I don't like Mondays.

Bob Geldof's song encapsulated the feeling of people who can't face the working week without fear and trepidation, walking into the office on Monday knowing it's a place they don't want to be and a place they can't make a difference in. I know it's true for many and although we often joke about Mondayitis, it can affect everyone at one time or another. Often so much so, that Monday starts to over power days like Sunday, ruining two days of the week and if I include the thinking of a friend, who recently complained about Friday being too close to Monday, we now have a day infecting the whole week.

EMM, Every Monday Matters is a small influential movement taking root in the US corporate landscape with the intention to bring about change including the perception of Mondays as a day of loathing. Matthew Emerzian and Kelly Bozza, co-authors and co-founders, wrote Every Monday Matters: 52 Ways to Make a Difference, to try and bring about change, little by little, one person at a time. It's about taking back Mondays to make it a day of choices, to be a better friend, to be a better co worker, to make a difference fifty two weeks a year, to bring back values long since burned from our memories by the heat of self appreciation, individual goals, disengagement and the "it's always about me" syndrome.

That me focus, so powerful and useless at the same time is something that EMM wants to turn around to create environments that matter because giving back is so much more powerful than taking away. It's about pointing out why people matter, raising the collective unconsciousness and the change that can come from that power at a grass roots level. Very much in the vein of Seth Godin and tribes contributing to the worth of society, EMM focuses people to bring about change on the one day they see as the most difficult to be motivated and engaged on.

Emerzian looks at it from the one vote matters at an election and every vote counts, so it is a social responsibility for all to make a difference, one Monday at a time. Since the launch of EMM corporate program, they have seen companies adopt Mondays to change attitudes of employee and change company culture by focusing on what is best for and matters most for others. One Fortune 100 company wanting to actively engage their employees became so successful, they ended up in the top 10% of companies people want to work for.

Emerzian believes five years from now, EMM will be a household name. That books, radio and television shows along with Internet adoption will have cities and schools, along with companies adopting the new attitude of welcoming Monday and the changes it can bring.
Patience is what he says, is required now for the movement to grow in small increments until it gets to critical mass where people can't wait for the weekend to end and Monday to come around.

I would dispute wanting to end the weekend prematurely and ask the obvious, why not make a difference every day?