Megan's Monday Motivation

Monday, 9/21/20: Talking about RBG, new masks and a fall candle

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 beautiful fall weather, time to rest and having fun while running errands yesterday.

TODAY: I’m excited about the project I’m focusing on for work today. 

INTENTION: My intention for this week is to spend time decluttering and transitioning my closet/apartment for the new season. 

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

Lesson of the Week: RBG’s Advice for Living

Like many, I was extremely sad to hear about Supreme Court justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s passing on Friday. All different kinds of political ideologies set aside, I think the world can agree that RBG’s impact and persistent commitment to championing civil rights is nothing short of amazing. 

I had a topic that I was excited to write about this week, but the only thing that feels right on this Monday is to find some small way to honor this feminist icon. I can’t think of a better way than by sharing her own words and statements that provide lessons for all of us and speak volumes about the type of life and career she had.

I spent a good amount of time this weekend reading and learning more about RBG, but there was one article I kept coming back to and re-reading. The article is an op-ed, written by Ruth herself. It was published in the New York Times on Oct. 1, 2016 and it’s titled “Ruth Bader Ginsburg’s Advice for Living.

I hope that you’ll click on the article and spend a few minutes reading through Ruth’s words this morning. I promise it’s worth it. If you want to discuss after reading it, I would love to know your thoughts

Originally, I wanted to just paste the article in here for a seamless reading experience, but I wasn’t so sure that checked out with copyright laws and in honor of Ruth, I wanted to be better safe than sorry. So, apologies that you have to navigate out of this interface to get to the article, but again, I promise it’s worth it. 

Thank you, Ruth. Thanks for showing us it’s possible to make big changes through a series of small steps and that women can be successful at being a wife, mom and friend, all while be insanely dedicated to their craft. Rest in Peace. 

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:  

  • This is the RBG documentary I watched this weekend. One more RBG-related item for this morning! I streamed this documentary on Saturday (I rented via Amazon, but I believe it’s available on Hulu) and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I loved learning more about some of the important cases Ruth has been a part of as well as the sweet, sweet story of her and her husband Marty. 
  • Loving these pink disposable masks. I’m a fan of disposable masks for activities like walking, taking a barre class and running errands. When I saw they came in this cute color, I couldn’t resist ordering! 
  • If you need to laugh, listen to this podcast episode titled “Contagious Laughter.” I love listening to Kate’s long-form, deep-dive podcasts on all things pop culture from time to time. I listened to this episode (a compilation of some of the funniest moments from past episodes) over the weekend and found myself straight up laughing out loud. I don’t think you need to be an avid listener of the podcast to find it funny, so if you are looking for something light this week, check it out!
  • Started burning my favorite fall candle this weekend! I love summer, but I am leaning hard into fall with the chill in the air we’ve been experiencing in Chicago. This candle has been my favorite fall candles for a couple years running and I was so excited to break it out again this year. 

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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