Sunday Night Blues - Do You Want to Do Away With Them?

By Amy Robinson

Statistics show that there is an increase in blood pressure for many returning to work Monday morning. Reasons for this vary: break from leisure activities to back to work events, stressful commute to work, and returning to a job that one does not like.

I fell into the latter category. Although it was six years ago this month when I made the biggest change to my career by leaving corporate America and starting my own business, I can still remember the symptoms of the Sunday Night Blues all too well.

For me, the blues represented the feeling of sadness over loosing the freedom of what I enjoyed doing most- putting my strengths and passions to their greatest use and enjoyment. Instead, I kept facing a job and routine for the next five days that I would describe, at best, as "passing the time by collecting a paycheck."

I knew I was in deep trouble when I began to passively accept that this is how it would always be, unless I (and I alone) did something about it.

So I decided to identify and confront the really BIG questions.

Was I scared? Yes. 

Did I worry at times I was setting myself up for failure? Yes. 

Did I try and tell myself that my current position really wasn't all that bad, especially when I compared it to someone less fortunate? Yes. 

Did I run through these questions multiple times in one week? Yes.

And that is when I began to plan for my big change. Truthfully it was not a change I did over night, nor willy-nilly. I was more comfortable in making solid plans, minimizing my exposure to risk, leveraging my opportunities to succeed - all before I made the big announcement I was leaving my corporate position.

Having a plan made the whole process less scary as I had something tangible to consult, goals to meet, and daily tasks to perform. All major categories from finances to physical shelter, food, and safety were identified, planned for, and calculated. My plan allowed me to feel safer and more confident in what I was about to do, before I was actually doing it. It paved the way for my commitment: My planning paid off big time, including no more Sunday night blues.

Still wondering if it is your time to resolve the Sunday Night Blues?

Can you answer "yes" to any of the below?

• Are you ready for Change, but what a solid plan to launch your next move?
• Do you want to stop struggling to make the significant changes you say you want?
• Are you at the point where you can no longer blame external sources-people, circumstances, things, and are ready to accept that real change has been blocked internally? 

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