How to Deal with "New" Holiday Traditions

As I sit here on Black Friday, writing for an article to be released on Cyber Monday, pondering Small Business Saturday, and feeling absolutely stuffed from our Thanksgiving meal, I was struck with the fact that we have some pretty crazy ways to handle ourselves at this time of the year!

I mean, really, did I HAVE to eat that much yesterday? It WAS pretty good – I have some pretty amazing cooks in my family – so it was more like absolutely delicious; but so is most food this time of year! If you are like me, food is good ANY time of the year! Why do we plan to stuff ourselves mercilessly, and then moan when we are at the point of bursting? How many news flashes have you seen preparing you for all the weight you’re are going to put on this next month, and what you need to do about it after the fact?

And what about this idea that we simply must go out and indulge every instinct we have to spend extravagantly? There are some really good deals out there today, and over the next few weeks, but that still doesn’t mean you need them! In some ways, it’s as though we have been programmed to act against our own better judgment in the name of the holidays. How many of you looked back at that Billy the Bass Singing Fish and thought, ‘did I really buy that’? There are millions of stories like it.

Finally, the other new tradition that is a little unsettling is this idea that we must fear our families and experience excessively large degrees of anxiety at the thought of being with them over the holidays, or we just don’t love them enough. Look, my family is as crazy as anyone’s (I can say that publicly, because I’m pretty sure they won’t see this – if they do see it… just testing!), but there is no need to development the stress and anxiety that the movies and popular media tell us we must in order to show our “love” for our families.

It seems we’ve gotten things a little mixed up over the years, so I thought I would suggest some advice as we begin this ‘most wonderful time of the year’, so that you don’t have to begin planning a next year of resolutions and regret.

- Plan your eating. You know this is a rough time of year for the waist-line, start exercising now, not in a month. Volunteer to bring healthy dish to the office-party of family gathering instead of the cheesy-macaroni with extra cheese baked in butter-cheese with a side of cheese-sauce (yeah, it IS good, but…) Read up on healthy alternative out there at places like Eat This Not That, Men’s Health, or Women’s Health. Be conscious of what you are doing to your body, take care of it so that you can full enjoy the holiday season.
- Spend wisely. Like I said, just because a $1000 television is on sale for $500 dollars doesn’t mean I need to go spend $500 “because it’s on sale”. “Sale” is a marketing wizard’s way of saying ‘come spend money you never intended to spend’. Be smart with your finances. Spend money, not credit. Seek advice from people who know – I am a huge fan of the books of Dave Ramsey and his website DaveRamsey.com; Clark Howard also offers great advice on his website and radio show. If nothing else, keep in mind that time spend and memories created is a far better gift than a trinket.
- If you completed the ‘homework’ in my last article, I hope that “family”, in some way or another, was near the top of your gratitude list. Be grateful for your family. Plan for a little holiday dysfunction, embrace it, prepare for it; but most importantly enjoy it – it’s part of your family and who you are.

I hope you have a wonderful, enjoyable, and blessed holiday season.

Dan Recommends:



If you are looking to improve your physical health, this is the book that got me started: