Monday, 2/24/20: Talking about running, beautiful weekend weather and what I’m making for dinner
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 the friends I was able to spend time with on Saturday, for my two outside runs and how the city felt alive again with so many people out enjoying the great weather.
TODAY: I am most excited about what I’m whipping up for dinner. Can’t wait to try Kelly’s “Cowboy Skillet” from her new book (more on Kelly below!)
INTENTION: My intention for this week is to do my “0.2 task” every day (more on this below too!). Okay, your turn! And if you want to share your three steps, I am all ears. 🙂
Lesson of the Week: What’s Your 0.2 Task?
Running is on my mind.
The weather was AMAZING in Chicago this weekend. Clear sunny skies in February usually means single digit temps. But not this weekend. We got the sun AND some temperate weather. Thank you Mother Nature for reminding us what’s to come in a few months!
Wanting to take full advantage of this reprieve from winter, I logged a total of 8 miles over the weekend. While pounding the pavement of the beautiful lakefront trail, I found myself thinking about how much I’ve come to enjoy running (which is shocking considering how much I dreaded running a mile for the Presidential Physical Fitness Test as a kid). For me, running this weekend was how I expressed gratitude for the wonderful weather.
Running was also on my mind because one of my best friend’s mom ran the Disney Princess Half Marathon yesterday – so inspiring!
It got me thinking about how a half marathon is 13.1 miles for obvious reasons (it’s half of a full marathon). But why is a marathon 26.2 miles? Why the 0.2 added at the end?
According to Runner’s World, 385 yards was added to the marathon route in the 1908 London Olympics because the royal family wanted runners to finish directly in front of their viewing box. And then in 1921, 26.2 became the official marathon distance for “no recorded reason.”
Thinking about this reminded me of something I heard months ago at a live taping of Gretchen Rubin’s Happier podcast. The audience was sharing “happiness hacks” and one really stuck with me.
Inspired by the Chicago marathon (which was the same day as this event), one person said that she always thinks about her “0.2” at the end of her day/workday. What’s one last little thing she can accomplish? What’s her sprint to the finish line in her marathon of a day?
I loved this! We usually don’t have time for one more thing from our to-do list when we are ready to leave the office or jump into bed. But we can likely make time for a task that will take a minute or less to complete.
I liked the idea of ending the day with a final push to do one small thing that sets us up for a happier tomorrow.
For example, at work your 0.2 could be:
- Making a to-do list for tomorrow.
- Cleaning off your desk.
- Sorting through your email inbox.
- Sending a meeting invite.
And in life, the 0.2 could be:
- Wiping down counters.
- Unloading the dishwasher.
- Laying out your outfit for tomorrow.
- Setting the coffee machine.
So, at the end of your marathon day today when the finish line is in sight, think about your sprint to the finish. Your 0.2. What’s a small task you can do to set yourself up for success tomorrow?
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:
- Confession: I’m obsessed with TikTok. There is something just so fun about this app. I cannot imagine ever posting anything, but I’m loving scrolling through and being entertained by the creative, quick videos. I found myself nodding along to this article because these are all songs I now associate with TikTok!
- My favorite concealer is on sale right now. I was not a regular concealer user before finding this product. For me, this is the first concealer that doesn’t crease. It slides on smoothly and stays all day. I was excited to see it on sale at Sephora because I just ran out and need to repurchase.
- Kelly Leveque’s new book is so good. I am a big fan of celebrity nutritionist Kelly Leveque. I read her first book, Body Love, a few years ago and still start most days with one of her smoothie recipes. She just came out with her second book (Body Love Every Day) and I think I like it even better than the first! It includes a ton of recipes, plans and easy-to-understand information about nutrition. This would be a great read if you need some inspiration or want to change up some of your eating habits.
- Hilarious advice column. This advice column from Bon Appetit on grocery store etiquette made me laugh. I’m not embarrassed to admit that I’ve done what’s mentioned in the last question multiple times (#shortpersonproblems).
- Article about office small talk. What is it about office small talk that can sometimes feel so draining? I appreciated this article for providing reasons why office small talk is important and easy strategies to help master it.
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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