredibly vulnerable conversation between two women about body image and professional success. It’s a conversation I think we can all relate to and one that I haven’t heard spoken freely about like this before. Powerful.
• Oscars recap. Did you watch the Oscars last night? If you are looking for a recap, let me suggest listening to The Morning Toast (will be available later this morning). The Morning Toast is a pop culture morning show that streams live on YouTube every morning and is available as a podcast later in the day. Today’s episode will definitely include an Oscars recap and I’m looking forward to listening on my commute home.

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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