Good morning, everyone! Coming to you live this morning, flying solo for the very first time. Well, actually, maybe once before, can’t believe he actually asked me to do it again. I’m Lori Few. Good morning, everyone. And I am here to give you your Monday morning moments of motivation. Jimmy is on sabbatical. May he be having fun wherever it is that he is located or whatever it is he’s doing, but it is Monday morning and we’re here to fill the airways full of positivity and get your day and your week off to a great start. So let’s talk about Monday, Monday. It’s a word it’s probably the most misunderstood word at the beginning of the week. We’re gonna start by dissecting what Monday is and what it means and how we can turn it to something positive.

So Monday, you might wonder what do we start with? So we’re gonna start with M obviously it’s the first letter. Come on guys. You gotta think here with me this morning, sip your coffee, get your brain motivated, and we can tackle this challenge. So M for Monday. Well, let’s talk about it. M stands for mindset. Mindset is something that on a Monday morning, you are desperately trying to find. You’re trying to make it positive. You’re trying to help yourself get motivated and get out of bed, but there are some tricks to developing a positive mindset. So only use positive words when you’re talking. I know it’s hard, but you can do it. Another thing, push out all the feelings that aren’t positive. Try to clear your mind and get Monday off to a great start with a clean slate. After all it’s a brand new week, there are things that we’re gonna accomplish, and we’re gonna start doing that with mindset, practice, positive affirmation. We hear Jimmy talk a lot about how he takes his post-it notes and he posts them up in the shower to remind him that he too can do positive and great things in the morning.

I will have to admit, this morning is not the same without him being here, but we are going to Tru on. So when we talk about mindset, we talk about directing your thoughts. What can you do to control what you can control and what can you do when you can’t? So you have to believe in yourself and talk nicely to yourself and go ahead and give yourself that second cup of coffee or whatever it is that you have to use to get your mindset going on a Monday morning. So mindset. That’s what the letter M stands for. I know it’s hokey and it’s a little bit quirky, but just bear with me. I promise it’s going to get better.

So obviously the second letter in the word Monday is O we’re also going to test your knowledge about selling this morning in case you were following along or in case you were wondering, but O stands for opportunity. We talk a lot on this podcast about opportunities, things that we can take advantage of things that we can change. Things that we can harness the power for positivity and goodness opportunity sometimes comes in the most unique forms for lack of a better term. Think about the last time you had an opportunity and you said no, after the opportunity, and you said, no, did you regret it? Did you feel a little bit sad that you didn’t take the person or the entity up on their offer? I feel like sometimes we get downtrodden in the idea that we always have to say, yes, I’ve shared with you many times that I am guilty of not being able to say no. I say yes so often, because I am afraid of missing out on an opportunity, but this morning we need to focus on how opportunities are weighed. Is it an opportunity that in the long haul it’s gonna be something that’s fruitful and beneficial for a long time, or is it a short term opportunity where the gratification is instant and you leave it and you move on. It really has to determine, again, going back to M your mindset. If you put yourself in a positive mindset, opportunities, oftentimes can have a more positive impact on what you’re looking to accomplish.

So we talk about opportunities, try to make a list this week, think about three different opportunities that you’ve been offered or that you think you may be offered or opportunities that you’re willing to create for other, for other people opportunity. Doesn’t always have to be in terms of you receiving the opportunity. Sometimes you could be the person giving the opportunity. We talk a lot about taking initiative and taking charge. Wouldn’t it be great to use your power and your position, whether it be personal professional or in the community to offer someone the opportunity to change their mind, the opportunity to take advantage of something that you think might be beneficial for that person, or maybe that you’re giving someone the opportunity to change their perspective. Information is powerful and opportunity is what you do when you have information and great mindset to be able to move forward onto your Monday.

OK. So let’s talk about the third letter, N, and I know you’re probably thinking of a lot of words that could fit in this category, but for me on a Monday, N stands for nourishment. So we’re just coming off of a weekend. We’ve relaxed, we’ve had fun. We’ve probably done some things with our family and friends, things that nourish your mind, your body and your spirit. Food is great. Coffee is wonderful, as you know, but in terms of nourishment, what are some things that we can do to better ourselves in that category? Sometimes we feel drained after a long weekend. And that’s what I think leads to the dread of Monday. Instead of thinking about it in a positive way, it’s a new week. It’s a fresh start. It’s a new page. It’s the beginning of the week. Sometimes we go into the week thinking Monday in a negative, very negative. Yeah, let’s be honest. Sometimes it’s really bad, but N stands for nourishment and we have the opportunity to take advantage of that for ourselves. So how do you nourish yourself? How do you pour into yourself? Well, okay. If you’re me, it’s definitely not exercise. Now don’t get me wrong. I’m getting better. But the opportunity for exercise in myself, we just don’t get along. But for some people, that’s the way they nourish their mind, their body and their spirit. Getting plenty of sleep. Okay. In theory, it’s a great idea. But for the most part there aren’t many of us that are getting enough sleep, meditate, meditate. Mm. I have tried it. I’m gonna be really honest. I went to a class. I tried to get into my inner Zen, but my mind is like a squirrel. Sometimes that darts all over the place and it’s quiet and it’s dark and there’s music playing. And you really, really, really want to try to meditate. But if you’re me, it just doesn’t work. I’ve tried. My friends can do it. And they’re amazed that I can’t do it, but I can’t so meditate. Although in theory is a great way to nourish your body, your mind, and your spirit. It’s not for me, but I will tell you one of the best things that I have found to nourish myself is just getting some fresh air.

Sometimes you just have to take a time out. You have to walk away and gather your thoughts. And sometimes just going out and getting some fresh air is so beneficial. It helps me reset my mind and helps me regather my thoughts so that I can continue to do whatever task is in front of me. Another way to nourish your body is to be grateful. We talk a lot about perspective and attitude and opinions, and we wanna make sure that being grateful is on the top of that list. Being grateful is a way to nourish your mind, your body and your spirit and all those people around you. But my favorite way, and you’re gonna think this is crazy. But my favorite way to probably nourish is to declutter. I’m the type of person that everything has, has a place. Everything has a purpose, and when things are cluttered or piled or disorganized, that to me causes more stress and anxiety in my daily life.

So I do a really thoughtful process to make sure that at the end of every day, I have decluttered. Everything is planned. Everything is organized. Everything has its place and everything has its value. So for me, being organized and being able to declutter is a great way to nourish myself. Now, not that it always stays that way, but we try our best. Another way to nourish yourself is to fuel your passions. If you find an opportunity or a passion of yours that you get to experience or spend a little bit more time doing, that is a great way to nourish yourself. That is a great way to put you in the right frame of mind. It puts you setting towards those goals and taking advantage of those opportunities because who are we without a passion? I have several take a minute. Think about it. What are your passions? What are you devoting your time to? Is it something that you just absolutely love? And do you have the capability to share that with other people? I think if we find our passion, we absolutely should share it with others. It might not be that they’re as invested or interested in it, but you never know until you have a conversation with someone that they might not know anything about your passion and just by talking to them, you’re imparting wisdom and knowledge that they might not have had before.

OK. So let’s take a minute. Let’s recap. So, so far we’re halfway through, we’ve got M for mindset O for opportunity N for nourishment, which brings us to the letter D again, fill in your own thought process about what the word you would use. But for me, it’s doable steps. And I know that’s kind of two words, but we’re cheating be a little bit flexible. Forgive me two words, but doable steps. So oftentimes we feel that we can’t accomplish something. If we don’t get it all done right now in the moment, doable steps are opportunities for you to take small baby steps or bites of a project or a part of your job or something that you’re working on personally, or something that you’re working on professionally. You’ve gotta be able to give yourself measurable. Well, listen, now I sound like Jimmy. Jimmy’s, he’s a here in mind, body and spirit measurable progress. We talk about how you have to be able to give yourself steps to a goal. And once you accomplish that goal, then you reward yourself with whatever that is. A doable step is the same thing. So making sure that it’s doable to you, make making sure that it’s within your parameters on a Monday morning, if a doable step is walking to the kitchen to get a cup of coffee, check that off the box, because you’ve already accomplished that.

If it’s a doable step, I’m mark off some things on my calendar today, I’m gonna return those phone calls today. I’m gonna make sure that I’m late. Sometimes doable are the of a little bit more simplicity work toward getting those doable steps. Think about what you would do. If you only had to do two doable steps today, what would those be? And think about it once you accomplish those, don’t you feel so much better about yourself. We’re working our way through Monday, and we’re dissecting the word one letter at a time that something is powerful about knowing that you have the opportunity to do a doable step, okay. In the word Monday, we’ve now finally made it to the letter A and A is probably one of my favorites. Authenticity. What is it to be authentic? Have you thought about that lately? And what are you doing in your own daily life to ensure that you are authentic?

I think that it can seem that there are many different definitions of authenticity. So, however, a common definition that is being authentic is living your life according to your own values and goals, rather than that of other people. So what simply authenticity means you’re true to your own personality, your values and spirit, regardless of the pressure that you put under to act. Otherwise, you’re honest with yourself and with others and you take responsibility for your mistakes, your values, your ideals, and your actions align. The synergy of that is powerful. As a result, you come across as genuine and you’re willing to accept the consequences of being true to what you consider to be, right. So why be authentic? We know what it is, but why is it important? It isn’t always easy to live authentically at times. Being true to what you know is right means that you go against the crowd.

It means that being unconventional, opening yourself up to the possibility of hurting another person or taking the harder road on one hand, it does mean missing some opportunities. You do have to accept this as your own authenticity. However, in the longer term, it’s likely to open up more opportunities and opportunities that simply wouldn’t be available to someone who had, they been too afraid or conflicted to be authentic and to own. One’s true self. So being authentic, you have to trust and respect yourself. You have to have integrity and the ability to deal with problems and realizing the potential, not just in yourself, but in other people. And I love how looking back on the word Monday. Some of the same attributes that we talk about in each of these letters are all tying together. Authenticity leads to opportunity and mindset leads to nourishment, which finally leads us to the last letter.

And you’re going to laugh because I had trouble with the letter Y. Not W-H-Y but just the letter Y so the last letter in Monday for me, the Y is yay. And I know that sounds funny and you may laugh, but yay to me means that we’re celebrating something. We’re taking something and we’re making it fun. We’re making it somewhat entertaining. A Monday is definitely entertaining. You have to take it in stride. It is the first day of the week, and you never know what tone it’s gonna set. So we always have fun with the word, yay, because find your yay. Why are you excited? Why should you be excited? Why should you take it into a realm of possibility and positivity every day that you’re living on this planet, you have the opportunity to find something that excites you, something that makes you happy.

Something that you can share with other people. It’s interesting that we talk about find your yay because there is a book I know Jimmy would be so proud of me right now for talking about a book, because as you all know, I’m not a great reader, but I’m trying, I’m doing better. This is a short read of a book called find your yay. Find your voice and grow your brand on social media. Now, the author talks a lot about in this book about using it as a social media tool and a branding tool. The book by the way is by Matthew Rollick and it’s on Amazon short read. But one of the definitions that he talks about is being confident in your own uniqueness, cutting through the noise and reaching the right people, lifting people up and building genuine relationships and collaboration and connection as an investment in your career and in your life.

It’s a great short read, and it’s a very powerful sentiment. We have to find our yay. We have to find our why we have to find what excites us, ignites our passion. It’s oftentimes that we get so downtrodden that we lose that spark. And let’s be honest on a Monday, some of us have trouble even finding that spark to begin with. So just to recap, Monday, M for mindset, O for opportunity, N for nourishment D for doable steps, a for authenticity and Y for yay, who doesn’t want to go out and have a great week after hearing about all that. And you’re looking, looking for excitement and you’re looking for something fun. I’m a big quote person. So I’m gonna leave you this week with a challenge Monday, go out and make it a great day. And after all, if you don’t like the way Monday starts, you can dip it in glitter and sparkle. The rest of the week. This is Lori Few. I want you to go out, have a great week and live a life by design.

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