Hope you are enjoying this holiday season!
I looked at the calendar this week and realized our holiday parties will be starting this week. This left me looking at the whole month and I quickly went into, “how are we going to fit this all in?”
I know several of you are juggling your business, your career, kids, family and so much more, so I wanted to give some quick tips to try to minimize the stress around this time of the year.
Step 1: Do Not Over Commit
The classic response is to say ‘yes’ to everything that comes your way. I know I am guilty of this. Also, to be honest, everything sounds fun this time of the year too! But you will save yourself so much agony if you pick and choose what is best for you at this time.
We tend to feel obligated to do things and yes, sometimes you do need to be present, but there are also times when it is OK to say no. It feels weird at first but you will thank yourself in the end, by not being over committed.
You decide what is important given where you are and what you want to accomplish. Then don’t feel guilty about the decision.
Step 2: Start a Gratitude Journal
The next tip is expressing gratitude. I know we tend to think more about this during the Thanksgiving holiday, but gratitude is something we can incorporate all year long. Take 1-3 minute(s) at the end of the day to either tell someone what you are grateful for or write it down in a gratitude journal.
There are lots of studies on how those few minutes spent in gratitude can add up to being so much more positive in your outlook on life.
We tend to drift to the negative and it takes practice to be positive.
Step 3: Plan
The next one may just be my personality, but it does help to take a bird’s eye view of what’s going on around you and plan what’s next. Now I know not everything in life is planned, but if you set intention around what you want to achieve it helps ease the burden of the how.
I was introduced back to the old school hand written planner; this is not just any planner. This planner has room to write goals, review the last month, prioritize personal and business to do lists and more.
I highly recommend the Passion Planner. I know a few other people who use it and they have enjoyed working through it.
Just knowing what is coming next and being able to plan accordingly helps keep your mind at ease. Avoiding surprises helps keep stress lower.
Step 4: Review
Lastly, I am a huge advocate for reviewing. I am talking locking yourself in a room and reviewing everything you did last year. Go through your calendar. How many hours did you work? Do you want to do the same next year or what would you do differently?
How much time did you take off? Was that enough?
How many appointments did you have? Did you gain a positive return on the time spent in those appointments?
How many times a week did you workout, was it enough to reach your goals?
You can review anything you desire. Most of all, did you spend your time the way you needed to achieve what you want out of life?
Tony and I take our year-end review seriously and it helps us set up what will happen in the coming year. Some years it has been brutal, especially when you are not where you want to be. Other years we have gotten through our review very rhythmically.
We took time this year to go to a place we are inspired by. I am either happiest around mountains or a beach, especially since Indiana has neither of those.
We flew out to Colorado and really worked through what happened both personally and professionally in 2016 and set our intention for 2017. During this time of review, we both get much needed hope and clarity to keep pushing forward.
Also, when reviewing a year, go back through all the awesome things that happened that you may have forgotten or that got overshadowed by the present.
Review…this helps you look at everything you have gotten through or achieved and then helps you set the path for what’s next.
I hope these four steps are helpful! Now start implementing!
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