Today, we examine “Blue Monday” by Langston Hughes and Its 3 Lessons for Entrepreneurs. Langston. Poetry is a great way to learn lessons more relaxed than traditional learning methods.
Let’s start by checking out the poem.
Blue Monday by Langston Hughes
No use in my going
Downtown to work today,
It’s eight,
I’m late-
And it’s marked down that-a-way,
Fun to sport around.
But no use denying-
Monday’ll get you down.
That old blue Monday
Will surely get you down.
As stated above, this great poem has three lessons for entrepreneurs. These lessons are:
- Timeliness matters.
- Actions have consequences.
- Protect your mental health.
Timeliness matters the first of this poem’s lessons for entrepreneurs.
At the start of this poem, the narrator acknowledges being late for work. She has not left the house yet, but it is too late to get downtown on time. Of course, there may be a reason why she is late, and some of those reasons may be good.
However, none of that changes the fact that she is now late for work. She will not be able to meet her obligations to her employer, and no matter what she does from this point forward, nothing will change the fact that she is now late for work.
As entrepreneurs, we have schedules, deadlines, and appointments. When we do, we must meet them in a timely manner. I once had a client in New Orleans, Louisiana, who never attended meetings on time. He habitually arrived two or more hours late to appointments. When he was late, he did not call those he was meeting with. When he arrived late to the meetings, he did not apologize. Instead, he continued the meeting as if he were on time.
As a result, most of his prospects did not become clients. The prospects did not become goodwill ambassadors for my client. Instead, they told everyone they came in contact with how inconsiderate, rude, and unpleasant it was to deal with my client. My client lamented to me on more than one occasion that the people in NOLA didn’t like him because he was from the North. He said they didn’t want to do business with him because he was smarter than them. Often, he said they weren’t smart enough to be in business with him.
What he never did was take responsibility. He never acknowledged that people did not want to do business with him because he was disrespectful. Like many entrepreneurs, he did not value anyone’s time but his own. This is a mistake. When we make a schedule for when and how things will happen, our clients make decisions based on that schedule. Sometimes, our clients make promises to others based on what we have said. When we don’t keep to the schedules set, we cause damages, consequences, and aggravation we cannot imagine.
Entrepreneurs need to understand the value of time—our time matters. We only have a precious little bit of it. At the same time, the time of those we come in with matters. When we disrespect others’ time, we disrespect them. The disrespect may be unintentional, but it is real nonetheless. If you want to succeed in business and life, respect the time of all those with whom you deal. The value of time and respecting the time of others is one of the lessons this poem provides entrepreneurs.
Actions have consequences, which is the second of this poem’s lessons for entrepreneurs.
Our actions have consequences, no matter who we are or what we do. Human beings do not act in a vacuum. All of our actions impact other things in our life. Here, the narrator is late for work. Not only is she late for work, but a record of this new late arrival has been made. We don’t know how often the narrator has been late before. Sometimes, it may mean the narrator will lose her job, be denied a promotion, or suffer some other loss due to this lateness.
As an entrepreneur, your actions have consequences. When you do good things, you open yourself up to good consequences. When you do bad things, you open yourself up to bad consequences. It is important to remember that you are not acting alone in the world—every action you take impacts someone else. For example, if you purchase a website, you give money to a hosting company. That hosting company has to hire employees. Those employees pay for food, clothing, and shelter. A consequence of an entrepreneur being in business is the potential growth of other businesses.
If you want to read more about lessons for entrepreneurs, check out:
“The Harder They Fall” and 3 Excellent Lessons for Entrepreneurs
Recently, I watched the Netflix movie “The Harder They Fall,” and it had three lessons for entrepreneurs. These lessons are: sometimes things are hard, you cannot sit around waiting for destiny, and loyalty doesn’t last forever for everyone. Click here to read more.
Also, check out our Confidence Tip of the Day YouTube channel for hundreds of videos on creating the confidence you need to succeed.
It is important to remember that consequences can be positive or negative. Entrepreneurs would be well served to remember this. When customers are treated with dignity and respect, one consequence is loyalty. On the other hand, when they are treated rudely and disrespectfully, loss of income and social media fury are often consequences. What goes around comes around, and the fact that actions have consequences is another lesson for entrepreneurs found in this poem.
Protect your mental health is the third of this poem’s lessons for entrepreneurs.
In this poem, the narrator is experiencing the blues. Back in Langston Hughes’ day, depression was often called the blues or feeling blue. Here, the narrator knows that she is feeling blue. She recognizes that some situations, here, the fact that it is Monday, cause the blues. The narrator describes feeling the blues on Mondays almost as if it is unavoidable.
In many cases, mental health challenges are unavoidable. If you are a person who knows that certain things trigger mental problems, don’t get ready; stay ready. In other words, when you approach situations that cause mental health problems to occur, prepare for them in advance—that way, you will be prepared for the problems.
No matter what else an entrepreneur does, she must protect her mental health. Often, entrepreneurs fail to take care of their mental health. When mental health issues arise, they ignore them and think they can power their way through to good mental health. This is interesting because most entrepreneurs would never treat their physical health in such a manner. For example, they would never say, “Oh, I have high blood pressure, and instead of taking my blood pressure medication, I will just push forward and be healthy.”
The exact time and attention that goes into taking care of one’s physical health must be made when it comes to one’s mental health. Entrepreneurs who experience mental health challenges or illness must have this checked out regularly. Common mental illnesses like depression and bipolar disorder can often be treated with medication and talk therapy. If you have these illnesses, do not try to power your way through alone. Instead, seek qualified professional help to operate at your best level.
This poem is full of great lessons for entrepreneurs. Entrepreneurs will be more successful when they understand that timeliness matters, actions have consequences, and mental health must be protected. So, the question for you this terrific day is, what lesson did you learn from this poem?