I love this time of year! I love the coziness of the season, palette, and activities. I love making the holidays, from decorating to hosting to gifting. I love the urgency of getting projects done to wrap up the year with a bow.

But most of all, I love the planning of what’s to come next… I find this so exciting and enlivening! There is so much juice in dreaming and anticipating. There is so much empowerment in owning, designing, and implementing. There is so much pleasure and joy in witnessing the fruits and impact. And, this applies to personal, professional and philanthropic endeavors. The thing is to be mindful of not getting carried away with it all…

I find that we are great at piling it on. It’s amazing to me how overextended people allow themselves to get. They are way overcommitted and overambitious on how much they tackle. When we operate like this, we become paralyzed with overwhelm and we end up accomplishing less, with lesser results. What’s worse, we don’t enjoy the ride…

I get it, there is something to be said for reaching for more. I’m all for going big, going all out and making a splash. The key is in our approach. It behooves us to be mindful of how we choose to do and show up in our life for a life of Alignment and Delight.

Our Journey is what we make of it. It’s what we make of it on a daily basis. It’s what we choose to focus on and strive for. It’s who we choose to be along the way. We can do it the hard way or the way with ease…

As we tackle the most hectic, crammed, demanding and stressful season, I call for a different approach. As you tackle your Holiday & Year-End Process™ (HYP), I invite you to bring gentleness, ease and compassion to your approach. As you tackle rocking it, I encourage you to take on a bit of a minimalist approach. This does not mean small, neglectful, uncaring, dispassionate, poor quality, things falling through the cracks, and such.

This means being nice to yourself as you do your Journey… That’s part of the Journey itself! You can decide what it looks like for you to be nice to yourself… But, do note this is not referring to gifting yourself a high-end bag or some such material item… This is referring to how you:

Talk to yourself

Allow others to talk to you

Use your time

Set up your day

Set effective boundaries

Have targeted focus

Do your self-care

Invest in your personal development

Get and allow support

Show vulnerability

Embrace ease

Enjoy leisure

Are gently passionate

Are compassionate and kind to yourself

Get grounded and aligned…

When you start approaching your Journey with this softness and gentleness in your heart, is when you find yourself in an amazing relationship, an incredible life, and enjoy a Magnificent Journey…

I want you to tackle your HYP with a gentle touch… I want you to go for it but not at your expense… I want you to have a life of vitality, creativity, productivity, impact and meaning… I want you to have your Best Life…

ASSIGNMENT: Identify how you are mean to yourself. How you neglect, dismiss, silence, abandon, reject, push, beat up, abuse, devalue, minimize, squash yourself… What else might you do that is mean to yourself? Identify what triggers/promotes this treatment, what circumstances. Choose the one that makes you want to cry for treating yourself this way… The one that’s the most prevalent. Decide what the opposite, the nice treatment of yourself, would be instead. What would you tell your friend to do? Turn that into a recurring self-protection and nurturing behavior. Add it to your calendar, planner, journal, and/or habit tracking app. Just make sure you are nicer to yourself!

Here is to rocking the season with ease, gentleness and compassion.

Complete the Assignment, and share your takeaway, insights, and results with a note in the Comments box at the end! I’d love to hear how you are using this content.

Happy Gentling!

P.S. We are here for you! If you need more support to creating your successful and meaningful life, we are here to help. I’d be honored to speak with you about how we can help you. Schedule a Get Acquainted Call to connect, and discuss how we can help you and how to get started. Look forward to Connecting with you!

P.S.S. Get the Snap Takeaways™ for this post (Stay tuned for it!)

P.S.S.S. Share Your Thoughts & Successes in the comment box at the end! Take a moment now to share below any thoughts, comments, take away, tips, and successes! PLEASE post a comment now – we grow in community! Thanks for connecting with the MetroRelationship™ Family!

Copyright (c) 2019 Emma K. Viglucci. All rights reserved.

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Emma K. Viglucci, LMFT is the Founder and Director of Metropolitan Marriage & Family Therapy, PLLC, a private practice that specializes in working with couples, she is the creator of the MetroRelationship™ philosophy and a variety of Successful Couple™ content that assist couples succeed at their relationship and their life. Stay Connected™ with Emma and receive weekly Connection Notes in your inbox with Personal Growth and Relationship Enrichment insights and strategies, visit: www.metrorelationship.com.