JJ's (Dec 2018) Tips in this issue: 1. Upgrading Traditions? Use the following tips as training tools. Present this situation to your group and brainstorm solutions together, or submit your own situation question to be answered in an upcoming newsletter. SITUATION QUESTION: Are you at the point where the holidays are stressing you… more than delighting you? What are you doing to take the stress out of the holidays? SOLUTIONS: This morning my inbox had an article from my healthcare provider about staying healthy through the holidays. Kaiser suggested you…..Revive your holidays with new traditions Honoring a special tradition can be one of the most joyful parts of the holiday season. But sometimes we can outgrow family traditions or find them too stressful to enjoy anymore. While this may be sad, it’s also an opportunity to create new traditions that will make the holidays brighter for everyone. Recognize when it’s time for a change There are plenty of reasons why a holiday tradition may start to lose its appeal. It often comes down to the way people and circumstances change over time. For example: Your children are growing up. Traditions that were fun when they were little may not hold the same appeal as they approach adulthood. Your family has experienced an emergency or loss. Sometimes difficult events can strike during the holidays, making some traditions feel sad or inappropriate. Decide what works and what doesn’t If your holiday traditions feel more stressful than fun, consider whether it’s time to replace them with something new. Ask yourself why you follow certain traditions. Talk with your family about how they feel about them. If there’s a general lack of enthusiasm, explore how those traditions fit into your holiday values. After talking it out, you and your family can decide whether to maintain a tradition or come up with a new, improved idea. Put a new twist on an old classic Sometimes all you need to do is update an old tradition. Kaiser Permanente psychiatrist Jennifer Whaley, MD, appreciates everything about Christmas. She and her family especially love wrapping gifts with exceptional artistry and care. But while they enjoy gift preparation, they’re not fond of the materialism that often comes with the holidays. “I think the first question you have to ask yourself is the ‘why’ — why are we doing what we’re doing,” says Whaley. “And when things aren’t working, are you willing to change?” So, Dr. Whaley is taking a different approach by asking for experiences instead of things. This could mean cooking dinner or going to a movie together, or anything else that feels right. To keep the tradition that matters most to the family, she’s asked them to wrap up their plans, recipes, and tickets just as elaborately as they would a traditional gift. Empower your family with meaningful change While you may feel pressured to keep honoring traditions that no longer work, there’s nothing wrong with examining better options for you and your family. As Dr. Whaley shows, you don’t even have to give up on traditions altogether — you can just update them to bring your family more holiday joy. “Try a new path,” says Whaley. “That’s a good way to approach most things in life — not just the holidays.” Uncommon and much-appreciated client/family gifts "Years ago, a client CEO asked each executive to write a note sharing what s/he liked about each other. He included me in the exercise. I still have those notes with the nice things that team said about me. I learned a lot about myself about how people view me. The impact on that team was amazing. There was a deepened bonding that definitely wasn’t there before. I’ve used this idea to let clients and family know specifically what it is I love about them. You could too, and you’ll be amazed at their reaction." Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "When you dance, your purpose is not to get to a certain place on the floor. It’s to enjoy each step along the way." ~ Wayne Dyer 1940-2015 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DO YOU WANT TO IMPROVE in an area? Service? Sales? Call for your FREE CONSULTATION now EVALUATION OF YOUR ENVIRONMENT Have you had an Evaluation of Your Environment lately so you could receive suggestions on improving it? (It's like the doctor's check up, you often don't know you need it, until after you've had it.) http://www.jjlauderbaugh.com/about.html **************************************** JJ Lauderbaugh, CMC JJ works with companies that want to give exceptional customer service to increase sales,
and with Directors and Call Center/Help Desk Managers who want to improve human
performance. ---------------------------------------------------------- Reprinted with permission
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