Monday, October 26, 2009

Being & Doing: reflections on a Monday morning


After almost two years of blogging, Monday mornings still give me pause.
I wake up like most people thinking of the work week ahead--the projects I need to do, the appointments I have, the leftover tasks I didn’t finish from the previous week. And during this quick mental survey of the days ahead, I can’t help but think about the Monday mornings of my past--the ones when I woke up and dreaded the week ahead. On those days I didn’t want to get out of bed. My to-do list held no interest for me. My appointments were void of purpose. My leftover tasks felt like heavy weights on my shoulders.




Those were difficult Mondays.


Fortunately my weekly kick-offs have since improved.
And the improvement began with a simple question: who do I want to be? Part of the answer--as you might guess--was that I wanted to be someone who enjoyed Monday mornings.




I find it interesting that we ask children
“what do you want to be when you grow up?” and expect them to answer with what they want to do. Because being and doing are not the same thing. Two years ago, for instance, I was doing the expected full-time career, but I wasn’t being who I wanted to be.




I bring this all up because a) it is Monday, and b) originality begins with “who do you want to be?”
My answer to the question--a creative entrepreneur/mom/wife/leader--was what led me to overhaul my cookie-cutter life in pursuit of something different. It is what led me here, to all of you.


Originality, then, is not something to do. Yes, there are plenty of original things we can do--many of them I write about here. But fundamentally I want to Be an Original. And that is what we’re going to gab about for the rest of this week. So stick around to hear more...and I hope you enjoy your Monday.

To read more about my "lifestyle makeover," click here.

3 comments:

  1. Oh Steph, you have thee most amazing brain! I so look forward to every post... You're very inspiring! Thank you for blogging! xoxo

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  2. Thank you for the compliment! And thanks for reading:)

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  3. Your post today reminds me of my high school graduation and a speech someone gave about what we want to be or WHO we want to be. 12 years later, that speech has still stuck with me!! It's such a great lesson. WHO do we want to be?
    I also have always dreaded Monday's. The regular 9-5 grind is something that can completely drag you down. I thought it was just where I worked and perhaps the stress, but I love how you put it into perspective...it just lacked purpose for me too! I'm so glad you doing something you love now. You are amazingly creative and I enjoy reading your blogs. You have so much talent and so much to give. Thanks for blogging...I sincerely enjoy reading!!

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