Think you’re ready for the Holidays? Your travel plans are ready; the gifts are nearly purchased and wrapped; the house is cleaned and decorated; and you’ve been starving yourself so you can eat as much of your mother’s cookies as you want.
Yet, even with all the preparation, if we’re not ready to lead ourselves – lead our focus and behaviors – the Holidays can be a complete flop. As so many Pathways to Leadership graduates know, it’s vital that your leadership increases as you go home. This holds especially true during this important time of the year.
Here are the five most common errors of personal leadership during the Holidays – and what you can do to create greater results.
1. Insist on getting everything done on your “to-do” list during your “time off.” Instead: Identify the kind of experiences you want to have during this time and act in a way that creates those experiences.
2. Prior to visiting your relatives, articulate all the things you can’t stand about them. Instead: Identify the top three things you most appreciate about your relatives – and relentlessly focus on those elements.
3. Focus on all the places you’re overeating. Instead: Celebrate every ounce of discipline you demonstrate.
4. Lament all the things you didn’t achieve in 2009. Instead: Celebrate what you and your family have done in the last year.
5. Discuss how bad the unemployment rate, the economy, and your boss will be in 2010. Instead: Determine the behaviors and mindset (both of which are in your control) that you will live by in the months ahead to ensure the direction you go is productive.
Rest, joy, gratitude, and abundance… the things you crave for the Holidays – are always available to you.
