The Corona Diaries, Vol. 8: The gift of Mondays

The Monday blues are something many people feel, especially now that many of us are working and living at home. But they aren’t real, you know. They’re merely a perception we’ve chosen to give weight to. 

There’s a great quote from the poet Kahlil Gibran that goes, “We choose our joys and sorrows long before we experience them.” In other words, we know what’s going to make us happy or miserable. And sure enough, when they happen, we're joyful or grumpy, as if on cue.

Why do so many of us do that? Monday may be the start of the work week - possibly a long one with many difficult tasks to accomplish - but so what? Human beings generally have to work for a living. Making yourself miserable won’t change it. So why choose that reaction? You don’t have to follow the crowd. You could just as easily choose to see Monday - every Monday - as another opportunity to learn, grow and become better at what you do. 

You could just as easily choose to see Monday - every Monday - as another opportunity to learn, grow and become better at what you do. 

Many of the leaders I’ve met around the world over the past half-decade – politicians, athletes, musicians and business leaders alike – have cultivated that quality of independent thought. At some point, they consciously chose to stop simply reacting to the world as they felt they were supposed to and instead decided that they are in charge of how they think, feel and act. In mastering their own thought processes and reactions, many of them found they were able to do big things and help a lot of people.  

There’s a small but powerful lesson there for all of us, I think: Create your own mental habits. If you don’t, the world around you will create them for you.

There’s a saying I’m fond of. It goes, “Tomorrow morning, when you wake up, you’re either going to be stronger, weaker or exactly the same as yesterday.”

So which is it going to be?

The answer, as with most things in life, is up to you and me. 

P.S. A special note for Memorial Day. Given that Monday is often celebrated as a holiday, let us give special thought to our reaction to the day. After all, it’s not a normal Monday. Also, let’s show our gratitude for those who have given their lives to the service of our freedom and higher ideals.

McKeel Hagerty is CEO of The Hagerty Group, founder and co-owner of Grand Ventures, which invests in entrepreneurs building world-changing technology companies, and the former Global Chairman for YPO, the premier leadership organization of chief executives.