My family and I used to live in Southern Idaho and would take a trip every winter up to the Sun Valley Resort and enjoy the wonderful outdoor ice rink where some of the greatest figure skaters in history have performed.

It was beautiful. Sun Valley can really deck it out for the holidays.

But even more than that annual tradition for my family are all of the things that go along with the holidays… The smell of cinnamon, lights decorating everyone’s home, glitter, and songs we only get to appreciate this time of year.

Oh, and stress.

Lots of it.

As in… mother-in-laws (or moms) coming to your home.

The whole family expecting you to pull it off.

Expectations.

Traditions to uphold… no matter what.

Dishes in the sink that must be hand-washed because you only use these particular ones during this time of year.

And kids who want that one “thing” and husbands who want to watch the football games while you take care of the whole meal and clerks who have lost their patience at the store and long lines at Costco and a turkey that isn’t quite cooking the way you expected and snow in your driveway when you go to pull out and a job that you are still attending to and your neighbor’s Christmas party that you are supposed to bring a dessert to and keeping all the expenses within your budget and the holiday concert at school and the holiday basketball tournament right before family arrives for Christmas and…

Are you exhausted yet?  I am just from writing it!

Ladies… every year we try to pull all of this holiday stuff off. Look, I’ve been doing this a long time — working with women who put incredible expectations on themselves to make this season of the year “perfect” — and I can’t tell you the amount of women I’ve worked with who come to me around this time so stressed that they can barely hold it together.

And I get it.

What us women don’t consider is the cumulative effect this has on us. We work and work and work to make the holidays everything they should be and lose a little bit of ourselves in the process. We sacrifice “us” in order to make it perfect for everyone else and find ourselves — over time — dreading this time of year because it NEVER gets slower. If anything, expectations continue to pile up and put more and more and more and more upon us to make this season everything everyone else wants.

Or so we think.

Like I said… I get it.

Is it possible there is a better way?

YES.

You see this picture? It’s Mt. Baker, an absolutely beautiful mountain in Washington state. I grew up not far from Mt. Baker and I could see it right from my driveway every day. It is gorgeous. Every time I laid eyes on it growing up I saw majesty, breadth, beauty, and a reminder that there are things in this life that are meant to be enjoyed to the fullest.

Ladies… be honest. Are you enjoying the holidays to the fullest?

If not… it is time to change that. And I can help you.

Let me give you one “secret” about having a stress-free holiday season: Communicate your expectations fully to those with whom you live. Too often, we assume that everyone in the house understands the stress we feel and the things that need to be done. When they don’t automatically “get it” we get frustrated (and even resentful), thus adding to the stress we feel. How many times has our frustration been the result of us not communicating what we need?

There are lots of other secrets I am going to give out (practical, relevant tips that actually work) at a FREE webinar I am offering to help women who feel overwhelmed this holiday season (Thursday, December 12th, 6pm MST). Sign up! You can register for it here:

https://kristifowler.com//secrets-to-stress-free-holidays-webinar/

Look… I KNOW that many of us struggle with this time of year. It’s okay. Just be honest about it. There ARE secrets that can help you have have your holidays to the fullest without having to sacrifice yourself. Do something for yourself this holiday season and take some time for YOU.

You won’t regret it.

And you will once again rediscover the majesty, breadth, beauty, and enjoyment of the holidays… without becoming a casuality in the process.