By Emily Heidt
Part Of the Change Your Focus, Change Your Life Series
The Law of Attraction works this way: you attract what you focus on. Put another way, you get what you expect. If the approaching holidays fill you with fear and trepidation (no matter how mild or seemingly justified), you must begin now to reshape your expectation of what is to come. It’s a proven way to avoid an ordeal and, instead, summon holiday joy into your life.
As a first step, plan for the experience you want. Management experts advise that to achieve business goals, you must plan your work and work your plan. This applies to holidays, as well.
Before I began this column, I wrote across the top of a sheet of paper: What Kind Of Holidays Do I Want? If you’ve done any writing, you’ll understand when I tell you that I was surprised by what emerged as I scribbled. That’s the wonder of putting thoughts on paper it reveals what you really think, instead of merely what’s on the top of your mind.
When I reviewed what I had written, two major desires jumped out at me:
1. To be relaxed over the holidays; and
2. To bask in good feelings especially my love for others and gratitude for my blessings.
Now as I face the oncoming holidays, I am envisioning what it will look like to be relaxed throughout and I am making plans to ensure that it actually happens.
Keep in mind that to plan is to visualize the future. As you plan, you are actually attracting to you the picture in your mind. The more you are able to envision yourself in a situation, such as telling friends in the middle of the holidays, I can’t believe how incredibly relaxed I am, the more quickly it will happen.
Just the simple realization that I want to be relaxed for the holidays has already had the effect of relieving the tension I customarily feel at this time of the year.
As an added benefit, planning saves you time, as well as sparing you stress.
Professional speaker and sales trainer Brian Tracy has determined through research that for every minute you spend planning, you save 10 minutes in execution. This is a 1000% return on your invested time! The thought of that alone should relax you from head to toe!
When I looked at the second desire on my list, I wondered, How do I make feelings the theme of the season, instead of food and gifts? Writing about that in turn uncovered something else I had not expected.
I realized that I want to send letters this Christmas to the people who are dearest to me and say how I feel about them. More than 25 names then came to mind.
If I were to wait until the week before Thanksgiving to start writing people, I’d never make it. So I’ve already begun writing a letter a day, tucking it into a greeting card, addressing the envelope and sticking on a stamp. If I did not do this, I would be penning letters in breathless haste and suffering writer’s cramp in mid-December, as if I were an overworked Bob Cratchit! I likely wouldn’t express my sentiments very gracefully or meaningfully, either.
Don’t put off planning. Reserve 10 minutes per day between now and next Sunday to write your answer to the question: What Kind Of Holidays Do I Want?
Who would I like to spend time with me?
How do I want to feel before, during, and after?
What seasonal traditions or rituals would I like to continue or inaugurate?
Who can I recruit to play with me on this project of making my holidays great?
What must I begin to do now to accomplish my goals?
Have you noticed you are visualizing? Let yourself feel the delight as holiday scenes play through your mind. After all, there’s no rule that the holidays have to actually arrive before you can enjoy them!
Author: Silver Rose
Silver Rose works with organizations who want to develop self-managed and happy employees and with individuals who want to love their work. visit www.silverspeaks.comShe can be reached at 877-840-5416 or by email, Silver@SilverSpeaks.com (Copyright Silver Rose)
