‘Blue Monday’ – said to be the ‘most depressing day of the year’.
The concept was first published in a 2005 press release from a UK travel company, which claimed to have calculated the date using an “equation” based on many factors, including weather conditions, debt level, time since Christmas, time since failing our new year’s resolutions, low motivational levels and feeling of a need to take action.
Deciding not to be beaten by the January blues, Jim decided to step up and put a truly positive spin on the otherwise clouded day by generously pledging to donate £1 for every like he received, up to 14k, on his ‘Happy BLUE14 Monday’ LinkedIn post.
The post was flooded with interest, likes, shares, and comments, and within the first hour of publication had drawn the attention of hundreds of followers – instantly lifting everyone’s spirits.
Frustratingly (but somewhat amusingly) the post was met with negativity by a small number of individuals who clearly fail to see good when it’s being done…marking the post-publicly in their comments – as a scam, refusing to believe Jim would actually carry through with his promise, and calling it just a lame attempt at self-PR.
But, fuelling the fire – for every negative comment, there were twice as many positives, and Jim’s post ended up gaining over 800,000 views and 17,000 likes – smashing his £14k target!
£14,000 was generously donated to NHS Charities Together on Wednesday 20th January, hushing the haters, and gratefully received with a follow-up letter of thanks, explaining that Jim’s incredible support helped enable them to continue to support NHS staff, volunteers, and patients in their hospitals in ways above and beyond what NHS funding can ordinarily provide.
Jim was always going to make the donation – it wasn’t actually about how many likes or shares he got, it wasn’t about publicity or PR – it was about doing the right thing if you are in a position to be able to.
