In two weeks time, Christmas Day will be upon us. The month is flying by and I’m doing my best to stay present in the moment. I put my tree up during the week. Putting the tree up always brings a hit of nostalgia for me. As I don’t have a lot of things I created as a child with me, I prefer to go crazy with all the tinsel, baubles and lights. My tree decoration skills has nothing to do with aesthetics but purely my childhood memories. Christmas is time of celebration and reflection. It is also a time to put some mindset tips into practice.
As we get deeper into the Christmas season, it is natural for us to slow down. Your place of work might want to accelerate through these last few weeks, trying to tie as many knots as possible but that pace is not feasible for everyone. It definitely isn’t feasible for me. Taking care of our mindset is crucial during this season. It’s important to put boundaries in place so that the stress and pressure doesn’t take over. Today, I’m sharing six powerful mindset tips to motivate you through this Christmas season.
Plan Ahead
Christmas can be stressful and a lot. One of the best ways to ease your mind is by planning ahead. Dump all the things that you need to do, want to do and have to do on a piece paper and organise them into categories. Create a to-do list each day with three of those tasks and aim to tackle them a step at a time. This way nothing gets left at the last minute and you can ease your way into the season.
Define The Season For Yourself
It’s very easy to feel yourself slipping into what other people have defined the season for themselves. Whether that feeling is ‘magical and relaxed’, ‘magical and easy’ or ‘adventurous and magical’. We all experience a different range of emotions during the Christmas season. For some, it is a joyful experience, for others, it may be a time of grief, complicated relationships and a time of loneliness. Whatever the Christmas season brings for you, define the season for yourself. These are the greatest mindset tips that I have to share with you. Last year, it was a season of mourning for me as I lost my paternal grandmother. This year, it is a season of ease and memorial.
Mindset Tips To Forget Comparison
Let go of comparison. In this age of hyper connectedness and social media, we see so much of what the other person is doing. It is very hard not to compare yourself to others that you see online and offline. Let go of the comparison and focus on yourself. What do you want to do? How do you want to celebrate the season? There is not right or wrong answer, the only thing that matters is if it is good for you.
For example, I see all these aesthetic looking trees on Instagram and I continued decorating my tree with mismatched tinsel. Christmas is both a private and public season. If you ever feel bad seeing how others (including myself) celebrate Christmas, block, mute and unfollow them. Your mental health is more important.
Mindset Tips: Learn To Say No
Having boundaries in place is crucial in this season. Regardless if they are personal, financial, social or physical, make sure that you have them clearly defined. You shouldn’t have to feel obligated to do an activity or a task if you don’t want to. Learn to say no often to the things that you don’t want to do and yes to the things you want to do. Mindset tips like boundaries can be hard when you are around family but you really have to stand your ground and not let anyone ask you any invasive questions.
Schedule A Self Care Day or Moment
I lose a lot of energy when I am surrounded by people for too long. It doesn’t matter if I am at work or at home with the family. Spending some time by myself is the way that I recharge and taking a moment of stillness can be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Scheduling self care days is one of my favourite activities to do. Usually, I will take myself out on a solo date or solo trip. Sometimes, I have days where I do absolutely nothing. It really depends. During Christmas, it may be hard to do this but normalise taking a moment or a few hours to yourself. No people. No directions. Allow yourself to be at peace before the magical celebration continues.
Home Alone?
If you are spending Christmas alone this year, don’t fall into the trap that you are lonely. You are not. You can still have an amazing season by focusing on the things that you enjoy or creating new Christmas traditions. Remember that you have the power to redefine what this season means to you and how you choose to spend it.
A late one today yet I hope that these six mindset tips were helpful to you as we get deeper into the Christmas season. Remember to readjust yourself and mind your mindset. It is the most wonderful time of the year to learn to take care of yourself. I wish you all an amazing festive season.
Until next time,
Folakemi
