by Amity Watts.
It’s that day of the year in the UK named "Blue Monday", when we’re reminded that we're all struggling through these dark January days…no doubt there will be a load of ‘offers’ and ‘tips’ online today to ‘help cheer you up.’ It’s enough to make you want to book a holiday…
Exactly!
‘Blue Monday’ was invented by a travel company to sell holidays. That’s all. It doesn’t really exist! (I know, I know, these marketing people…terrible!)
Yes it’s dark and cold and windy out there. We might not be seeing much daylight at the moment and the news is bleak (when is it not?) BUT there’s a lot to be gained from switching off from the external and looking inside ourselves and our immediate surroundings for those much-needed signs of light.
Last week at Cubed & Indigo HQ gave me plenty of reasons to be cheerful. We’ve had not one, not two, but FOUR new starters this month so far - three of this group have joined Indigo. We love new people, but four at once has been a huge breath of fresh air (not the chilly kind!) and they join us from a fascinating range of backgrounds and experience, so it’s a joy to get to know James, Alex, Shyni and Matt.
Some of us have been on the usual January health kick. We did eat a lot of fruit at HQ last week, but it didn’t go down as fast as the biscuits I’ll be honest. The runners amongst us have braved the canal, and the puddles (ponds?!) left by the rain. Sally and Stella from the Indigo team have signed up for the Ilkley half marathon this summer – go team! We’ll be at the water station!
Santa bought us an Alexa Echo for Christmas so we’ve indulged in some chair-dancing and muffled singing (you know when you really want to sing but you’re around lots of people so you keep it quiet); we’ve had 80’s, 70’s (personal favourite), and 90’s music – it’s been tune after tune. You know it’s going to be a good day when Kelly walks in and orders Alexa to play ‘Eye of the tiger’ – yes Kelly! We’re even cheerful in the face of the cost-of-living shenanigans; Jordan paid £99 for a BEST* and a drink this week and still had a smile on his face!
New year, new goals is always a theme and 11 eager delegates jumped aboard the personal and professional development bus this week, embarking on their ILM Level 3 qualification with the inimitable Brenda Hogan. Learning alongside our partners from ECS Engineering. This wonderful bunch form our NxTGeN leadership team, so I’m excited to witness them grow and fly as they learn over the next six months.
We’ve done some work as well. As usual we were busy delivering happy news to candidates last week, find them their dream job in the NHS is our favourite part of the job.
So it’s reasons to be cheerful all round - nothing blue about this Monday. I think if you look around at your team you’ll be filled with the same fuzzy feelings. If not, give us a shout – we’ve got room for a few more!
*It’s a bacon, egg, sausage and tomato apparently (south Yorks lingo?!) and it was £9.95 really. See, us Marketing people just make things up!