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Do you always feel stressed during the holiday season? The rush to get everything done while managing your everyday life: cooking the perfect dinner, picking out presents for your loved ones while also trying to manage your budget, wrapping them and attending all the holiday celebrations can be a source of a lot of stress. I know, because each year I stressed out and burned myself out during the holiday season, just like you. So, I decided to take matters into my own hands and developed a few rules that I follow during the holiday season, that keep me stress-free. Here is how to save yourself from stressing out during the holidays:

1. Manage Your Time
One of the hardest things to do for the holiday festivities is to say no when your close loved ones invite you to spend some time with them. Over the years, every holiday season I turned into a yes-woman. It was just too hard for me to let any of my friends and family down. And so, each holiday season turned into a race against time for me – rushing from one event to another. Not only did I end up completely burned out, but in the end, I didn’t actually spend any quality time with the people I love the most. That is why I decided to manage my time properly. Just like I manage my calendar at work, I started to manage my time during the holidays. Yes, it was very hard for me to say no to some of my relatives and friends, but taking off the pressure of rushing myself from party to party has allowed me to spend more quality, enjoyable time with my loved ones.

2. Eliminate The Most Stressful Events

The holiday season is known for its many traditions in every culture. And although for some families tradition is what makes the holiday enjoyable, a lot of traditions take a lot of time and they cause a lot of stress. That is why I would recommend making it a rule for yourself to only participate in events and traditions that cause you joy, and completely eliminate the most stressful events and traditions. And although it might not seem like it’s truly a holiday without certain traditions, remember that there is no point in following a tradition that brings you no joy.

3. Don’t Strive For Perfection

Holiday stress can often be caused by trying to do everything perfectly – writing the perfect holiday card, picking up the perfect gift for all of your loved ones, cooking the perfect dinner and so on. However, this can also be the root of a lot of stress. Yes, it would be amazing to please everyone this holiday season and to become the perfect image of yourself that you put on a pedestal in your mind, but that simply won’t be the case. Not because you are not good enough, but rather because you are setting impossible standards for yourself. Instead of trying to achieve perfection, I wholeheartedly recommend that you spend this holiday season trying to accept yourself, and working on yourself. Once you settle things with yourself, and you set more reasonable standards for yourself, the pressure and stress during the holidays will disappear.

If you are having a hard time settling things within yourself, I recommend that you try wearing and working with a Positive Transformation Bracelet Set. It’s hard to change things about yourself, especially when you have been doing the same things over and over for your entire life, and the Positive Transformation Bracelet Set will help you to make that positive transformation, reach self-acceptance and by doing so – relieving stress and pressure off yourself.

4. Forget About Monetary Value Of Gifts

Speaking of buying the perfect gifts, the biggest stress that everyone faces during the holidays is managing your budget. You want to buy all your loved ones the gifts that they wanted because you want to make them happy, but not having enough, or spending everything you have on buying gifts is a big issue. I used to stress a lot over this matter – I wanted to stay in the available budget, but I was always afraid that my loved ones would somehow be offended if they received gifts that I didn’t spend an “appropriate” amount of money on. As I worked on myself and breaking off the negative thought patterns that held me back, I realized that this was also a negative thought pattern. After all, the value of the gifts your loved ones receive doesn’t lie in how much money you spent, but rather in the intention with which your gift was given. So, my advice to you is to not cause yourself extra stress by going overboard with gift buying, or stressing over whether the gifts you bought are enough. Simply make an assessment of your available budget for gifts, and stick to it.

5. Discipline Your Mind

The stress around gift-giving is only scratching the surface of negative thought patterns that you might struggle with during the holidays. If you feel like your thoughts are starting to spiral out of control, especially during holiday gatherings, it’s a sign that you have allowed your mind too much freedom, or as you might know it – spending a lot of time on autopilot mode. Which is why I recommend working on breaking off these negative thought patterns, and harnessing mindfulness, because if you allow your thoughts to wander freely - they will only continue to bring you stress and misfortune.

6. Take Good Care Of Yourself

And my final tip for surviving the holidays and staying stress-free is to remember to take good care of yourself, just like you are taking good care of others. I know that the holiday season is the time to spend with your loved ones, the time where you connect and take care of each other, but you can’t put everyone else’s well being before yours. Not only is it not healthy in any way for you, but it will also reflect on the relationships you hold with your loved ones. Your loved ones don’t want to see you burn out, they want to see you as happy as they are! So make sure that you are happy and healthy, and take good care of yourself at all times.