Happy December Everyone!
As we move into the last month of 2020, I hope there is some Christmas spirit and cheer coming into your atmosphere. I’m definitely getting into the Christmas spirit, and if you follow me on Instagram, you would have seen my pink Christmas tree is BACK! Oh yes, I said P-I-N-K.
That being said, I hope November treated you kindly.
This has been a difficult year, and for many, the holidays will not be merry and bright. For many of us, with demanding careers, it can also be tough to be joyful, to be present in the moment and show up for our loved ones, when trying to balance it all. So today, as a treat, I am giving you a peek into my personal life, as a real-life example.
My boyfriend, in addition to his regular job, has side projects that he loves to dig into! As you can imagine, he pulls long hours and sometimes works weekends to ensure he meets his project targets. To put it simply, He LOVES to work, enjoys it and I admire that. The holidays are also a busy, and somewhat stressful time for him, which can make being festive challenging. When one person is in a grouchy mood, that can affect everyone’s mood – if you let it.
Now,I know how important building a career and doing your best at work is. I’m all about building a career! I’m also aware of how stressful it can be and that you cannot dictate to anyone how much time they need to invest in their jobs. That is not my place. The only thing I can do to combat the stress induced grouchiness is to negotiate! That’s right, I said NE-GO-TI-ATE.
I decided that I was going to strike a deal with the boo. My proposal? If he wants to be Mr. Scrooge, he gets to say ‘Bah! Hambug!’ one time throughout the entire Christmas season, therefore, he needed to choose wisely. Sadly, 5 minutes after agreeing to the aforementioned deal, he was singing the ‘ Bah! Humbug’ song. I immediately shut him down. ‘ Oops, there went your one chance!’ Naturally, he wanted to renegotiate (Muahahahahaaha, evil laugh)! You see my friends, nothing had ever been specified concerning how the phrase could be expressed; could he sing, speak or use sign- language,for example? Now, the Boo could have raised a counter argument, but I think he was just so shocked by how quickly I called him out that he surrendered(SMILE). I got my Christmas cheer, he got his one Bah! Hambug! and everyone kinda wins. Well, not the boyfriend, he still wants to renegotiate. The lesson here? When discussing terms of your negotiations, make sure you actually discuss the terms and conditions of the agreement. Be as specific as possible and make sure you are clear on what you want. Simple things like this can make all the difference.
Most people agree that there needs to be some sort of work-life balance, especially during the holidays. Here I go negotiating again. You see December 5th was the boo’s birthday. He wanted nothing more than to work on his side projects, as he does not like to celebrate it. Now, I’m all for respecting wishes, but we still need to celebrate, especially with the year we’ve had. So what did I do? That’s right, I negotiated. He got to work the morning of his birthday, and the rest of the day was for me – I mean us. It was a hit! You better believe it was filled with birthday, Christmas cheer and splendour! He got to have a great meal,cake, champagne and some much needed quiet time! As much as he protested, he loved it!
Many of us are ambitious people who want to achieve our career goals, and manifest our dreams. However, what is equally important is allowing ourselves time for rest and rejuvenation. You can’t slay those goals exhausted.
Now, if you will excuse me, there is a re-negotiation session I need to do with, ‘Mr. Scrooge.’
Happy Holidays everyone!
Solange
Thoughts of Sol: Fabulous and Figuring "it" out 