SUSTAINING HOLIDAY VIBES

We’ve all been there – returning from holiday feeling calm, refreshed, relaxed, and wondering how we can sustain the holiday vibe as we reengage with our everyday life. National Library of Medicine research involving 507 participants indicates that people who take holidays experience higher subjective well-being than those who don’t. The Harvard Business Review’s data-driven study indicates that “statistically, taking more vacation results in greater success at work as well as lower stress and more happiness at work”.

But let’s flip this idea and knowledge around. Let’s get more specific and intentional about this, allowing us the possibility of sustaining a holiday vibe in our everyday.

Attributes of a holiday vibe

If we’re unspecific and wishy-washy about what a holiday vibe is, sustaining it will remain wishful thinking. Describe it. Identify its attributes. For example:

relaxed, calm, sense of space in my day, no rushing, doing things I love to do, nourishing myself, free of mental clutter, inspired, refreshed, bigger picture perspective, peaceful…

You’ll make your own mental list as you read this.

All those feelings are possible in our everyday. Yes – all those feelings, that state of being, are possible in your everyday life. They’re within us, independent of what’s happening outside of us. The question now becomes:

How am I resisting it?

How am I resisting those feelings and states of being?

What obstacles am I placing in the way?

For example:

Do you overbook yourself?

Do you place yourself under time pressure, insisting it’s necessary and unavoidable?

Do you buy into a boss’s or place of work’s unrealistic expectations?

Do you fuel yourself jittery with coffee rather than taking a break or going for a walk?

Do you allow your mind to run, run, run all day, never giving it a rest?

Do you always put the activities that give you the most joy at the bottom of your ‘to do’ list, or indulge in guilt if you are engaging in them?

Do you stay in a stressful situation that doesn’t serve your well-being?

Do you veg in front of the TV instead of getting out into nature?

Do you not believe an alternative is possible?

What would happen if I stopped resisting the holiday vibe?

Just imagine sustaining a holiday vibe in your everyday life… Delicious… Imagine work with a holiday vibe. Imagine family life with a holiday vibe. Really. Take a moment now to imagine it. Feel your way into it.

We’re addressing states of being here. Of course, you’ll have more time and flexibility during holidays than during an average work day. That’s not the point. The point is, how can I be in the state I’m in, when on holidays? If you’re feeling resistance to the possibility, what’s the resistance?

You may suddenly admit something to yourself. Something you’ve never admitted before, out of fear. Do you need to leave your place of work? Do you need to reassess your relationship? Do you need help undoing negative conditioning to access a holiday vibe, or to be able to say “no”? Do you need to take a terrifying leap of faith in some way?

Sometimes accessing a different state of being requires great courage. It is Change, after all. If you need help, reach out.

Book a complimentary strategy session here.

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