A Positive approach to Christmas and the New Year
I have been working out. I was hoping to live on the meal ticket of youth, but it seems to have expired a long time ago. Every session I turn up and I am asked how I am. The first couple of weeks I didn’t catch on, discussing a twinge or a gripe generally about life, but I realised something…
Positive spin
Every time I did so the instructor would ask me what had been going well. What had worked and what I was celebrating.
Got to say it annoyed me at first.. I quite like a moan! But what I have noticed now is my whole outlook and energy is beginning to shift. We aren’t glossing over the bad, but we are making sure we do not beat ourselves up over it either.
Darker days
As the year draws to it’s twilight, there have been many negatives we may wish to hold.
- Funding of Health and Social Care
- Brexit
- You may personally have been inspected and felt the burden of bureaucracy, but let’s turn it on its head… because you know what? You are making a difference to every individual you support. Not good enough? Then we need to make it even better.
Christmas in the spotlight
This Christmas focus on;
Success in your setting
What are the key things this Christmas that have made the biggest positive impact to your clients? Once you have considered this, ask yourself how you can replicate and build on it.
Focus on your staff: What can you identify in them that makes them shine and gives them the confidence to be their very best?
How can you make Christmas the best it can be: Consider your clients and their needs and wishes….never asked them specifically about Christmas? Now is a good time. We can over worry about making presumptions about how people feel at Christmas.
…Swallow that frog! Think of the one thing you wanted to change this year and haven’t. Begin to plan how you will make that change to the service and start it now. Too much is put off until the new year, even if it is writing a draft note on how you will tackle the issue, it is better to begin.
Create a space for people to focus on the good of this year: Provide accessible ways for people to easily write down or talk about their successes and hopes for the coming year. Doing this now means ‘New Year’s resolutions’ are not overlooked and you are ready for action.
Looking on the positives is not a reason not to change those things we are not happy with or that cause others concern…but changing the way we approach them can generate the positive outlook we need not to repeat the same again.
Wishing you wellness, happiness and every good wish this Christmas… think of me on the next set of leg burners!
