Monday or Mon'yay'?

I am a believer that only WE have the ability to truly take control of our motivation, drive and enthusiasm for life and what we achieve.

I remember getting into a real loathing of Mondays - it affected my mood, it affected those around me and ultimately it was always a miserable start to my week. It wasn't until one of my team told me that the rest of the team avoided calling me or having meetings with me on a Monday, that I realised I needed to take a long hard look in the mirror!

My mood, my choice, my impact.

So I had to do something - think conciously about how I wanted to rock up on a Monday. How would I know I was feeling like it? What would people see, feel, hear? How would I know the impact of my mood?

So a few things that I considered that helped :

-Was I getting enough sleep? - a big contributor if you are finding yourself tired and scratchy. Go to bed earlier, don't do social media to make your brain over think, get agitated or over excited! A wise person told me that if you have to set an alarm to get up - you probably aren't getting enough sleep.

-Have a plan for a Monday - make sure you have a schedule that is balanced, meet people, give yourself space to breath, don't do back to back meetings without resting, eating or making sure you have time to think.

- Keep hydrated - It's a known fact that too much tea & coffee can make you more tired, dehydrate you or make you irritable. I recognised that too many coffee's would make me 'jittery' even to the point where I couldn't sleep at night after a caffeine fuelled day. Water, squash and herbal/fruit teas can help that - and enjoy the coffees that you do have.

-Check in with the team - regularly! How are you being? What specific difference have they seen from the changes? Is there more you can do? People will be honest with you if you give them the opportunity.

-Be happy! There's a big topic right there. Do you spend time doing things you enjoy - with the people that you love? It is so important, to be around positivity - people that care for you and those that have your interests at heart. You will of course not get that all the time at work - especially if you are in a leadership role. People look to you for the inspiration. But you must balance that with looking out for you and recognising you know when you need to recharge the batteries.

For me music, comedy, time with friends and food are the best things in making me feel great about the world.

-Exercise - I've been a terrible exerciser all my life. I generally hate it! But, I know that if I add in some running, walking, swimming etc it will make a difference. We are surrounded by beach bodies and beautiful looking people on social media. I won't ever be that - but I can look after myself better and I know that the pressure of looking good in this modern world - can be very damaging. So doing something that makes you feel good about yourself should always be your motivation

Make a plan, look after yourself, love yourself and ensure that you can be the best version of you - because you deserve it.

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