Are you stressed about the holidays?
You can turn your stress around immediately with my favorite holiday hack. Here’s how:
➡️ When you think about the upcoming holidays, what (single word) FEELINGS come to mind?
- Excitement?
- Joy?
- Stress?
- Anxiety?
- Overwhelm?
- Dread?
- Others?
- All of the above?
Write them all down. All the one-word emotions that come to mind when you think about the holidays.
➡️ For each single-word FEELING, write one sentence or phrase about WHY you feel that way.
- This is a THOUGHT your brain is producing that may or may not be true.
- Your brain thinks it’s a FACT, but it’s merely an opinion.
- Not fact.
- And you can change your thoughts. If you choose to.
➡️ For each negative feeling, question the sentence in your brain that produced the feeling.
- Then ask yourself, is it true? This question often prompts other thoughts and ideas.
- Many times it’s clearly not true—our brain lies to us all the time, in the name of keeping us “safe”.
- If you think it’s true, ask yourself what else could I think that is equally true?
➡️ Come up with a new version of the negative feeling-producing thought.
Here’s an example:
- Feeling: Overwhelmed
- Why I’m feeling this way: “I have too much to do”
- Is that thought true? Well, that depends.
- What is too much?
- By when?
- Do I have to do it all myself?
- What else could I think that is equally true about the situation?
- I’ll figure it out – I always do.
- I’ve got this.
- I don’t have to do it all myself. I have help.
- I’ll get everything done that’s important.
- I have so many fun things to look forward to.
➡️ Now decide which thought you want to think.
Which thought serves you better at this time of year?
Decide intentionally which sentences in your brain you focus your attention on.
Because what you focus on GROWS.
Whenever you feel that stress, anxiety, or overwhelm creeping back in, remind yourself of your new thought.
The new sentence that is true AND helps you feel more positive about the holidays.
Because the magic of the holidays isn’t the presents, the meals, or the events – it’s how we FEEL during the holidays.
And our thoughts—those sentences in our head—drive our feelings and ultimately our experience of the holidays.
Since you can create anything you want for the holidays—why not create magic?
Here’s to creating your holiday magic,
Denee