"Sunday Scaries" Sends Real-Time Feedback to Help Your Career Grow
For years, we've been told that setting New Year's resolutions is the key to staying on track with career goals. I don't buy into this.
As an Executive Career and Leadership Coach, I can tell you that not a single success story has ever credited their New Year's resolutions for their breakthrough.
A simple way to gauge if you're on track with your career goals is to check in with how you feel on Sundays. If you experience dread and anxiety and don't look forward to the workweek, you're dealing with what's commonly called the "Sunday Scaries."
Inside my Sunday Scaries
When I left my consulting career back in 2010, my Sunday Scaries were so severe that I would stay in bed until the last possible moment. This wasn't like me at all. I'm an early riser, yet my behavior and visceral responses to work told a different story. I would drag myself out of bed, thinking of countless things I'd rather be doing than going to work.
Related :: Read the opening page of [Book] Finding Passion - A Self-Discovery Approach for Navigating the Career Crossroads and Jessica's story on burnout
Words are powerful—they reinforce our beliefs. I believed my career was prestigious, rewarding, and intellectually challenging. My identity was "Jessica from Deloitte." Work was a daily puzzle to solve, and being a top performer or "rockstar" went with the territory. When it came to Sunday though, I was barely functioning.
The most unsettling part was the disconnect between work I used to love and my growing sense of dread. It was both alarming and confusing. I'm grateful my younger self listened and slowed down enough to recognize the truth: I was evolving faster than my work and growth path could accommodate.
Related :: 10 Ways to Know Your Workplace, Not You, Is the Real Problem
I wonder if you're at a similar inflection point—one you've never experienced before. Trust that you'll soon be on the other side of this unsettling feeling.
When we're evolving, it's natural to encounter moments where our usual tools don't work anymore. This is new territory, and it calls for a fresh approach.
Now, I can barely remember those feelings of dread. I look forward to my work, my inspiring clients, and the learning that goes with being inside personal transformations in my work. I embrace my personal power and purpose. Sundays and Mondays feel amazing.
Real-Time Feedback
Feeling the Sunday Scaries only happens when something is off.
Think back to how it felt the first day at a new company, or after you got that promotion. You probably had a pep in your step to get to work and imagine all the possibilities. No Sunday Scaries, right?
Why not use your built-in senses to check in and turn Sundays into "fundays" and Mondays into meaningful starts to your week?
3 Exercises to Overcome the Sunday Scaries
Consider these coaching thought exercises to change the way you perceive your workweek.
Shift your mindset by scanning your workweek for moments you anticipate—a key meeting, lunch with a friend, completing a project, receiving feedback. We often focus on what's not working or what's wrong rather than what's going well and improving. What's your vantage point on the opportunities ahead?
Take ownership of the story by talking to the monster in your head. If you don't like how the movie is unfolding, it's time to change the script. After all, you're the star! 🌟 What is the friction you feel on Sunday trying to tell you?
Flip the script and put your creative hat on. Redefine success, busyness, and the lifestyle you want. Daydream about the way you want your Sunday-Monday relationship to be. More importantly, what’s the relationship you want with yourself when you’re outside of work?
When given the choice between amazing and scary, you have no more excuses to remain in the land of not knowing what to do about this.
