The other day I put up a thought on Facebook suggesting that if you were happier on Friday than you are on Monday then you are probably in the wrong job. It was Thursday and I was seeing people in the consulting room and as it was approaching the end of the week the common theme was “good, it will soon be Friday”. This, as you can probably realise is a common point of view that matches a dislike of Mondays, but why is this?
On my journey to becoming who I am today I have worked in many different settings, these days I work as a consultant in the National Health Service or as a consultant in private industry, though it never started like that. Many of my previous jobs would be perceived as lowly, often thought of as common, boring and dead end situations. The thing is was I unhappy?
You see it is never what you do, it is how you do it and how you feel about it? It is to do with attitude.
One of my high spots was working as a toilet attendant in a public lavatory in London. You see, when I left home I had no qualifications and had to do everything myself including funding both courses and general support. Despite having four degrees and other qualifications, I have not been to university as a full time student, I have always worked and studied at the same time. Being a toilet attendant was good because I could go to college and do the morning lectures and then, having cleaned the toilets sit in the glass box and do all my home work. It was a brilliant self funding education machine.
My opposite shift was Horace an old salt of the earth Londoner who had a wicked sense of humour. We would have an hour together drinking tea as we changed over shifts. Horace always cooked curries on a Baby Belling, table top cooker. The smell of his curries, mixed with the scents of Pino Disinfectant, and bodily wastes are all reminders of one of the funniest times in life.
Being a toilet cleaner, working in factories, in telesales in shops and on building sites taught me that it is never what we do, but the attitude that we do it with that creates our happiness but most usually our expectation. In our minds and our brains we build the habits that are us. These are expectations of what we will achieve from life, our happiness and fulfilment over our entire life but also over the coming week or day.
The person who wakes on a monday morning expecting the worst will create the worst because that is their habit. It doesn’t matter if they are working on a check out, in a call centre, on a building site, flying a plane, being a doctor or an entrepreneur, if they have a miserable attitude and a miserable mind they will live a miserable life. Thoughts will always become things, this is how we create our experience of life.
So, what do you do if you do not like the life you are living? The simple answer is that you change it. It doesn’t matter where you are, it doesn’t matter how you got to where you are now, you can change your life to become what you want, if you do the right things in the right way, change is an inevitable outcome. This is what my life and my work is all about, how can we each find fulfilment, hence the website, live in the present.
The key to positive change that is proven through neuropsychology, quantum physics and my own experience, is to first have a goal of where you want to be in life or in work, this may or not have a plan, the second is to be grateful for what you have and where you are and what you are doing. If you create some positive feelings around you the plan will become obvious. Goals, gratitude and with a little motivation create the future that you desire.
Negative feelings will always lead to negative results, Positive feelings will always lead to positive results.
So, do you like Mondays?
Live in the present and be happy
Sean x
