During this time of year, you can feel the energy shift. Things start to speed up around us as the holiday hustle begins. There are more expectations and pull for your attention. There is more demand of your time and seemingly less time to do it in. We push through, gritting our teeth convincing ourselves that this is what its “supposed” to be like. This is how you’ve always done it you succumb to the demands, put yourself last, and hope you can make it until January.
What is the holiday hustle?
The holiday hustle, by my definition, is this phenomenon that occurs during November and December when you are invited to join a very fast-moving train. It is filled with higher demands, stress and overwhelm. You’re not always sure you want to be on it, but you feel obligated to do so because you don’t want to be a grinch.
It’s when you live by “have to’s” and decide that you’ll take care of yourself again in January.
It’s when you succumb with helplessness to the inevitability of this fast-paced train, feeling dizzy, unfooted, stressed, and overwhelmed.
It’s when you overcommit, overspend, over-everything, because, you know, “it’s the holidays”. You shrug your shoulders and keep going. Not conscious about how your decisions are impacting you.
It’s when self-care and nurturance go by the wayside because there just isn’t time for THAT.
The holiday hustle is moving through the holidays as a preprogrammed robot, unconscious and pushing yourself beyond reasonable limits. And feeling helpless about being able to do anything about it.
Consequences of getting on this train include feeling overwhelmed, living in survival mode and exposing your body to excess amounts of cortisol and adrenaline, feeling irritable and resentful, making poor choices, and draining your body.
The good news is you’re not helpless. You are powerful and strong! You can make a choice not to get on the hustle train. You can actually make a conscious decision about how you want your holidays to go and make a plan.
How?
1. You have to make a decision about how you want your holidays to go. Ask yourself: How do I want to feel during this time of year? How committed do I want to be? How much space do I want or need? How do I want this to go? How will I take care of ME? Hold yourself accountable and remind yourself why this is important.
2. Create “slow down” rituals. Starting in the morning, start with a slow and gentle stretch, or some breathing exercises, feeling yourself here in this moment. You can practice this throughout the day to help yourself keep an even pace and avoid going into survival mode.
3. Be conscious and aware as you make plans and commitments. Really sit with your calendar and ask yourself if you have the bandwidth for what you’re thinking of committing to. Check in with your body and see how it responds to any particular commitment and then actively decide if it’s really for you. Create space in your calendar for “you” time.
4. Keep things simple. Maybe you don’t need to decorate the outside of your house with a dozen strings of light or bake cookies or make everything from scratch, or everything looking “just right”, or whatever. Do what feels right for you, what your body and brain have energy for without draining and pushing yourself outside of your boundaries.
5. Set boundaries with yourself and other people. Be clear about what you want and don’t want to do and follow through. In doing so you might disappoint others but ask yourself who you want to disappoint more, you or them? No right or wrong answer, just what’s right for you.
Making active decisions about how you want to spend your holiday season is empowering and helps you feel more confident in living your WILD Woman Life. A life that is yours, that you take full responsibility for, where you prioritize your wellbeing and trust yourself to make the best decision for you.
Going against the societal norm is not easy but it is empowering to make an active decision about how you want to spend your time, what you want it to look and feel like, rather than feeling helpless and forced.
WILD Woman Art Tip:
Materials: Markers and paper (keep it simple, remember?)
Instructions:
Using a plate, outline a circle shape on your page.
Draw a picture of you inside the circle.
Surround yourself by safe, loving, calm energy.
Outside the circle draw the holiday hustle train.
I want serenity and calmness for myself during this holiday season.
Notice how it feels when you focus on yourself in the circle. Notice what it feels like when you focus on the hustle.
Journal prompt:
What does it feel like to make an active choice about the holiday hustle train? What type of holidays do I want to create? How do I want them to feel?
The holiday season is not an excuse to forget about you. And, you don’t have to feel powerless against the hustle. Empower yourself to make active decisions about how you want your holidays to go and feel the confidence that comes from making a conscious plan for yourself that not only includes but prioritizes your wellbeing.
When you prioritize you, things can feel more enjoyable, you can experience more contentment and joy. And you deserve that!
Myriam Martinez is a Women's Mental Wellbeing Coach, Creativity Mentor, Art Therapist, and stick figure artist based out of Northern California. She gently guides women to connect to their WILD while helping them connect to their creative power and prioritizing their mental wellbeing. Her calling in this life is to teach women the power and importance of putting themselves first, loving themselves fiercely, and tapping into their creativity in order to bring more happiness, success, and ease into their lives.
To learn more about Myriam click here: https://www.myriammartinezcoaching.com/