Even with the hustle and bustle (aka, stress) of the holidays, a joyfulness surrounds Christmas. I believe that is why people are so enchanted with the holiday. It’s a sense of peace, joy, and goodwill that enters our hearts during this season and it is a welcome frame of mind change not only in our personal lives but in our businesses as well.

This leads me to wonder…why is it this a seasonal disposition? Why can’t we allow ourselves to practice peace, joy, and goodwill all year long? Here are a few tips to make the giving culture come alive in your business:

1. Learn How to Disengage

The happiest, most productive people can fully engage in the task at hand, but also know how to disengage when it’s time to enjoy the company of friends and family or focus on unrelated activities. The ability to do both is powerful in managing stress levels, and it’s why I discourage multi-tasking. Disengaging is also essential to your well-being, especially if you are a business owner. You see, employees can more easily leave their workplace and not think another moment about work until they step foot in the door the next morning, but a business owner is often consumed by the ongoing processes of keeping their dream functional. Learning to disengage is key to realizing peace.

2. Help Others

Unless your heart is made of stone (which I know it’s not!), helping others is a heartwarming experience regardless if you make a concerted effort weekly or if you reserve your goodwill just for Christmas. That warm, tingly, happy feeling doesn’t go away the more you help others. That’s what makes it so special! Charity should be a year-long activity, and as a business owner, it is a great habit to help your employees form.

3. Find the Right Staff

Trusted employees are one of the greatest accomplishments of a successful business. If you can’t walk away for a day without confidence in your employees, your relationship needs to change…or maybe your employees do? Having the right employees is a major source of peace, joy and goodwill because they help you achieve it.

4. Build a Robust Identity

Your business may be a significant part of your identity, and that’s a-okay, but your identity needs to include other important facets. What I mean is, what else fills your bucket? What drives you? What makes you wake up in the morning (besides the ongoing snooze button!)? Once you know what it is, make sure it is part of your weekly routine. If your entire identity is invested in your business, you will falter with every misstep the business takes. These other facets of your identity ensure that even if you have a bad day (week, month, year) in business, you know you’ve succeeded in the other critical areas of your life.

5. Learn New Skills

Think back to when you learned to ride a bike for the first time, or when you made it down the ski hill on your snowboard. (We won’t talk about what we all look like getting off the ski lift!). That excitement still rings true no matter what age. So, while you probably won’t be shouting at your mom to watch you, a bubbling excitement still overtakes us when we learn something new. Hold on to that and let it pave the way for celebration in your business all year round.

These are simple ways to keep peace, joy, and goodwill at work and thriving in your everyday business practices. If you need help implementing a new routine that encourages this, please reach out to me. Business coaching and personal development are key to your success, and I’d be thrilled to help put you on that path.