It's fun to turn off all the other lights and see how much our tree really glows.
Isn’t it ironic that a season many believe to be one of the most special times of year is often a frantic mess filled with disappointment? It’s so easy to look at social media or the beautiful Christmas cards I get in the mail and feel like everyone else has it all together. Well, first off, we know social media shows only the absolute best moments and often doesn’t provide a real glimpse into how others are feeling and how much exasperation may have gone into making that perfect moment captured in time.
If this Christmas feels like more of a miss than a hit when it comes to celebrating the season, there’s still time to change direction and get into the spirit. Read on, I have 3 tips for you.
1. Don’t say yes to everything. I know how hard this is to do but the goal is to remove the frantic pace and find ways to slow down. The only way this is going to happen is by removing some of what’s on your plate.
2. Schedule a 20-min pause in your day where you don’t work on anything. Take a deep breath and think about what matters most this time of year. Being mindful of what’s important can help slow down your thoughts and re-prioritize how much time, effort, and emotion you give to those pieces. It can also help make the difficult decision to focus on certain items right now and not others.
In addition, you’ll feel more clear-headed and able to focus on what matters most for your clients, preventing pieces from falling through the cracks.
3. Think about the way you would like to celebrate the holidays if you had to boil it down to the basics. Simplify your Christmas to make it more meaningful and peaceful.
I didn’t get it perfect this year by a long shot – and I know perfection will never happen in this life – but because I realized that I’ll never have as much time as I want in December, I've put in place a few changes I'll make next year.
1. I have a note in my calendar next Nov. 1 to ask my family to send me their Christmas list before Thanksgiving, so I can take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales online – which will make me ever so grateful that I’m not scrounging around to see what’s left the week before Christmas. Ahem, not that I’m guilty of that this year (wink, wink).
2. Work on Christmas cards during the first couple weeks of November to ensure they are in the mail right after Thanksgiving.
3. Find a new Christmas tradition to start that requires no money, only thoughtful time spent on what matters most this season. If you have ideas for this, please leave a comment below and let me know.
Enjoy a happy, healthy, prosperous, and peaceful Christmas and 2017!
