A Concept to Challenge Your Status Quo
As we prepare for the Holiday season we would expect a brief pause in the hustle and bustle within our business during the last week of December and the first week of January. This break allows us all to recharge and spend quality time with loved ones.
However, there is a trap looming in these two weeks if we aren’t intentional. And the first level of intentionality is awareness - making the unconscious conscious.
That trap comes from a lack of boundaries. As I reflect on years past, it’s about this time of year when an overwhelming amount of clients will tell me “I’m working… but I’m not” - insinuating that they’re going to relax accountability for an earned or internally justified rationale. Then when we dust the rust off in the first week of January the energy is abysmal.
What happened to the recharge? What zapped their energy? What caused our confidence to erode?
After deeper interrogation, for most it is due to a lack of boundaries around their time off. They weren’t clear when they were ‘off’ and when they were ‘on.’ This creates a pattern interrupt in a negative way.
The most conservative studies suggest that for each week we are physically ill with something like the flu it takes 2 weeks to get back to optimal strength. If we extrapolated this logic, that would mean that if we relax our standards for the days we are working over the holiday season it could take the ENTIRE month of January to get back to full standard!!!
So… what are you saying? Work the whole time? NO!
Be very clear about what days are your freedom days (days you’re off) and what days are your focus days (days you’re on). If you're going to work, work - have a SMART goal that will allow you to see measured progress towards your worthy goal. By doing so, we will maintain the momentum of the habits built, make impactful progress leading to fulfillment, & create daily success plans with action items we control -emboldening our confidence.
THAT is how we explode out of the gate without getting swept away by the Holiday Malaise.
