Monday – Dave Glardon

Whose Bright Idea Was Monday???

September 28, 2026 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope your Monday is off to a nice start. I know, of all the days, why did they have to put Monday first? I used to ask that same question myself.

To be fair, Mondays can be a jolt to the system in more ways than one. You’re either coming off a weekend of rest and relaxation, or one where another six weekends in a row wouldn’t be enough time to accomplish everything, and there’s not much in between. Either way, Monday is rude interruption in that brief interlude from reality.

But I guess it makes sense to get Monday out of the way first. In the book “Eat That Frog!” Brian Tracy describes the ideal way to tackle an unpleasant project in some rather unpleasant terms. Paraphrased, “If you have to eat a frog, do it first thing in the morning and the rest of the day can only get better. If you have to eat two frogs, eat the ugliest one first.”

So, get Monday out of the way. Tackle the day with a realistic list of things you need to accomplish, starting with the ugliest frogs in the bucket. Don’t let anybody keep you from getting it all done, and don’t let Monday bleed on Tuesday. You can be more accommodating tomorrow. Besides, anyone who tried to get in your way today won’t be that stupid again.

Do this every Monday and you’ll find yourself more productive and less exhausted by the end of the week. And, as a side benefit, others will learn not to mess with you on Monday. Most will avoid getting in your way the rest of the week, because anybody who works that hard on Monday must have a screw loose, right? Take the small wins.

The direct benefit to you is twofold. First, after you’ve gotten through Monday, the rest of the week should be easy by comparison. Oh, some jerk will come along and try to mess that up, but once you’ve done the hard stuff, you can handle distractions. But more importantly, you’ll come to look forward to Monday, because that’s the day you get things done.

And it doesn’t just have to be a weekly thing. Every project I’ve ever worked on had its share of Mondays. Sometimes they had two or three in a week, and other times they’d take a couple of weeks off. But every new phase, every major milestone, had Mondays of its own. And our success in each milestone rests heavily on how well we handle those Mondays.

When we take on the hard part first, the feeling of accomplishment is that much stronger. It also helps identify what needs to be done next, and any dependencies we need to consider along the way. I love woodworking and have made several intricate pieces over the years. Trust me when I say you have to do things in a certain order, or the scrap bin fills up fast.

And it’s that way no matter what the project, from building an airplane to Thanksgiving dinner. The early part isn’t so glamorous, especially the part about prepping the turkey. They stuck the gizzards where??? But there’s a feeling of accomplishment the instant it goes in the oven. And the reward builds as the day goes on. It’s a smell you never forget.

Depending on where you live, Monday may already be over. If so, celebrate! You made it! And you know what? You can do it again. Here’s why – Monday isn’t a real thing. It’s just a name somebody assigned to the same day every week. It could just as easily have been called Friday, or Someday. I like that last one. “I’ll get it to you Someday!” Bill collectors would love that.

But Monday doesn’t have it in for you. It’s just there, inanimate and continually turning seconds into history. It’s what we do with those seconds that determines how our day evolves. And if you can master Mondays, what evil can stand in your way? Make Monday your partner instead of your adversary. Monday can only treat you as well as you treat it.

That’s all for now. Enjoy the rest of your day, and if today wasn’t your day, then start tomorrow. Take on the ugliest frogs first and see if you don’t feel better as a result. Be sure to let me know how it works for you. I love hearing from you folks. Have an awesome week!

Make Every Day Your Special Day

June 17, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope your day is off to a great start.

It’s Monday, and you know what that means. A whole new week to get out there and get closer to your dreams! What? Did you really think I was going to remind you that it’s a new week at work? You already knew that. And just in case you didn’t, there are plenty of people there who will be happy to remind you.

Monday is one just another day of the week, but it sure seems to get a bad rap. Ask somebody how their day is going, and the common answer is, “Not bad, for a Monday.” I guess if you set your expectations low enough, it’s not hard to measure up. Funny, you never hear anybody say their day is going pretty well for a Friday. I guess Friday gets a free pass based on its position on the calendar.

But it’s all a matter of perspective. If your goal is to just get through the week as quickly as possible, Monday is an obstacle and Friday is the reward. The other days just go by without much fanfare. Wednesday gets a little extra bump, simply because it’s the halfway point. It’s “Hump Day.” Thursday is “Friday Eve”, and Tuesday is “Well, at least it’s not Monday.”

It would be comical if not for the fact that we go through the same ritual every week. Unless you’re on vacation. Those are the weeks that fly past despite our best effort to make the days drag on as long as possible. Have you ever heard anybody on a cruise ship say it’s an okay day, considering it’s Monday? It’s more like, “What day is it? Monday? Wow, this week is going by fast!”

The key to making any day special, something you look forward to, is having a personal goal for the day. I’m not talking about meat loaf night, which would certainly be high on my list of things to make the day special. I’m talking about a goal that, once you’ve accomplished it, puts you closer to an even greater accomplishment that you can truly celebrate.

In my early days of stand-up comedy, we had Blue Monday at our local comedy club. Tuesday night there was a local open mic show, Wednesday was showcase night, and so on. Every weekday it seems, I had opportunities to get onstage somewhere and work on my set. Weekends, on the other hand, were reserved for those who had already paid their dues. The rest of us just sat and watched.

Back then I went through most weekends looking forward to Monday. Sure, I had to get up first and go to work. But I had a personal goal for each day during the week, something aside from just getting through another day at work and getting one day closer to a weekend when I’d have to sit there and wish I had something “fun” to do. As I said, it’s all a matter of perspective.

I’m once again in a position where I look forward to Monday, and each day of the week. I’m working on a goal that requires being around other people, interacting with them, and sharing ourselves with one another. Every day is a prime day to work toward that goal, but weekdays are best because people are just generally more accessible. On weekends, they’re all off doing something else.

So, I wake up each day during the week with a goal, something I want to accomplish before the day is done. And achieving that goal is as simple as doing what I said I was going to do. I don’t need instant results to validate that effort. It’s not about seeing how quickly I can reach my ultimate objective, but just doing what needs to be done to get there. The results will come.

When you look at the day in those terms, every day takes on a whole new importance. Maybe you’re into cross-stitch, and you’re trying to spend an hour each day working on your next creation. Maybe you’re trying to write a book and your goal is three new pages each day. Every day becomes yet another opportunity to put you closer to your goal.

We can spend our days just trying to get to bedtime, to the weekend, through the month, and through the year. Ultimately, that’s just a beeline to the other end of life, and often with nothing more to show for it than a tired old body and a lot of unfulfilled dreams.

Make each day special. Define your dream and decide what you need do each day to get closer to it. Commit to the effort, then follow through. It doesn’t have to take a lot of time – just enough to put you a little closer to your goal. Do that, and you’ll look forward to every day. Even Monday.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!

Into Every Life a Monday Must Fall

March 11, 2019March 11, 2019 by Dave Glardon, posted in Uncategorized

Good morning! I hope you all had a nice weekend.

For a day of new beginnings, Monday seems to get a pretty bad rap. We spend all weekend bemoaning its pending arrival, and then start the day with pretty low expectations because, after all, it’s Monday. Nothing good ever happens on Monday. It’s a day when all the forces of nature (not to mention the corporate gods) are aligned against us. To hear people talk, you’d sure think so.

But Monday is the start of a new week. Okay, technically, Sunday is the start of a new week. I’ve never quite understood that because the Bible says that on the seventh day God rested, and that’s supposed to be Sunday. But according to the calendar, this is the second day of the week. I guess with all the time changes over the years, that one got lost in the shuffle.

Speaking of time changes, this is a Monday we tend to dread even more than normal because, for most of the United States, we lost an hour of sleep this weekend. When the clocks moved forward in the wee hours of Sunday morning, our normal wake-up time came an hour sooner than we’re used to. That’s worthy of at least a few complaints, right?

Okay, it’s understandable that Monday isn’t our favorite day of the week. It means the weekend is over, along with any rest you may have gotten during those two days. And it means we’re back to the grind, slaving away in the salt mines for the next five days. The countdown to Friday begins today. We even have a mid-week celebration for going over the hump.

Any time we wished for another day (usually birthdays back then), my mom would tell us, “Don’t keep wishing your life away.” And you know, she was right. Every time we wish for the clock to advance a little faster, whether it’s an upcoming vacation, a birthday, date night with somebody special, or simply next Friday, we’re wishing ourselves that much closer to the end.

It’s a grim thought, but most of us don’t tend to see it in that light. “I just want to get to the good part and skip all the bad stuff in the middle.” We’ve all felt that way at times, especially when the stuff in the middle isn’t so enjoyable. I don’t know of anyone who wakes up every day to another 24 hours of sheer bliss. Some days are better than others. It’s all part of this thing we call life.

There’s something to be said for making the most of each day, even Mondays. As I said at the start of this post, it’s a day of new beginnings. Last week is behind us and we get to start fresh. Even those tasks left over from last week don’t seem so bad, because we’re able to look at them with a pair of fresh eyes. Sometimes, the job that wouldn’t go away is over in just a few minutes.

It’s also a new day to begin working toward your dreams. In fact, if you spend a few minutes every morning (especially Monday) thinking about the things you want to accomplish for yourself and resolve to spend just a little more time this week doing that, you’ll find reason for a little excitement. And when you approach anything with a sense of excitement, it’s just automatically better.

Instead of thinking of all the work you have to do, think of all the things you’ll accomplish. Instead of looking at the five days that stand between you and your next weekend of rest, look at five days in which you can find a little time to work toward your own goals. With five days of leaving the house every morning, you get five days of coming home. It’s all a matter of perspective.

Every day is a new beginning. It’s a chance to do the things you couldn’t do yesterday, or even to launch into a brand-new endeavor that will make life that much more enjoyable. And even if it’s only a day to go to work and earn a paycheck, it’s still an opportunity to make the most of the time between waking up and going back to bed.

Each moment of our life is gone as fast as it came, and we can never have any of them back. That includes Mondays. As we race through our lives, it’s important to enjoy the moments that make up each day. Some will be better than others, to be sure. But it’s our ability to find the good in most situations that will make the bad times not so bad, and the good times even better.

That’s all for now. Have an awesome day!