Episode 5 | Making This Christmas Count: A Guide to Joy, Giving, and Reflection | Enriched Wealth Podcast

In this special holiday episode of the Enrich Wealth Podcast, Kris Tatt shares practical strategies to make your Christmas season less stressful and more meaningful.

From pre-planning to avoid the holiday rush, embracing the joy of giving, to taking time for self-reflection, Kris offers insights to help you celebrate the season with purpose and balance. Whether it’s budgeting for gifts, creating memorable family traditions, or setting the stage for a successful New Year, this episode is packed with wisdom to enrich your holidays.

Join us for this heartwarming conversation and discover how small changes can lead to a more intentional, joyful, and enriching Christmas season.

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Transcript

Welcome to the Stratagem Enriched Wealth podcast.

Today we're going to be recording a special short episode leading up to Christmas.

We know Christmas is a busy time of year, and so we didn't want to create a huge episode that was a big distraction from everything you're doing.

But we did want to do a little episode 1 to wish everyone a happy Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.

And we also too wanted to just leave a couple of little Nuggets to take away into the Christmas season because we know it is a time that is busy.

It's filled with stress, it's filled with lots of things, but it can also be filled with lots of regrets.

Call it the Christmas New Year hangover.

A lot of people come into the New Year with either regrets on eating too much or maybe some poor decisions they made, or they get their first credit card statement in the new year as well too, and they are reminded that real normal life comes as well.

So we wanted to sort of give a few things that you could do to get ready for the Christmas period, make it a great and memorable time, but also to one that isn't necessarily filled with some of those regrets that you might have had in previous years as well.

And some of these things are things that we we do as a family.

And so I just wanted to share a few of those things as well.

And, and just from years of, of doing, doing life and doing things like that, I've just, I've just, I don't know, maybe I'm getting wiser in my old age, or maybe maybe I'm finding learning some lessons.

So there's three things I want to, I want you to take away from this, from this episode and from today.

And they, the, they are really around 1:00 pre planning.

So we're going to look at a little bit of some of the ways that you can pre plan the Christmas period.

So it is less stressful, but also too so that you don't go outside the things that you wanted to do or you forget to do something.

So often we get to because it's so busy and we go, oh, we should have done that or we forgot to do this.

So I want to want to talk a little bit about pre planning and how that can help too.

I want to talk about giving.

And this is a really special time of year for a lot of people for a lot of different reasons.

For some people, it's a it's a very significant religious holiday.

For other people, it's a very significant family time.

For other people, it can be actually a little bit bittersweet as well too.

And it can be a reminder of of those, those family members or that that may not be around anymore as well.

But it is definitely a time of year of giving.

And so I want to talk about some of the benefits of giving and why giving is so important as well.

And, and what it means for you as an individual.

So we've got some science and we'll make some references and show notes.

So we're not just making it up.

And finally, also to want to talk lastly about self reflection.

And because we are marking the end of 12 months coming into this this busy season, it is also a time to be able to sit back and actually reflect.

And so often we don't take time to do it.

And, and so if we don't take the time, then we don't always learn.

And so we end up coming to the next year going why is that to the same?

Why is it still what it was back then?

So anyway, that's what I want to cover today.

So we're going to get into pre planning 1st and pre planning seems sometimes a little bit boring or a little bit arduous or a little bit, I could even call it a little bit teacherish.

And I know I've got some teacher friends and they all have to plan out their years and things like that.

And I sort of think, Gee, you're way too organised for me.

But I also do know that there is some value in doing it.

And I have seen that.

And my wife is great at planning out our Christmas gifts.

So she, she is actually in the middle of almost finalising all of our gifts for, for the kids and, and for the Christmas period.

And she likes to do that one so that she's prepared to, so that she knows what she's doing when she gets to the shops.

So often when the shops are busy, it's, it's just, it's, there's so much noise and distraction.

And so being able to know what you're getting before you get there, being able to know the budget coming into the period as well too, means that you don't end up overspending because you've just, oh, just grabbed that.

I didn't think maybe they'll like this.

If, if you can plan out ahead, what it does is it creates a sense of control and calm for you as well too.

And it's in the periods that I, for me, I find that when I'm stressed or when I'm busy or there's a lot going on is when I might not make the optimal decision.

So I'll make that poor decision.

I'll just grab that or, or just do that or, or let's just get this because we don't know what else is going to be out there.

If we're planning ahead, if we know what we're looking for and know where we're going to find it and things like that, it gives us a lot more clarity.

It gives us a lot more focus.

It might also save us going into five shops that we didn't need to go into or ending up at at a place that that we hadn't planned to go.

And so we've just wasted some of that precious time that we need as well.

So planning out ahead is really important and thinking about your budget and thinking about cash flow as well too.

And, and one of the easiest ways to plan cash flow is if you want to pull up your statement from last to, and look at what happened last December, that can be a really great way to understand what, what might be coming in this December as well.

So often we, we look at the bank, he can't go right, I've got that much then to do or what I need to do.

And we forget about the, the bill that might come up or things like that.

And it's the same for business as well.

If you're looking at where do we go with sales last year, what happened last year in terms of turnover and things like that, that might be able to help us build some expectation for where it is this year.

We might need to adjust based on what it was in November or October as well, but at least it starts gives us a bit of an expectation on where we're going and what we're doing for that time.

So one, plan your budget, plan your shopping plan, plan those things because that they are really important.

The second thing when we're thinking about pre planning is looking at our December schedule and looking at our calendar and making sure that we're scheduling in the social, social and family catch UPS that we want to do as a family.

We, we have, we've started this little tradition last year and it's been great to do with the kids is we have up on the fridge a checklist almost like a bingo card, big bingo card of checklist items that we want to do over the month of December.

And so there's a bit of anticipation for the kids and they they hold us accountable as well too, to make sure we do it.

But it also too makes it makes it feel more intentional, makes it feel much more special to when we were able to go and do these things that we said we wanted to do as a family.

So it's as simple as just going out and look at the Christmas lights or it's having a meal together or watching a Christmas movie or something.

But I find sometimes if we don't think ahead and we don't put some of these things in place that we want to do, or we don't think about those family or those friends that we may not have seen for a while that we want to catch up.

And if we don't start booking them in life, books everything up anyway.

And So what happens is, is that we, we get dragged along, maybe maybe the things that we want to do or maybe things we didn't want to do, or we forget about those things, all those people that we wanted to catch up with just because we get so busy.

So make sure that you've got those things locked in your calendars of, of those social activities and, and, and those catch UPS that you want to do.

Thirdly, and, and this is really important because this is, I find, and maybe maybe it's just me, but I'll find sometimes you get through the Christmas, New Year's.

And although we've had a break from work, it doesn't always feel like a break.

It feels like we've been rushing around, we're doing this, we're going here, we're going there that we don't actually ever intentionally schedule in some rest time or some light exercise.

And I'm going to say light exercise because I'm not saying that you need to go out and hit the gym five times a week or or run a marathon who probably don't have people.

You might not have the time for that.

But what it might mean is that you schedule in a couple of extra walks.

So you're scheduling those breaks to help it feel like an actual break as well too.

So often because of how busy we are, we just forget to take that time or take take a bit of stock.

And and later on when we talk about self reflection, we talk about the year that's going on.

If you haven't scheduled in a bit of rest or a bit of time to actually sit down and think about how the years gone, you don't ever get that opportunity to really take stock of where everything's at.

So I think scheduling in rest and and exercise or some kind of light activity can be really beneficial in terms of one, your well being.

And two, also making sure that you're able to get through that period and really enjoy it because you've had the rest and you've had had the time and the and the preparation for it as well too.

So one, pre planning is so important, one, to make sure that you aren't overspending.

You aren't, you aren't doing things that you didn't plan on doing or spending on what you didn't need to, but to also making sure that we don't miss out on any of those catch ups or all those things that we really wanted to do.

So just take some time to plan out December and and that way it'll be so much more valuable.

The second thing I wanted to talk about was giving.

And this is a time of year that that is, is a time of giving.

And here that it is the season, we give lots of gifts, we wrap lots of gifts.

I seem to become really good at wrapping gifts by the end of the Christmas period because of the gifts I've actually wrapped.

And then comes into March or April and I'm wrapping a couple of birthday presents and it seems like I've lost the touch again.

There's, there's just this thing that you do it a few times and you seem to get quite good at it.

But we do a lot of giving, but sometimes we don't always think about giving outside maybe our family or giving outside those people that we regularly give to, to think about who else that we might be able to give to.

And sometimes it's, it's in those acts of giving, in those acts of going outside ourselves that that we get to actually see one.

It gives us a different perspective on, on the world, but to it also, there's all these benefits that are actually through from scientific research, from giving that that are actually quite amazing.

And I just want to work walk through a couple of those benefits and then sort of talk through a few examples of what you might be able to do as an individual, as a family around giving.

And it's not, it's not saying you need to go out and, and do these huge things, but just the opportunity to try something different at this time of year of, of, of maybe giving in a way that you haven't given before.

So just some of the, some of the big benefits of giving I'll go through 1st.

And the first one is increased happiness and well being.

And so acts of giving actually activate regions of brain associated with pleasure, social connection and trust and create what they call a warm glow effect.

So studies have shown that people who spend money on others of volunteer their time report high levels of happiness compared to those who don't.

So if you if you sometimes you always think to to be happy, we have to go out and do something for ourselves.

But science would actually say that going out and doing something for someone else actually gives that amazing benefit.

Who who hates stress?

I hate being too stressed.

And giving actually leads to reduced stress levels.

It's been linked to lower levels of stress hormone.

It can also help mitigate and promote relaxation and contribute to better health.

It actually lowers the risk of hypertension as well.

So it has these health benefits from leading to a lower, lower stress life and regular acts of kindness can actually improve cardiovascular health and strengthen the immune system as well.

So there there are so many benefits to to giving a couple of the other ones are also enhanced mental health.

So it can actually reduce symptoms of depression and anxiety.

And by focusing of it on others, we increase negative emotions in ourselves and increase positive feelings.

We get a greater sense of purpose and satisfaction.

We also get better strength, strength and social connections.

So by giving, we actually create stronger bonds.

We don't create them by taking, we create them by giving.

And it's an activation of the rewards circuit in the brain.

So the, the brain actually says, oh, that was a good thing.

I was rewarded for doing that.

I want to do more of that.

So it's this compounding effect of giving on on our own body that that is as as amazing as it is the actual impact of how it can change someone else's life.

Just a couple of small ways that we're we're giving this year as a family as we're giving some food hampers away.

So we've we've got the opportunity to to give some food hampers.

So we're putting together those food hampers, but we're doing it as a family.

My wife just isn't out, isn't out doing it.

And then going, we're actually getting the kids involved to say what what do you want to include in the food hampers and helping get them to help pack them and give them away.

We're also going to be donating some toys as well.

We're doing a toy drive internally at Stratagem and so we will be donating some toys as well.

And the thing for that is that we want our kids to be able to say that we, we give, we don't just receive at Christmas, it's also a time of giving.

And even our oldest daughter said, what, what's, what's a present that we can, we can give you mum and dad as as well, because we want to give you guys a present from us kids.

And so even that they, she's already starting to think through a little bit that, that, that as well.

But we want them to think bigger than themselves, bigger than the family in saying there are people out there in need and we want to be able to help give.

We don't always just want to take with we have more than enough.

We want to be able to give.

So that's, that's little something that we're doing in that space as well.

And we're, we're excited to, to work with the kids on that and, and take them on that journey because I think it's really important for them to, to understand that as well too.

But that's, that's a little something that we're doing.

The last thing I want to, I want you to take away for this, for this Christmas, New Year's season is, is a self reflection.

So often we are so busy and, and it feels like this crescendo of Christmas and New Year's where we just continue to build up, build up, build up, build up until we get there.

And then we just sort of fall in a heap after the fact or we then start New Year's and we're on to New Year's resolutions, which keep an eye out.

We'll have a episode about that coming up as well too.

But self reflection has a powerful impact on, on us being able to go what, what were the things that we did great during the year and what were the things that we need to learn from during the year as well, too.

So often if we don't review how we've gone, we don't review the, we don't take the opportunity to actually learn from what we do as well too.

And, and look, sometimes we as human beings avoid the negative.

So sometimes we don't want to learn.

So it's easier not to self reflect because we, we just, it can bring up emotions or sadness that that we might, might, might be trying to avoid.

And I'm not here to try and rehash, you know, hurt for people, But also to being able to take stock and think about the things that we did well or the things that we we could have done better helps us to improve.

And if we want to improve, if we want to get better financially, if we want to get better as an individual, we need to take those times of self reflection and say how are we going to do it differently going forward?

So we're going to include in the show notes a PDF that you can print out or you can do do on your iPad or however that might look where you can actually start to work through and think through what were three big wins for the year.

So what were three things that I was able to achieve that I was able to do that that happened during the year that I can look back on positive and go, wow, how great was it that that I was able to do that?

And sometimes we don't remind ourselves of, of the things we've achieved.

And, and we can get really despondent in the present if we don't remind ourselves of where we've been and what's happened and how that's changed.

Because sometimes it's, it's, it's, it's just, it's just our perspective that sometimes needs to change.

The other thing I want to do is write down 3 lessons.

What are three things that we've learned during the year?

And it might might have been something that was a bit painful or a silly mistake that we've made, or it might have even been a bit of a health scare or something that went on as well too.

But what are three lessons that we learned during the year?

So what were three things that that were like big aha moments or things that we said, I need to, I need to not do that anymore.

I need to do, I need to improve on this thing.

And lastly, I want you to write down and it's really simple.

One thing you're going to stop doing and one thing you're going to start doing and the stop doing might be I'm going to stop checking my phone before I go to bed or I'm going to stop, I'm going to stop eating junk food on Monday nights or I'm going to stop.

I'm going to stop worrying about this or that.

Just one thing, just one little thing that that you can put in there to make it to, to say right, I'm going to take this out of my life.

It might even be something that that's that's business related.

I'm going to stop doing this when I go into work in the morning or I'm going to make make sure I stop, stop avoiding this situation.

I need to actually just deal with it.

So what's something you're going to stop doing and then what's one thing you're going to start doing?

So whether it's a habit, whether it's a change that you're going to make, what's one thing that you're going to start doing differently?

And, and so that just gives a bit of where, where are we going?

What are we doing here?

Because whether it's improving ourselves, improving our business, improving our health or even improving our our families.

And that could be as simple as the time that we spend together or the quality time that we spend together.

We need to ensure that we're reflecting.

Because if we're barreling ahead and we're not looking at the path that's been travelled before, if you're not looking at the missteps that we've made, we will continue to make them.

We're human beings.

We seem to be really good at at making mistakes, but it's in the learning and the improvement that we start to adjust and and change ourselves.

So that's something there.

So that's just three things.

Pre plan, make sure that you're actively giving and it could just be something as simple as giving some time.

I'm going, going and helping an elderly parent or grandparent for an afternoon or going and, and doing something that you wouldn't have normally done with the kids or, or whatever it is.

Giving.

Giving is so, so, so special and so, so important and so valuable, but also giving out into the community.

How is there things that you can help the needy with as well too?

It's a real opportunity to do that.

So make sure that you give.

And finally, make sure you take some time to self reflect.

It's really important to self reflect because in that self reflection is where we get get into the meat of what worked and didn't work during the year and what we can do better for next year.

From everyone at Stratagem, I want to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

I hope that it is a safe time, I hope that it is a special time, and I hope that everyone comes back into 2025 feeling rested and recuperated and ready for what the year has install.

Merry Christmas.