Holiday Cheer
Every year as the holidays approach, I find myself reflecting more on the importance of the holiday season. Maybe it's age or maybe it's the circumstance, but I think it is fairly safe to say that no matter what you believe in, the special warmth of the holiday season provides all of us the opportunity to sit down and center ourselves in what’s most important: the love we have for our family, the health, safety, and well-being of those we love, and the gifts of friendship and laughter.
Notice, none of the items on the most-important-list are “things.” Nope, they don’t cost a dime, and you don’t have to shop for hours to find them. These gifts are all around, and in, us! As the dear Grinch learned in Dr. Seuss’s classic, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, ultimately the gifts of the holiday season dwell within us. We simply have to be present to them and choose to open those gifts up:
“It came without ribbons. It came without tags. It came without packages, boxes or bags. And he puzzled and puzzled 'till his puzzler was sore. Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before. What if Christmas, he thought, doesn't come from a store. What if Christmas, perhaps, means a little bit more.”
Keeping Your Team Focused During the Holidays
We all know that the holidays stress many people out. This is clearly evident when walking through stores, shopping for that last-minute gift, and this stress affects all domains of our lives. Think about your work, for example. It’s 10 days til Christmas, so chances are that the majority of the people in your office aren’t 100% focused on the project proposal that is due on December 23rd!
We are human, after all, and all of the thoughts, feelings, and activities that the holidays bring can take a toll on us mentally and physically. So, what can we do to be energized, give up the bah-humbugs and support each other as a team this holiday season? We have the power to either create an outrageous holiday season (which usually requires some help) or complain about it and be downright miserable all by ourselves!
Which would you like to choose?
You are choosing to create an outrageous holiday season both in and out of the office? Fantastic! Read on.
The best way to create an outrageous holiday season is to write about what you want to get out of the holidays and ask for help getting through your stops in order to get what you want! At Clay Nelson Life Balance, we begin, as early as October, writing about what we want for ourselves personally and for our team and we continue all the way through January. We are constantly evaluating, making sure we are on course and that we are being who we need to be to have the most outrageous fun ever. We do this by:
Writing about what we’ve completed personally and professionally this year.
Writing down what we haven’t done and still want to do.
Writing down what kind of fun we want to have at the end of the year... who we want to talk to... who we want to be with, and then we actually take time on the job to talk about it!
Supporting each other in doing what our plans say we are committed to do.
Holding each other accountable.
We support our own humanity by supporting our team, not as employees, but as human beings. And I guarantee that there are few teams having more fun than the Clay Nelson Life Balance team in the 4th quarter of any year! So, please take the time over the next few weeks to really be with your team. Allow people to acknowledge their feelings – happy, sad, stressed, or frustrated – whatever they may be. By giving your team the room they need to say what is on their minds and the tools and support they need for creating the holiday of their choosing, you are giving them the best gift you could possibly give.