MONDAY UP for Positive Momentum

Welcome to Monday Up!

If this is the first time you experienced Monday Up, let me quickly tell you what it’s about. 

Studies show that Monday is one of the toughest days of the week for many of us to face.

You’ve heard of Man Up and Cowboy Up. We’ve created Monday Up to help lift and build positive momentum at the start of the week.

Each week we talk about setting two big goals for the week. One personal and one professional.

Then we talk about activating one or more Superpowers.

So, what are Superpowers?

Superpowers are our gifts, talents, blessings - combined with knowledge, experience and skills...that through intentional action become our human Superpowers.

Just want to give the explanation to make sure you’re not disappointed that we aren’t leaping tall buildings here. But you may feel like it after listening today. Get ready!

So now are you ready to MONDAY UP?

Let’s start with our Goals - how did you do last week? No judgements, just make a mental note. Did you accomplish them? Did you not accomplish them? Do they need to go back on the list? Do they need to be reconsidered?

My big Professional goal was to find guests to interview on Monday Up. I’m so excited to let you know that next week we’ll have a very special guest. His expertise fits right in with my personal Energize Me goal. Check in next week for an extra dose of Energy.

If you’d like a free copy of my simple ENERGIZE ME plan. Just go to Superpowers 365 and subscribe to Connections. It’s our weekly email packed with fresh ideas for better health, greater wealth and lasting relationships. Since next week is Valentine’s Day, we have a lot to say about Love that just may attract a little more of it into your life.

Now it’s time to set this week’s big goals.

What are yours?

My personal goal is to add in one more item from my ENERGIZE ME plan. I’m sleeping well, I’m eating well most days, now I need to add the daily activity that seems to give me the most energy but is always the first activity I cut when pressed for time. That’s meditation. When I meditate for 20 minutes in the morning after waking up, I truly have more energy and a sense of peace and balance in my whole day.

My professional goal is to put in place an activity schedule that will help me get more done in my week. I resist routines, but without one, my time tends to get filled with easy tasks rather than higher-level accomplishments.

You may want to pause now and write down your big goals for the week.

When you come back, we’ll talk about activating Superpowers this week.

Last week we talked about the foundational Superpower Gratitude. Did anyone think starting a Gratitude Journal was a good idea, but didn’t get it started or keep it going?

You may want to consider placing a journal on your nightstand and jot a few notes before bed.

It sure helps me settle into pleasant thoughts before turning out the lights. If you have a copy of Superpowers Activated, there are pages in the back to capture these thoughts. If you don’t have a copy yet, check it out at Superpowers365.com. I’ll even put a little personal note from me in your copy.

Now for our Monday Up Superpower of the week - Bravery.

Do you relegate this Superpower to a high-risk career choice like firefighting, police work or the military? All are noble and important professions that certainly require Bravery to overcome fear.

Let’s take a look though at how Bravery becomes a Superpower when facing events in our own lives that trigger the same fear responses needed in danger filled jobs – even if we aren’t in one of those jobs.

Fight or Flight

Walter Bradford Cannon is the American psychologist that first developed the theory of the fight or flight instinct when we’re confronted with a perceived threat to survival. The fight or flight instinct is also called an acute stress response. Cannon’s theory was made popular by his book The Wisdom of the Body, first published in 1932.

Lifestyles have changed a little since 1932 though.

Rarely am I faced with a threat to survival at home or work. Like most people, I occasionally have an acute stress response when my back is literally against the wall, there is nowhere to run, and fighting is not an option.

That’s where I believe Bravery is Activated. Not by fighting or fleeing from what I fear, but in facing, examining and moving past what I fear.

We activate the Superpower Bravery every time.....every time

we are afraid to take action but do it anyway.

So, what are your perceived dangers? Let me ask another way. What fear is keeping you from taking action and moving forward this week?

Naming and facing what we fear most takes away its power.

What is your plan for moving past your fear without fleeing from it, fighting it or denying it exists? Denying only delays moving forward.

Bravery is a Superpower we’ve activated many times in our lives. Every time we are Brave, we inspire someone else to face their fears.

Let me be the first to congratulate you on your Superpower Bravery!

Thank you for joining us.

Monday Up!

Debbie Donaldson, Champion for Good