When Does Monday Hit You?

Earlier this year, I received a message from a friend – a girl I went to high school with. It had a picture of her holding an award with a caption that said, “1700 employees…3 awarded Employee Excellence Award for 2015… I love Monday through Fridays!” (She had recently read my book, "A Passion for Monday" and was excited to share her own passion for Monday.)

Does she love Monday (through Friday) because she won the Employee Excellence Award, or did she win the award because she loves Mondays and all other days of the week?

When does Monday arrive for you? 

It sounds like a ridiculous question because common sense would tell you it arrives whenever you wake on Monday morning. But think about it. 

When do you start to feel dread about what you’re facing on Monday? 

Is it at 9:00 PM on Sunday night? Earlier? Does your Monday start at noon on Sunday? Some people have told me it hits them late Saturday – at least for a few anxious moments until they remind themselves that there is still Sunday to buffer the stress.

Whatever the time, if Monday comes before you rise on Monday morning, you’re probably not happy in your job. You’re certainly not engaged.

According to Gallup, only 30% of workers are engaged on the job. That means 7 out of 10 people HATE Monday.  If you’re engaged that means you’re involved in, enthusiastic about, and committed to your work. It means that you contribute to your organization in a positive way. If, for you, Monday arrives before Monday morning, you’re part of the 70%. Your work shouldn’t be a source of anxiety and stress. If it is, you’re doing something wrong.

I spent the better part of 20 years as a manager in a large corporation. The part of my job that I loved the most was hiring great people and helping them further their careers. Most often, the people I hired or managed, furthered their careers within the company, but sometimes it was best for them, based on their strengths to go elsewhere. 

I recall an interview with an internal candidate who was looking for a promotion to a position that was posted on one of my teams. During the interview I noticed that some of the examples he used to highlight his successes were highly energizing to him. I asked him more questions about the particular job from which his enthusiasm flowed. He could go on and on about that job. He told me in detail about the work environment, the job itself, and the success he and his team enjoyed. 

He’d left that job several years before for one with the promise of more money. The promise was kept for a few months. But since that job he rocked, he hadn’t had another job for which he had the same enthusiasm.

In my work, I meet people all the time that confide, “I’m really not engaged here. If it weren’t for the money, I’d do X.”

There you go. Proof, not that we needed it, that money doesn’t engage anyone.

If that sentence above resonates, if you’d go do X if not for the money and security you think you enjoy, then you’re probably making one of the “3 Mistakes That Make People Hate Monday”  The third mistake, to be specific. I call it the Donald Trump Mistake – trying to be something you’re not. Donald Trump has tried to be “Presidential”. Bottom line is, for all his TV experience, he can’t even act that part. I’m not passing any judgement, I’m just saying, that’s not him. Even if he is elected President of the United States, he’s never going to fit that “Presidential” mold or stereotype we typically recognize. When he tries, it works for a day or two, but then he’s back to the guy we know. The one we’ve known for as long as he’s been on the scene.

If you’re in a job where you are trying to be something you’re not because you followed the counsel of some trusted advisor, but you’re hating Monday, maybe it’s time to look more closely at what you do best. And then do more of it every day.

You had a job you rocked. Maybe it wasn’t a whole job. Maybe it was a task or an assignment or a project, but you had it at some point. You rocked that job because it forced you to use your talents. Not the skills you learned or the education you acquired, but the talents with which you were born.

If it’s been too long since you rocked a job, it’s because your talents are being starved. When that happens, you dread going to work. When you dread going to work, Monday arrives before it should.

Back to my friend from high school and the question: Does she love Monday because she got an award, or did she get an award because she loves Monday?

I know her and I know her talents. And the career she’s chosen plays to those strengths. So she loved Monday through Friday long before she got the Employee Excellence Award last March. Using her talents made her among the top 3 employees of 1,700 in her organization.

It’s a bit of a golden ring – loving Monday. But it’s within everybody’s reach. You just need to look closely at what your talents are.

Then stop trying to be something you’re not. Those things you dread, you dread because you have no talent for them. Fix that by:

·        Finding a partner who compliments your weaknesses with their strengths

·        Finding a tool that can help you get through those things you’re not good at doing, more efficiently

·        Finding a repeatable process that can help you get through those things you hate more quickly.

The good news is that most people don’t have to change careers to stop hating Monday.

You don’t have to be a part of the 70% of workers who hate Monday. It’s possible for you to love Monday, just like Friday, but for a different reason.