Many young people and young professionals struggle to overcome unfulfilled aspirations and difficult circumstances, and frequently end up in unsatisfying jobs. Even so, armed with the right attitude, strategies, and behaviours, they can take advantage of opportunities to make a mark on the global marketplace while discovering greater fulfilment. Josh, a young professional like so many others, finds out how to do just that in The Magic of Monday, a fable that teaches lessons on developing a winning attitude in and out of the workplace. With the help of his longtime friend, Paul, he learns how: focusing on your strengths can make all the difference in performance; changing damaging behaviours can yield positive results; discovering new ways of thinking can transform a career; and finding a mentor can provide huge dividends. Josh also learns top habits of high achievers, what it means to have a winning attitude, and how to stay motivated on a daily basis. By joining him on his journey and reading real advice and insights gleaned from interviews of more than seventy-five business leaders, entrepreneurs, senior executives, and managers, you'll never look at Mondays the same again.

THE MAGIC OF MONDAY

A Fable about the Winning Formula for Career SuccessBy Obi Abuchi

iUniverse, Inc.

Copyright © 2012 Obi Abuchi
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4759-5099-1

Contents

Foreword..............................................................ixAcknowledgements......................................................xiIntroduction..........................................................xiiiPrologue: A Noble Aspiration..........................................xvii1—Get Back in the Driver's Seat.................................12—Commit to Excellence Now......................................243—Prepare for the Waves.........................................334—Cultivate the Right Habits....................................455—Embrace the Pain of Growth....................................576—Stay Open and Learn from Every Experience.....................667—Take Initiative...............................................758—Face Up to Your Fears.........................................899—Adopt a Winning Attitude......................................9910—Develop a Winning Focus......................................11911—A New Era....................................................137Epilogue: Passing It On...............................................145About the Author......................................................155

Chapter One

Get Back in the Driver's Seat

Character—the willingness to accept responsibility for one's own life—is the source from which self-respect springs. —Joan Didion

He entered his flat, kicked off his shoes, and collapsed on the sofa. He was exhausted. It had been another extremely long day.

'Talk about no rest for the wicked,' he muttered to himself.

Monday had never been Josh's favourite day, and the weekly 7 a.m. briefing certainly wasn't his ideal way to start the week. The creatives, who designed the marketing campaigns, had been in even earlier, fussing about a new campaign that was being launched this week, and when he arrived, hardly anybody spoke to him.

The family-owned advertising company had only thirty-five employees, but with a big reputation and loyal customers, it regularly punched well above its weight. Most of the day-to-day operations were overseen by Pete, the older son of Mick Teveo, the founding director, whom everyone referred to as 'the big boss.' Even Pete called him that, much to everyone's amusement.

With the end of his six-month probation drawing near, and knowing that he was struggling to meet performance expectations, Josh didn't feel too optimistic that they would keep him on, even if Pete was a good friend of his older sister, Leesa.

As a marketing assistant, it was his job to carry out research in support of various marketing campaigns. He knew it was unrealistic to expect to be responsible for the development of an actual marketing strategy at this stage, but he had hoped that by now he would be doing more than market research and organising the distribution of promotional literature.

It didn't help that he had a strained relationship with Lewis, his manager. As far as Josh was concerned, Lewis didn't like him. He was always going on about Josh's poor attitude, but Josh felt he was far too strict about doing things right, giving him no room to exercise his own creativity. Considering that he was at least a foot and a half taller than Lewis, Josh convinced himself that Lewis was simply suffering from small-man syndrome. He was certain that Lewis would have fired him already if not for Pete.

He recently moaned to a colleague about Lewis. 'He should try doing the market research for a change! I always get the boring stuff, and yet all he does is complain about my lack of urgency.'

It was typical for staff at the company to put in an extra fifteen to twenty hours a week, especially when they had deadlines on major projects. Josh hated working to deadlines. Although they all got paid for working overtime, the busy weeks felt like they were every week.

As he lay on the sofa, he couldn't help but think that, at twenty-seven, this wasn't what he expected his life to be like. He wondered where it had all gone wrong. Nine years earlier, though it seemed like only yesterday, he was hoping to fulfil his ambition of going to one of the best universities in the world to study medicine. He wanted his work to make a difference, but now he felt he was simply working just to get by. And he hated it.

However, each time he thought about the number of jobs he'd had over the last six years—since graduating from university with a degree in physics and management—he was determined to make this job work. Sometimes, he felt that had more to do with not wanting to disappoint his mum, Leesa, or even Pete.

He could sense the sinking feeling in his stomach when suddenly the jingling of keys in the front door caught his attention.

It had to be Paul, one of Josh's flatmates. He taught science at a private school and organised an after-school club, so he rarely got home before 8 p.m. on weekdays. Tim, their other flatmate, was currently in Dubai. He worked for a management consultancy and was often out of town for a few weeks at a time. He earned a very good salary and paid his share of the rent in advance, three months at a time. Josh felt so envious of him.

'Hey, how's it going?' said Paul casually as he dropped his keys by the door and headed towards the kitchen.

'I'm cool,' replied Josh.

Paul shouted from the kitchen, 'Are we still heading out to watch the game?'

'Oh, yeah. I forgot about that. It's been a mad day at work, to be honest. I hardly had time to breathe.'

'That great, eh?'

'A pretty rubbish day, actually,' Josh mumbled as he walked towards the kitchen and stood right outside the door. 'Do you ever feel like you're living someone else's life?'

'Huh?' replied Paul. He was pouring some juice into a glass and not looking at Josh.

'You know what I mean. Clocking in and out every day, answering to a difficult boss, going through the motions, doing a job that just doesn't feel like it was ever meant to be for you.'

'Oh, here we go again,' said Paul as he rolled his eyes. 'Er ... I guess. Although somehow I've always known what I wanted to do and just gone after it, even though it wasn't what Mum and Dad wanted me to do. I don't know. Maybe I'm lucky, but I really love my work.'

'Well, of course you would. They've got great facilities in your school, plus you earn good dosh, you get to organise regular science trips, and you even have free lunches. Please! Who wouldn't love that?'

'That's true,' he said as he smiled. 'But, hey, those are just perks. I love teaching. There's no question that it's hardwork, and those kids can be a real pain in the neck sometimes. But I honestly think I'd enjoy teaching anywhere, perks or not.'

'Lucky you,' said Josh as he sighed. 'Most of the time I just feel empty at work. Somehow, I know I could be doing so much more with my life, but I'm just not sure what more is. Right now, I have zero passion for what I do. Zilch! Nada! And it doesn't help that I always get the boring stuff to do at work.'

'I think you're taking this all too seriously, J. Come on! There's more to life than work.'

Josh just glared at Paul in response.

'Whoa! If eyes could kill ...' said Paul, looking away. 'By the way, I thought you were excited about this job when you got it? It's been what, four or five months?'

Josh rubbed his head. 'Almost six!' he replied. 'Maybe I...