Stay Resilient This Holiday Season

Holiday Resilience

The holidays tend to expose us to close encounters with friends, family members and situations that can push our buttons, activate our non-resilient Thinking Styles and rob of us grace and resilience. Here are some suggestions for how to stay calmer and more resilient in spite of the additional stress. While common-sensical, it can't hurt to visit or re-visit these as the holidays approach:

  • Be prepared - Take a moment to identify the specific situations and people that you know from experience will stress you out. Then, come up with one or two ways that you can think about them in a more positive way. But keep it real. If you can't come up with plausible ways to view them positively, then try to either avoid or at least minimize your contact with them.

  • Set expectations - Particularly if money is an issue, try to set realistic limits on gift giving with close friends and family members.

  • Take care of yourself - Honestly assess your resilience level going into the holidays. Eat healthy. Maintain or even increase your exercise. Engage in activities that you enjoy and find relaxing. Get plenty of sleep. This is all more easily said than done, but more important now than ever.

  • Stay connected - Our research shows that how connected we are - to our jobs, our families, our communities, and our faith - has a direct impact on our resilience. The holidays are the perfect time to reach out to friends and family. But even if you are alone, a great way to stay connected is to volunteer. Doing something for someone else is a sure way to connect to something bigger than our yourself. And this is a proven way to boost your resilience and your life satisfaction!

  • Educate yourself - Give yourself the gift of learning! Treat yourself to a copy of the Hay Group Resilience Workbook. The workbook includes access to the Adaptiv Resilience Factor Inventory and offers simple tips to help you boost your resilience no matter how resilient you are. Click here to buy and use Promotional Code RESHOL for a 10% discount until 12/14/12!

Leave A Comment