My Top 5 Tips for Making the Most Out of the Holiday Season

November marks the beginning of the holiday season. The holidays can bring up a lot of emotions for people both positive and negative. Regardless of how you feel and what your traditions are, this season is notoriously FULL. Full of family, concerts, recitals, parties, celebrations, meals, and traditions (just to name a few).

There are lots of ways to manage all that is going on, but I am going to give you my top 5:

Set Your Intention
It’s January 1st, and you got through all the holidays. How do you want to feel? Run down, burnt out and in need of a month of hibernation? No way! Seriously, imagine what it would be like if you walked into the new year feeling connected, excited and refreshed. What do you need to get there? Write it down. Create specific goals for yourself that will help you to keep this intention in the forefront of your mind. When faced with a task or decision, hold tight to the mindset that you want and ask yourself if this will help you move closer or further away from fulfilling that intention.

Just Say NO
Nope, I’m not talking about the Nancy Reagan anti-drug campaign from the 80s. I mean give yourself the freedom to say no to activities. These activities can be celebrations, work events, volunteering at your child’s school, pet sitting for a friend who is out of town, etc. It also means seriously evaluating what you do around your house during this season and letting go of the things that cause you stress. Your children will not remember if you got that extra special wrapping paper with the silky ribbon, if you had the best decorations on the block, or if you made a homemade pumpkin pie. They will however remember the FEELING of the holidays. Was it a time to connect with family, slow down and cherish time with each other, or was it full of stress shuttling from one activity to the other? Seriously evaluate what is on your to do list and your commitments and start slashing. I bet there are things that do not align with your family’s values. So get rid of them and do it without the guilt. It is your job to protect your well being, and if you have little humans, protecting theirs too.

Attitude Of Gratitude
Yes, Thanksgiving in particular is a holiday where we think about what we are grateful for. And yes, by now you have probably heard all the research on the ways that creating a practice of gratitude can boost overall health and mood. However, this is the time to either ramp-up your gratitude practice or get it started once and for all. Why now? Well, it is very easy during this time to think about all the ways we “could” have done more or “should” have done something differently. Stay present and connected instead of focused on the future or the past. Starting and ending your day with gratitude will help bring you back to what is working and shut off that critical voice that wears us down.

Don’t Take It Personally
Remembering that not everything is personal is an excellent mindset to cultivate. It is particularly helpful around the holidays because most people have strong feelings about what their holiday traditions should look like. When a friend, colleague or family member is irritable, anxious, or feeling down, it is important to remind yourself that perhaps there is something more going on, and their mood may not be a reflection of how they are feeling about you. Your best bet is to respond gently rather than reacting. Perhaps just asking them if they are doing okay and showing them some compassion (even if they are being a jerk) could help turn things around.

Be Flexible
The best-laid plans…we’ve all heard it before. But here is the thing. There are A LOT of plans at this time of the year, and it is more than likely that something will not go as planned. There are just too many wildcards to contend with. Sick kids, travel delays, the turkey that just won’t cook. You get the point. Bring yourself back to your original intention of how you want to feel, and do your best to roll with the punches. Go into this season with the mindset that you will have to be flexible, and remind yourself that being flexible is good for our children too. The more we model that behavior, the more they will learn how to do it themselves. For example, “I know you REALLY wanted to see your cousins tonight. Unfortunately, when we are sick we have to protect others by not spreading our germs. One way to show them we care is to stay away when we are contagious. It’s disappointing but let’s facetime them at dinner tonight, and then I can make a plan with Auntie to get together with the cousins next week instead.”

What are your favorite ways to manage this season? Hit reply and let me know!