Monday, 8/29/22: Talking about September plans and some podcast episodes

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: I’m thankful for the beautiful weather, time to relax and catch-up phone calls with my parents.

TODAY: Today I’m most excited to get my nails done after work! A little Monday pick-me-up 🙂

INTENTION: My intention this week is to write down three things that are going well at the end of each day. 

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

Meaningful Musings: September Planning

Labor Day Weekend is this weekend! Wow. Per usual, summer has felt long and has gone by in a flash. 

I always get a bit sad when summer ends. But something that helps?

Planning! 🙂 

Because really, there is a lot about the start of fall that I love and want to cherish, especially this year. 

At the end of last month, I wrote out some goals and intentions for the month ahead, inspired by the fact August 1 fell on a Monday. September 1 isn’t on a Monday, but I enjoyed the practice so much that I thought I would repeat for next month too. 

I started by first asking myself some planning questions, which in turn led to me identifying some goals I hope to accomplish. Sharing in case you decide you want to plan your month too! I think it makes for a fun Monday morning activity 🙂 

What do I love about the month of September? 

• College football is BACK. Best time of year!!! 
• The weather. One more month of consistently warm weather and ample amount of daylight.   
• There’s a collective “back-to-routine” vibe in the air. As shared last week, big fan of the fresh-start feeling of September.  
• A lot of friends’ birthdays! FIVE of my friends’ birthdays fall during a week-span at the end of September. It’s the best. (Love birthdays) 

Anything unique about this September? 

• My brothers are coming to visit! I am SO excited to have them both here for a weekend!
• I’m going on a business trip… first one in a few years! Excited for the opportunity. 
• Spending a weekend in Nashville for a wedding. Love that city and love weddings. Can’t wait. 

How do I want to feel at the end of September? 

• I know I’ll feel tired, but I also want to have a general feeling of content. Between my brothers visiting, heading out of town for a business trip, a football game and a wedding weekend, and work priorities, my schedule is more packed than it has been the past couple months. ALL good things and so many things I’m excited about, but want to make sure I’m proactively managing my energy so I can fully enjoy and be present for these fun things. 

Goals for September 2022

• Plan my weeks on Friday. I think taking a moment Fridays to plot out my meetings, commitments and to-dos will pay dividends this month. It will limit planning time (or thinking about when to plan) on weekends and allow me to hit the ground running Monday, even after fun weekends. 🙂
• Journal in the morning (when possible). I go in waves with journaling. But I love journaling because it helps me to: 1) remember things better (and there is a lot I want to remember from September!) and 2) sort through my feelings. (A favorite Joan Didion quote: “I don’t know what I think until I write it down.”) I recently had a bout of not-so-great feelings hit me completely by surprise. Usually when I’m in sync with a journaling routine, I’m able to catch something like that earlier and work through it as needed vs. having it bubble up on its own. All for feeling your feelings, but I know myself… and when life gets busy, it’s one of first things to go on the backburner (“just power through!”). So, think establishing some kind of journaling routine will be perfect for this month. 🙂 
• Go on walks after work (when possible). Need to take advantage of warm temps and it staying light late! 
• Read books that easily capture my attention. Jumping to the top of my to-be-read list: Book Lovers, Olga Dies Dreaming, The Paris Apartment and Stumbling Upon Happiness (always like having a non-fiction in the mix for morning reading). Don’t know if I’ll get to all of them but love having “the lineup” established.  

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:  

• I listened to this podcast episode on a walk last Sunday and found it really interesting. I was in the mood for something *inspirational* and this one really got me thinking. It talks about a concept called the “hedonic adaption” and how we are bad at predicting how much getting what we want will make us happy and even worse at predicting how terrible things will not be as bad as we think (the question examined in the podcast was, “How can winning the lottery ruin your life – while contracting an incurable disease feel like ‘a gift’?”). My favorite part was listening to what Dr. Dan Gilbert had to say, so I just checked out his book from the library. Can’t wait to read it.  
• Another podcast episode I listened to last week and liked: author Cal Newport on All The Hacks podcast. I recently finished Cal’s So Good They Can’t Ignore You (have also read and enjoyed his Digital Minimalism and Deep Work books) and wanted to hear him talk in more detail about a few of his ideas. Came across this podcast and was really interested in the “Deep Life” concept he mentioned. A good podcast to listen to for some inspiration work-wise. 
• How to make the good times last longer. Have lots I’m looking forward to in September, so bookmarking this article for myself. Great tips on warding off those future scaries (it’s almost over!) to instead linger in the fun times that are still happening.
• How to pursue a goal without letting it take over your life. Felt right to include this one in a newsletter about goals ;). This article includes 11 tips on managing the pursuit of goals and a balanced life. 

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