Author: Emily Priddy

We all want to stand out in a crowded job market, and it’s no secret that tailoring a résumé that sets us apart is crucial to boosting our chances of catching a potential employer’s eye.

While many hiring experts will tell us that we need to be scientific about certain fonts—and others will tell us that we need to highlight achievements in a specific way—we’d like to emphasize the importance of something equally, if not more, powerful: communicating our personal WHYs clearly at the top of our résumés and tying those WHY’s to the organization’s larger brand purpose.

Now, if you know anything about our Chief Optimist, Simon Sinek, you’re probably familiar with his concept of The Golden Circle. According to Simon, applying the Golden Circle to our résumés is an incredibly powerful tool.

When we apply this strategy to our résumés, we’re not just presenting our qualifications; we’re also showcasing our unique contributions and cultural fit—factors increasingly important in the hiring process. 

Here’s how to do it.

Step One: Identify Your WHY Statement:

Reflect on what drives you. What are the core values and passions that motivate you? This might relate to personal growth, a commitment to innovation, or a desire to contribute to societal change. (For more help on discovering your WHY, see here and here.)

Our WHY statements are the articulation of who we are at our natural best. It’s what we’re doing when we’re the most inspired, most passionate, and most fulfilled. 

For example, Simon’s WHY is “to inspire people to do the things that inspire them, so that together we can change the world for the better.” 

Other examples of WHY statements could be:

• “To empower those who are next so that together we can give the world new potential.”
• “To curate joy, so that we can all inhabit happiness.”
• “To connect authenticity with communication, so that together we can create meaningful relationships.”

Step Two: Research the Company’s Brand Purpose:

We need to understand the mission, vision, and values of the companies we’re applying to. This information is usually found on their website, whether it be in their mission statement or recent press releases.

Now, our personal WHYs and the company’s WHY needn’t be a one-to-one match. But hopefully, we can find something about the company’s purpose that resonates with us. If not, it could be a red flag that the company isn’t the right fit. (After all, a survey by SelectOne found that 72% of workers consider corporate culture a key factor in their decision to stay with a company, and 32% of those who left a job within the first 90 days cited a mismatch in company culture as the reason for their departure.)

Step Three: Align Your WHY with the Company’s Brand Purpose:

Let’s say we’re applying for a role at Adidas. Their brand purpose statement is clear: “Through sport, we have the power to change lives. We will always strive to expand the limits of human possibilities.”

At the top of our résumé, we should explain in one sentence how our WHY is complementary to the company’s goals. As an example, if Simon were applying for a role at Adidas, he could say something like this:

“Driven by a passion to inspire, I believe in harnessing the power of sport to elevate human potential and create meaningful change in the world.”

Instantly, the Adidas hiring manager will know that Simon might be a good cultural fit.

Remember: Résumés reflecting our values are more likely to catch an employer’s attention, especially when we’re applying to highly competitive roles. 

Mondays—the day Garfield hates and The Mamas & The Papas sing about. We’ve all dreaded a Monday or two, haven’t we? According to Forbes Health, a whopping 80% of all working professionals and over 90% of Millennial and Gen-Z workers suffer from what’s more recently been coined as the “Sunday scaries.” 

Even we at Team Simon aren’t immune to the occasional Monday blues. But, being the Optimists we are, we’ve made it our mission to add a little positivity to your Mondays. So, in the spirit of helping others and spreading some joy, we are sharing some of our favorite Monday survival strategies that you may or may not find useful.

If you’ve found any of them helpful—or wish to share your own better-Monday strategies—we’d love to hear from you at [email protected]. 

1. Prep Your Morning Coffee on Sunday Night

“Did you know we literally make thousands of decisions a day? One way I reduce my Monday-morning decision-making is by prepping my coffee ahead of time. I take some time on Sunday afternoons to make a pitcher of cold brew so it’s steeped and in the fridge, ready to go. With iced coffee in hand, I can start the week feeling ahead of the game.” —Rebekah, Marketing

2. Take 15-Minutes to Walk Around the Block

“I’ve gotten in the habit of starting my week with a walk around the block, typically just before breakfast. It’s like fresh air for the soul. Too often we can overlook the enormous benefits of a simple stroll. Also, it’s excellent for your creativity and thinking through problems. If you’re feeling stuck on something, my advice is to try walking it off.”  —Sara, Empowerment

3. Try a Special Monday Self-Care Routine

“I swear by my feel-good Monday self-care routine: I wait for the sun to rise, and then go for a walk with my cat. After work in the evening, I take another long walk with my cat. When we get back, I play music and do yoga in a sunlit room. Afterward, I meditate! By this point, I am feeling really happy regardless of how the day went. It’s about being kind to yourself. On an extra special day, I’ll soak in the hot tub in the evening too.” —Lisa, Tech

4. Take 5 Minutes to Tidy Your Workspace First Thing in the Morning

“As a remote worker, I’ve found that incorporating small rituals into my Monday routine makes a big difference in my productivity and mood. I always start by taking a few minutes to ensure that my workspace is clean and organized. Yes, it’s a small thing, but science has my back on this: Studies show that a clean desk can help with productivity, creativity, and a calm and clear mind. What’s more, it can instantly make you feel more professional and ready to get down to business.” — Pai, Experiences

5. Embrace “N.M.M.M.” (“No Meetings Monday Mornings”)

“I love my job, but I also love sleeping, so sometimes Mondays can be hard, even for me. I’ve been trying to uphold the hard rule of ‘No Meeting Monday Mornings.’ So, unless something is absolutely urgent and completely on fire, the calendar is blocked off. It feels like a nice soft landing into the work week, and I can focus on setting up my week for maximum success without having to rush to grab that extra Monday morning coffee between client calls.” —Sharin, Experiences

6.Take $10 to the Grocery Store and Treat Yourself

“I live within walking distance of my grocery store, so to brighten my Mondays, I usually go for a ‘superfluous’ snacks and beverage run. Anything I otherwise wouldn’t buy, I treat myself to. I will avail myself of Kettle Chips, La Croix, Outshine popsicles, or a chocolate croissant. Yes, it’s a simple pleasure, but it can make all of the difference to your mood.” —David, Production

7. Try Some High-Intensity Exercise

“Monday mornings are when I set aside time for a 45-minute virtual fitness class that I find on YouTube, usually a mix of cardio and light resistance training. I choose high-intensity routines to essentially shock my body into a higher gear to start my week, which leaves me feeling sharper, more energetic, and alert. Afterward, I’m fully prepared to dive headlong into work.” —Henrietta, CEO

8. Create a Special Monday Soundtrack

“I make my Mondays fun with music. I start my day with my favorite Spotify playlist of Animal Crossing lo-fi to trick myself into thinking that being productive matches the vibe of the music. (Am I inadvertently classical conditioning myself? Who’s to say—but all I know is I feel better doing work if my mind thinks that I’m doing that work for my little animal villager neighbors on my five-star-rated island.) Then, in the afternoon, when go for a walk, I try to listen to a new album each time. It’s the perfect combo of familiar favorites in the morning and something new and exciting to look forward to in the afternoon.” —Emily, Marketing

9. Plan a Social Outing for Monday Night 

“Just because it’s Monday doesn’t mean you can’t have fun plans! It can be a game night with friends, a movie, a dinner reservation, or a bike ride. I think sprinkling activities throughout the weekdays, in general, is a great way to get out of the house (especially if you work fully remote) and a way to ensure you aren’t trying to cram all your fun into just the weekends!” —Olivia, Operations

10. Save Your Fave Food for Monday Night

“I love to indulge in a more weekend-appropriate dinner on Monday nights, like pizza, a burger, or pad Thai. I find that having something to look forward to early in the week is a real mood-booster. In terms of nutrition, Tuesdays feel like my Mondays.” —Keenan, Marketing

11. Attack Your Biggest Project Head-On

“After I’ve caught up with my team and held my morning meetings, I’ll always block out as much time as I can on Monday afternoons to hyper-focus on the biggest project that will make the rest of the week feel better once it’s complete.” —Greg, Content

12. Create a Light Landing Into Your Work Day

“Move easier meetings first, harder meetings to later in the morning. This allows me the space to embrace my weekend catch-up first and plan my day and week out a bit. It also creates space for me to relax on Sunday night knowing I don’t need to be prepped for anything first thing in the morning.”  —Molly, Experiences

13. Have a Quick Catchup with Your Teammates

“Having a quick status meeting each Monday always starts the week off on a really nice foot. I get to see my awesome team, be reminded of all of the brilliant things they do, and we get clarity on who’s doing what for that week. It’s a great way to connect, say hi, support each other, and give everyone autonomy to execute from that point forward.” —Joi, Operations

14. Touch Grass!

“Yes, I know it’s a meme online, but it’s especially for remote workers to get out into the world, even if it’s for a very short amount of time. You’ve got to feel some sunshine and talk to someone—even a gas station attendant!” —Zach, Production

We would all love to go to work each day feeling unburdened by stress and unhelpful thoughts—those that hold us back from trying new things, getting more done, and embracing difficult situations. 

But we also know that our brains can be set in their ways, what with their roughly 100 trillion synaptic connections, some of which actively undermine our productivity every minute. 

That’s why, according to Dr. Stu Farrimond, Optimist Instructor and acclaimed author of Science of Living, we often hold ourselves back at work without even realizing it. Some of our worst behaviors—like procrastinating, under-communicating, or being indecisive—stem from letting our deeply ingrained habits take control and switch our brains to autopilot.

Here are three ways Dr. Stu says your brain acts as your own personal saboteur, with the hope that knowing about them will help you in replacing your brain’s bad habits with better ones. (For more, check out Dr. Stu’s class, “The Neuroscience of Success at Work,” in The Optimism Library.)

 1. Your gut instincts are trustworthy only in familiar situations

“Our brain’s amygdala, an area deeply involved in emotional responses, helps forge ‘emotional memories’ that can guide instinctive reactions in familiar situations,” says Dr. Stu. 

This can be a good thing. For example, a seasoned manager might successfully rely on gut feelings to make quick decisions during routine operations or when resolving conflicts they’ve navigated before, leveraging past experiences encoded in their emotional memory.

In these familiar moments, Dr. Stu says it’s great to “trust your gut.” 

He cautions, however, trusting your gut in unfamiliar or unpredictable situations. Maybe you’re facing a new problem, trying to manage a new sort of conflict, or trying to work through a task you’ve never done before, like implementing an entirely new technology in the office.

“Your hunches can only be trusted in areas of life that are fairly predictable and repeatable, like driving or cooking,” he says. “However, in unfamiliar or unpredictable situations, relying on gut feelings can lead you astray. This insight is underpinned by studies showing the unreliability of eyewitness testimonies in stressful situations, which often result in wrongful convictions.”

2. Our brains are often too quick to make assumptions

Dr. Stu describes the brain as a “sophisticated guessing machine.”

Our vision, for instance, isn’t as reliable as we might think. “Our brain fills in gaps in our peripheral vision, creating a continuous image from sparse data,” he says. “This mechanism, while efficient, makes us very unreliable witnesses, a fact supported by research showing a high percentage of wrongful convictions based on inaccurate eyewitness testimonies.”

The same concept can be found in the workplace, especially in intrateam communication. Consider a scenario where a manager asks for updates on a complex process with many moving parts. They might believe they have a full understanding of the project status based on quick visual scans of progress charts and brief updates from team members, but in reality, their brain is filling in gaps and creating a seemingly coherent picture from incomplete information. This can lead to overconfidence in the project’s progress or unforeseen issues that were never actually communicated but were assumed to be resolved. 

When it comes to collaborating with your team, Dr. Stu says it’s best to over-communicate to the point of obviousness—because what is often obvious to you is not always clear to the rest of the team or your superiors.

3. You can teach an old brain new tricks.

Sure, humans can get stuck in their ways. But bad habits, we’re thrilled to say, can be broken—or, more accurately, bad habits can be replaced with good ones.  

According to Dr. Stu, the brain can be reprogrammed to foster better workplace behaviors and decision-making. 

“The concept of schemas,” he says, “are rooted in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT). Essentially, we know schemas as a sort of bodily autopilot. They are the patterns of thought and behavior that we default to after repeated learned behavior. The good news is, schemas can be adjusted.”

Our brain’s neuroplasticity and ability to adapt can significantly alter our responses to workplace challenges, “leading to more effective and adaptive behaviors,” says Dr. Stu. “It can take time, but if we repeat and reinforce better habits at work, we can replace one habit with another.”

A workplace example here could be how we handle feedback. 

Imagine a scenario where an employee typically reacts defensively to constructive criticism, viewing it as a personal attack rather than an opportunity for growth. This reaction is a schema—a learned behavior based on past experiences. By recognizing this schema and treating it like a habit, the employee can begin to replace the defensive response with a more productive one, such as asking clarifying questions or considering the feedback as a path to professional development. 

Over time, with conscious effort and repetition, this new approach can become the default, demonstrating the brain’s remarkable capacity to adapt.

For more, check out The Optimism Library.

• We all love praise, but delivering it effectively is a learned skill.
• The Optimism Company recently conducted a poll with 13,790 participants, revealing that most workers prefer to be praised in private rather than in public.
• Simon reveals his go-to method for giving effective praise.

Fact: We all love praise. Be it a little compliment on an outfit, a thank-you for some help with a task, or even just a thumbs-up after a presentation, praise is a ray of sunshine that can clear up a cloudy day. And yet we often forget that giving praise effectively is actually a skill. 

It’s not just about saying “good job” and moving on; it’s about making your team members feel valued and appreciated in a meaningful way. Also, how you choose to deliver your praise—whether it’s in public, in private, in person, over Slack—can make all the difference. 

For perspective, we recently conducted a poll to learn more about how people prefer to be acknowledged for their good work, and 13,790 people participated. The results were fascinating:

• Learn the art of practicing “strategic laziness,” a productivity mindset that teaches you to minimize your efforts while maximizing your results.
• Research shows that productivity declines significantly after working for 55 hours per week. Your objective should be to optimize your working hours and your off-work hours.
• Continue reading for valuable tips from Denise Green, an Optimist Instructor and an expert in achieving work-life balance.

One of the worst things about being overwhelmed at work is that it creates a vicious cycle. The more you stress about your workload, the more time you spend actively trying to manage that stress. Consequently, you end up spending more time stressing and less time actually working. 

But how do you fix it? Well, Optimist Instructor and work-life balance specialist Denise Green suggests a counterintuitive trick that can help break this cycle: learning the art of strategic laziness.

No, really. Embracing laziness will indeed make you more productive. (We weren’t kidding when we said it would seem counterintuitive.)

So We Don’t Have to Work Very Hard Anymore?

Not exactly. Strategic laziness is a productivity strategy that teaches you to minimize your efforts while maximizing your results.

Denise swears by it, and teaches the core tenets of strategic laziness in her class, Conquer Overwhelm and Boost Productivity, which you can access in our Optimism Library. 

“Strategic laziness may feel lazy, but it’s not,” she says. “It’s like saying animals are lazy for taking a nap. Animals understand that without rest, they won’t be able to hunt and survive. However, we often believe we can keep going endlessly, which is not the case.”

The Truth About Laziness

We all know that laziness has always been viewed as something of character flaw. But despite what “rise and grind” influencers may tell you, laziness is a genetic trait shared by all humans, hardcoded into our DNA to aid in survival. Energy is a limited resource, after all, and humans have evolved to be mindful of how they expend it.

“Athletes and musicians understand this,” says Denise “They know that without proper rest, their performance suffers. Understanding this concept will not only help you overcome burnout and excessive work but also increase your productivity and enhance your reputation.”

With that in mind, here are a few tips for putting strategic laziness into practice and accomplishing more by embracing your inner couch potato:

1. Rethink Your Definition of Success

Instead of measuring success by the number of hours worked or tasks completed, focus on the value you produce. Embrace the concept of the “minimum viable product” in your daily tasks. Ask yourself, “What is the least I can do to be productive and create value?” This doesn’t mean compromising quality; it means finding the most effective way to achieve results without burning out.

2.  Understand Your Limits

A study by Stanford University found that productivity per hour declines sharply after working more than 50 hours a week. Beyond 55 hours, productivity drops so much that putting in more hours becomes pointless. Embracing strategic laziness, which includes periods of rest, can offset this decline in productivity.

3. Leave Your Desk Several Times Per Day

If you’re finding yourself staring at a blinking cursor on your computer or doomscrolling, take a walk with your pet, meditate, grab a coffee down the street, or even take a shower. Do something to get a change of pace and reset your stress. After all, a lot of times your best ideas come to you when you’re not working.

4. Try the Pomodoro Timer Method. 

Select a single task to focus on and set a timer for 25 minutes. Use that 25 minutes to do some deep work on the task until the timer goes off. Then you take a 5 minute break to walk around, get a snack, relax, etc. Set your timer again, repeat cycling your bursts of working and breaks for three of four rounds, and then take a longer break of about 30 minutes.

According to Denise, you’ll be amazed to discover how much work you’ll get done when you formalize a short burst of time in which you allow yourself to hyper-focus on your work.

5. Get to Know Your Optimal Routine. 

Sometimes working against your nature isn’t the way to go. Take the time to check in on your brain and body throughout the day. Are you more productive in the morning or the afternoon? Do you work better after a meal? Does tea help your focus? Find what conditions work best for you and schedule your workday to be complementary to them. 

For example, you may find that your mornings are best suited to creative work and your afternoons are best suited to meetings and admin. Recognize your moments of peak performance, and arrange your day around those moments. 

6. Enjoy Lower Stress Levels

In addition to improving productivity, strategic laziness also helps preserve your mental and physical health by reducing stress and anxiety associated with overworking.

Continuous work without adequate breaks can lead to chronic stress, which can contribute to serious health problems such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and mental health disorders like depression or anxiety. Incorporating strategic laziness into your routine, such as taking short naps, engaging in light physical activities throughout the workday, or setting boundaries on work hours, can significantly mitigate these risks.

“Remember, strategic laziness isn’t just about finding time to relax—it’s about making relaxation a strategic part of your success,” says Denise. “Embrace it, and watch how it transforms not just your work life but your entire well-being. You deserve it.”

For more, check out The Optimism Library.