Hello my Monday friend,

First, I want to preface something: As we continue on in quarantine, I’m sure you heard someone advocating that “You can do whatever you want in quarantine! There is no pressure! You don’t have to work out every day, you don’t have to be doing something productive every day!” 

While that’s true, you can, in fact, live your quarantine life as you wish, that’s not why you’re here.

You are here because you do not want to stay stagnant, you want to be better, and you want to commit to the lifestyle where you see every single day as a new adventure, a new challenge and another opportunity to be better!

I am not writing to you to let you sink into your couch cushion a little bit deeper, for another 3 more hours today. No. 

You are a part of #MondaysAreGoodDays because you believe in the push. You come here to find support, encouragement and mental nourishment. I am here to make you think, to motivate you and to start your week off with some kick-ass energy. WHETHER OR NOT we are all in quarantine. 

I appreciate you showing up today.

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I went camping this weekend for the first time (so fun!) so today’s #MondaysAreGoodDays revolves around a nature theme. Of course, Mother Nature is beautiful and so, my writing for today follows behind her poetic justice. 

Being outside, breathing fresh air, & bathing in the sun are three things I will encourage you to do EVERY SINGLE DAY. And if you’ve been here for awhile, you already know this. This weekend, I disconnected from my phone for two days, enjoyed really special company, and reset my mind, my motivation, and my attitude.

And because of that, I am able to provide you with a #MondaysAreGoodDays that will motivate YOU to be YOUR best. 

Let’s get into it: 

1. The Push (A Poem)

2. Rocky Roots (A thought)

3. Avoid Being Stupid (A tip)

The Push 

The leaves are pushed by a wind coming from nowhere. 

Where does it come from? This force... This movement?

This gradual shaking, and changing, and creating…  

 

The wind whispers to the next leaf, encourages it to dance along. 

“When we combine our forces, we can knock this trunk to the ground. We can pull out its roots and turn this tree upside down.”

We’re not sure what started up this tornado, but in its dangerous center is its purpose: to twist up a contagious gust of power, and to spread this energy to those in its radius.

 

Today, I am your tornado and you are the leaf. You are here, in my radius.

Stand here, breathe here, live here, and feel my push. 

Embrace for impact as I circle through your territory. Let me throw all the non-essentials up into the air, forget about them. 

Allow me to rearrange your floor plan, I have some changes for you. 

 

My energy is charged, positive.

The coming rain is acidic, it is mixed with the special chemicals to melt away all that cannot withstand its reign. 

Let the liquid decompose the weak elements that are no match for my pour. 

 

As the wind touches the green of the tree, the veins inhale and send life through its branches, deep down into the center of this evergreen. 

 

Here is my touch. Feel this push. 

First along the tips of your leaves and then deep inside your trunk.

Inhale these words, let them swim through your veins, swallow them into your lunges. Let them oxygenate your thoughts.

Like the strength of a violent hurricane, embody this power within your system and decide the weather for your day. 

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I’m not sure what is going through your head right now and I’m unsure of your specific struggles. Maybe you are frustrated with yourself, or you are having a hard time finding motivation. But sometimes on a slow morning and or a down day, all we need is for someone to believe in us and lift us off of our ass, onto our feet and feed us some good, encouraging energy. 

Today, I am scooping my arms under your shoulders and elevating you onto your feet. 

I want you to walk headstrong into the eye of today’s tornado. 

The center is where all the power is, anyway. 

And I want you to feel that energy and BE that energy. 

Like I said, you have the power to decide the weather for the day. And if it was up to me, I want the sun shining and the birds singing.

Rocky Roots 

On our camping trip this past weekend, my friends and I stepped away from our campsite to explore the territory around us.

The easily entertained person that I am was excited and so intrigued by the fallen trees with their roots exposed, but what made them special was the huge rocks that were cemented into its roots.  

I love my friends because when I dramatically called everyone over to see the Rocky Roots and explain my thoughts on the symbolism, they all ran over with the same amount of enthusiasm as I had when I yelled over to them.

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A tree is the symbol for life. It’s the first metaphor we all think of... it’s the most basic entity that can be considered living (besides single-celled organisms, of course, but this isn’t science class so let’s not get technical here). 

A rock is… literally just a rock! No life, just a lump of mass.

Of course our planet would not be without rocks, I mean, we are literally floating on one giant rock. But I was confused how the two contrasting pieces of our earth were working together.

Actually, we might argue that the rock was the only one doing the work. 

Whenever I plant, I remove all the rocks from the base of the roots. I clear the grounds so that the feet of my tree can grow far, strong and wide, without disruption, without interruption.

But I now realize that these rocks helped support the trees, the roots intertwined around their lifeless bodies and held on tight as the height grew taller. 

And so, when the trees fell, the force of the fall ripping the roots from the ground, the rocks, which were bigger than my palm spread wide open, stayed connected to the roots. They were a part of the tree. 

I’m almost positive we would think, before learning about these Rocky Roots, that stones would stay in their underground homes when a tree falls, but we are wrong. 

And it makes you think about what is stuck in between our own roots.

What is keeping us lifted and standing tall? What is underneath us that stabilizes our feet to the ground so we do not fall at the first sign of wind? 

What seemingly lifeless entity supports us? Lifeless in the sense that we do not actively and consciously recognize it as relevant or important in our growth, in our foundation. 

I want you to be like these strong trees. The ones that DO have the interruptions and disturbances within their roots. They don’t see these rocks as a nuisance, they actually embrace them. They use them to their own advantage. 

The rocks underneath you might be life lessons you learned the hard way or struggles you have faced that have turned you into the person you are today. Your rocks can be people that have made significant differences in your life, someone you learned from, someone that helped you along the stepping stones.  

You have built a life on top of your struggles, on top of your rocks. They are now a piece of you. 

When issues and conflicts are dug up, your rocky roots will show - but you know how to distribute your weight, you know how to lean on to the mountain side for support.

You stand tall and reach towards the stars because you do not throw rocks at your enemies or push them out of the way, you work around them, you let the experience become a part of you, and you grow.

Avoid Being Stupid 

This has nothing to do with nature! 

I learned about a new concept of thinking and problem solving called the Inversion Theory. The concept revolves around the idea that it is much easier to avoid stupidity than to try and be brilliant. 

For example, for a problem like losing weight: instead of thinking “How am I going to lose 10 pounds this month?” You can ask yourself, “What can I not eat today that will help me lose weight?” 

The answer to the latter question is easier to come by and it is less overwhelming. It’s simple: don’t eat the ice cream, don’t eat after 8pm, don’t eat three servings of chicken and rice, instead eat one. Don’t try to be brilliant, just avoid stupidity. 

Instead of asking, “How can I be more productive? How can I increase my focus?” think, “What distracts me? What interrupts me when I’m trying to focus?” 

When trying to answer “How can I be more productive?” you are bombarded with experts listing off the 10 best tips and tricks from revolutionary entrepreneurs, and most likely this just becomes overwhelming and discouraging to you. But if we simply think, “My phone is distracting. Having my TV on while I try to read is distracting, etc.” And then we take the action to eliminate these distractions, it all becomes much easier. Avoid stupidity.

Instead of putting so much pressure on yourself by thinking, “How can I be brilliant? How can I figure out what I want to do with my life? What should I do next?” instead ask, “What am I doing that is hurting me? What am I doing that is holding me back? What are my negative habits, and what are the positive opposites I can do instead?”

Your answers might be that you spend more time scrolling on your cell phone than researching careers within your interests. Instead of laying on your couch all day, feeling lousy, get up and move around. You can workout with me and Dani at 7pm tonight. Here is the link to sign in.

If you are someone that struggles with having positive self-talk with yourself, this is a good technique to help shift your mindset and the way you are speaking to yourself. Or, if you are feeling overwhelmed with pressure to do or figure out something, try questioning the task at hand or the conflict from a different angle. You can use inversion therapy in your everyday life or at a business meeting. This thinking helps you find the most efficient solutions along the path of least resistance. 

Takeaways

1. Sometimes it can be hard to find the motivation to get started. But what’s great about #MondaysAreGoodDays is that you don’t need to look any further, I am pushing you along today. I am feeding you all the good energy and encouragement YOU NEED to accomplish your tasks at hand and to declare it a GOOD DAY. Whether you complete one or 15 tasks, it does not matter - every day, every person is different and our priorities and schedules change - but no matter what we do or who we are, it is always nice to have a little push. Now that you have completed #MondaysAreGoodDays for today, you can now float along with my gust of wind and start crossing things off your to-do list!

2. Every day, every experience, every struggle is a stepping stone, a learning experience, or something that helps us grow. If we avoided or buried these stones deep into the dark trenches of our existence, then we would never grow tall, we would never see the sun, and we will never stand tall and strong. We must wrap our roots around the rocks, embrace them, let them support us and lean on them - I didn’t do my research, but I can confidently conclude that the strongest trees have the most amount of rocks in their roots.

3. Sometimes we have to change our perspective a little bit to have a huge epiphany. I encourage you to try Inversion Thinking today. 

SHOP MONDAYS ARE GOOD DAYS

SHOP MONDAYS ARE GOOD DAYS

To the reader:

I’m working really hard to give the world something. To do something purposeful. To build something of my own, using all of my own “soul effort.”

I want to create something good.

I simply think that while respecting, encouraging and understanding others, while simultaneously learning about ourselves, keeping an open mind, and believing in the good “things,” we can make simple and positive change.

So do I want to change the world?

Maybe, but let’s start with brightening your day.

 

 

Sources

1. How to Solve Difficult Problems by Using the Inversion Technique - James Clear