The Christmas period can be one of the busiest times of year with your calendar booked with planning for Christmas day, gift buying and more events then you can even think of attending. However, it’s also a great time to schedule in a few moments to unwind from a busy year, spend time with your family and friends. The end of the year is also a good time to reflecting on 2018 and thinking about what you can do to make 2019 count. Whether you’re in a startup, are a well-established business, or are a hard-working employee, Christmas is the perfect opportunity to reflect on the last 12 months and begin planning for 2019.
With this in mind, we’ve outlined our top three activities to do over the Christmas period to set yourself up for a successful 2019.
Plan For The Year Ahead
The end of the year is a great time to look back on the year just gone and put somethings in place to ensure the next year is as good as it can be. Not only does a calendar year provide you with a nice evaluation point to reference, but it can also help with mapping out a timeframe to have certain tasks and goals completed within. Our Now-Where-How Tool is a great guide to help you do this. By thinking about where you are now, where you want to be and how you plan to get there, you will be able to create a 2019 plan to help you focus on your career, your business or strive towards a personal goal. Having a clear plan is essential to succeeding and setting timeframes to meet is just as important. So, take the time over your Christmas break to think about where you want to be in 12 months and put some plans in place to get you there!
Upskill In Your Downtime
With a little extra downtime over the Christmas break, why not spend some of your down time upskilling? Whether it’s swapping your vogue for a one of the top 50 business must reads or finding a short course to plug away with while the cricket is on in the background, upskilling can be easily added into your Christmas downtime period. If you’re looking for something short and sweet, something like listening to podcasts can be a great way to learn and with some only needing a 15 minute commitment, it’s the perfect way to get extra value from some of those longer car rides or commutes.
Get In A Good Headspace
Christmas is the time of year to be with the people you care about and who care about you. Spending time with the quality people in your life, your family, friends and other support networks around you will go a long way in making sure that you make it through another 12 months happy and healthy. Some other great ways to get into a good headspace are to:
- Get outside – go for a hike, a walk along the beach or explore a new place. Being outside (especially in nature) is proven to reduce feelings of anger, fear and stress while reducing blood pressure, muscle tension and the production of stress hormones. So, go outside and watch the stress melt away.
- Meditate – this something that a lot of successful people do to get in the right headspace and, doing this exercise for as little as 10 minutes a day, can help reduce stress, as boost immunity, increase concentration and improve sleep quality. Never tried meditating before? Find a type of mediation that you enjoy and ease yourself in with a short session of just a few minutes. We recommend trying the Headspace app as a good place to start.
- Take care of your body – eating well and exercising are some of the best ways to get in a good and also help to improve sleep quality, stress relief and decrease anxiety and depression. Fueling your body with whole, healthy foods and being active for at least 30 minutes each day will go a long way in keeping your mental health in a good place. Challenge yourself this silly season by tracking your diet, sleep quality, water intake and step count to see if what changes you can make to treat your body better. Most smart phones have apps that can help with tracking or maybe Santa will help with a new Fitbit this Christmas.
Remember to take some time out this Christmas to appreciate what you have, the people in your life and the things that you’re grateful for. Life, especially when you’re in business, can be hectic and challenging and it’s important to remember why you are doing what you do when things get tough. So, recharge, relax and enjoy the hustle and bustle of the last few weeks of 2018 and get ready for a great 2019.
