Blue Monday is BS | 5 minute read

Happy Monday. Thanks for being here for our first ever newsletter. What you can expect from this, and future newsletters: A short and sweet dose of happiness to help you start your week with a smile.

It’s Blue Monday. It’s Quitter’s day. And it’s all BS

Blue Monday is today. And it’s bullshit. It started as a PR campaign back in 2005 by Sky Travel to get people to book flights. Much like the word “priorities” (we can’t have more than one priority) became commonplace lingo in the office, Blue Monday as an idea caught fire.

Talk about good marketing. The PR agency Porter Novelli offered money to publications who would put their name behind it.

Sky Travel’s Cliff Arnall (a tutor at the time) even developed a formula to make it more believable, including weather conditions, debt level, time since Christmas, time since New Year’s resolutions have been broken, and so on.

W = weather, D = debt, d = monthly salary, T = time since Christmas, Q = time since the failure of new year's resolutions, M = low motivational levels, and Na = the feeling of a need to take action.

Which brings us to our next point — Quitter’s day.

Quitter’s day is the second Friday in January and often the day when many abandon their resolutions or goals.

What is it about this time of year? We had such hope, such desire and now we’re back on the couch drinking again, eating chips, and feeling terrible about ourselves.

How this year will be different

If you’ve ever worked an office job, you’re probably familiar with SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time Bound).

While those work to help you stay productive, we’re proposing a different solution to help you become a little happier.

DOSE goals

The 4 happiness chemicals in the brain are Dopamine, Oxytocin, Serotonin, and Endorphins.

Let’s chase happiness by releasing more of these chemicals slowly, naturally.

• Dopamine

My son has ADHD which means he has crushingly low levels of dopamine. So bad, it’s hard to get him out of bed in the morning.

So, we’ve started using mini goals. Dopamine thrives on checking the box (even tiny boxes). We’re not talking about the fast-food-like dopamine hit of scrolling Instagram.

Read a few pages of a book, turn off your phone, have a cold shower. Allow yourself to be bored — boredom tiggers curiosity because your brain isn’t satisfied doing nothing. Dopamine can be released in anticipation of a reward. When your brain is idle, it starts to generate ideas to entertain itself and that, my friends, triggers a release of dopamine.

• Oxytocin

It’s often called the “bonding hormone”

Go out there and hug someone. If that’s too touchy feely, say thank you to someone for doing something specific like “hey, thanks for pouring my beer.” Even a deep conversation where you listen carefully can help others. Call someone when you think of them. All these things release natural oxytocin.

• Serotonin

Eating fruits, getting morning sun, taking a hike, practicing the ‘perfect breath’ (5 seconds in, 5 seconds out, all through the nose). Take a nap or go for a headphone-free walk where nothing is meant to be accomplished but the walk itself.

• Endorphins

Ok, in between meetings, do 10 squats. New studies show that it can reduce Alzheimer’s. Endorphins are typically tied to the exercise hormone. You don’t have to be a gym rat to enjoy the benefits of endorphins, though. Singing in the shower, dancing in the kitchen, and sitting in a sauna all release endorphins as well. Let joy, not obligation, guide you.

Forget the pressure of “fixing” yourself because, spoiler: you’re not broken. Goals don’t have to be about cutting things out or punishing yourself. Instead, make them about adding joy, building connections, and celebrating progress — big or small.

Blue Monday and Quitter’s Day might be PR stunts, but let’s reclaim this season as a time for new beginnings.

Pebbling

Every week, we’ll give you a pebble like penguins who share small tokens of affection with another penguin they care about.

In our first ever newsletter, we hope this pebble is enough to convince you to sign up. Go on, it’s free, it’s short and it’ll be full of happiness triggers.

Want to give a pebble (it’ll make you feel good), how about sending this to a friend? (it’ll make us feel good, too.)

Set one small DOSE goal and tell someone about it (hint: we’re listening, so feel free to reply to this email). Share your wins and watch the happiness chemicals do their magic.

And may you take back your Monday.

Cheers,
Justin, Tyler, Jon