Find Your Calm in Holiday Chaos (2 Min Read)

December 06, 2024

“Your ability to handle chaos is amazing. Your willingness to tolerate it is maddening.” – Jordan Freed

Find Your Calm in Holiday Chaos

It’s the holiday season. Bring on the chaos. ’Tis the season when busy people have to find a higher gear. School is winding down. Can Grandpa watch the kids when I’m at work? Holiday parties dot your calendar. Where is that White Elephant gift I stashed last year? Gifts, gifts, gifts. What can I get for my mother-in-law? Speaking of in-laws, you still have to book plane tickets. Are there any direct flights? Don’t forget holiday cards. Is there a single picture with both kids smiling? And then there are your goals. You still have a few weeks to close out your 2024. 

Though the season is full of chaos, you don’t have to be. In the last episode of The ONE Thing podcast (Apple / Spotify / YouTube), I asked my coach Jordan Freed how to navigate the holiday madness. Jordan shared two valuable strategies. 

First, don’t pause the positive. You will inevitably disappoint someone this season. We can’t do it all. But the first person you say “no” to shouldn’t necessarily be yourself. What is something you routinely do for yourself that you can commit to this month? Maybe it’s your exercise routine, morning reading time, or an afternoon walk with your pup, Feliz (Navi-dog). What is ONE thing you can do for yourself to stay centered? Commit to that routine through the holidays. Keep the positive in your life so you can be powered up for others. 

Second, be clear about what you’re optimizing for. Jordan shared a conversation with a coaching client where he asked, “Three months from now when you reflect on this holiday season, what do you want to remember as being really special?” Her answer was immediate. She wanted to reconnect with her sister. That goal became her ONE thing for the season. When faced with tradeoffs, time with her sister would get priority. This didn’t mean everything else would suffer. It meant her priority was clear and she would tolerate less than perfect in other areas. Do you know what your clear priority is this season? Take a moment and find your answer.

Jordan observes that people who optimize for maximums typically get the minimums. Trying to do it all tends to make everything average at best. Yet, the people who optimize for minimums typically get the maximums. Think big, go small. It’s a very real paradox of success.

One question to ponder in your thinking time: What am I optimizing for this holiday season?

Make an Impact!
Jay Papasan
Co-author of The ONE Thing & The Millionaire Real Estate Agent