Feel like a million bucks, and share the wealth
The holiday season is the time of year when everything seems to come together. Corporate life is winding down after the last frenzied stretch of closing deals, reaching targets and closing the gap with everyone else's activities. Colleagues start to drop off the map (until the company winter holidays' party) and business contacts increasingly are lost behind Out of Office replies. Even Linkedin slows down, making me think this is the perfect time to write this piece - and of course, take my own advice.
In the North of Europe where I live, it's the last stretch of ever-shortening days before we get blessed with a little more daylight. When I first moved to Sweden, I expected it to be harsher on my moods, but I find myself surprisingly adapting to the times. Yes, it gets dark early, but the few hours of sun in the middle of the day have become as precious to me as my morning coffee.
This is cheating a bit...this is a picture of Helsinki (Finland) at the end of November when I visited for an Employer Branding workshop, but I felt the Yule Cart too good an opportunity to miss.
This is a good time to take stock, slow down and look back on this year one more time - after that your eyes will be drawn firmly to the new year again, and the needs and tasks for the future. Hopefully you're in between Black Friday madness and/or Thanksgiving obligations and the frantic preparations for holiday dinners and family get-togethers, and can spend some time on yourself. Gather up for yourself those things that made your year great and hold on to them, whatever they are. This is the best time to recharge yourself for the year to come.
Should you feel the need for it, make it physical. Post-it notes, Google Keep, index cards or even a sheet of paper are all fine way of organizing your thoughts. Just write down, short but sweet, everything that went right this year, every moment you felt competent, in charge and well-prepared. Every time you got the job done, nailed an interview, or found the perfect title for your blog post. Trust me, you will feel pretty good reading back halfway down the list. Find some negatives blocking your path? Rewrite them as learning experiences, find the value they added to you, and record that. Failure's not lethal, they say, you lived to tell about it after all.
If you made your targets, your team got all the work done, your performance review was glowing or you got the appreciation you were looking for, congratulations! You're being excellent, and it shows. Hold on to that which makes you great, discard your humility and note it down for yourself. Be proud, and refine what got you this far into your super-power!
Chances are, next year there will be plenty opportunities to prove yourself again. I'd love to hear about your greatest success this year, feel free to add it in the comments below. Be kind and charitable, and use the afterglow of your success to help others - repost job offers from your company and others, recommend people you know to be great, and share advisory articles that really give people a leg up next year.
Even if you're struggling to discover what makes yourself great, don't give up hope. Visit family and friends - stories about "how you were as a kid" can bring back long forgotten memories of things you liked and dreamed of, which can be the fuel to power your engine for the coming year. Sometimes you can find your value in life by taking steps further down Memory Lane, and I believe that the winter season has the perfect atmosphere for finding yourself again. Think about old hobbies that used to consume your interest, old friends you've forgotten to contact or those collections you had that now gather dust in a cupboard or attic. Bring back into your life what gave you the greatest joy.
While November and December are arguably the worst months of the year to look for a new job, if you find yourself between jobs or looking for a new challenge in your life, there is that magic window in late December where you will find less competition, and put yourself early in line for January's and February's new job scramble. So spruce up your profile, rediscover your talents and connect with people that work at companies and organizations you admire and want to be part of. Focus on your personality and talents, and what it is in their organizational profile that inspires you. Next year will likely be chaotic and uncertain, and people with experience in adversity and a stable head on their shoulders will be in high demand.
Now you have a list of great things about you, focus on those. Pick your top-three and focus on developing those once January comes around. Pick up an old hobby to restart next year, or a collection you once loved. Above all, become the most interesting version of yourself. You'll make it easier connect to others, and be connected to, and you will find out it takes little time and money to find those moments of happiness when you need them the most.
Focus on things that are important for yourself and your future wishes, beyond money, fame and success. Whether it's the comforts of a warm home, the presence of family, peace and security, or a healthy life. I hope you will find a way to achieve it all.
May your winter holidays be bright and snowy (if appropriate for your geography) and your mode of transportation unfailing.
To everyone in my network early but honest well-wishes for the holidays and I hope that either you will feel like a million bucks right now, or else receive the charity needed to recharge your motivational batteries.