Be aware of how stressful the Christmas period can be for some families and how you might reduce conflict.

"Christmas is coming
The goose is getting fat
Please put a penny in the old man’s hat
If you haven’t got a penny, a halfpenny will do
If you haven’t got a halfpenny, may God bless you!"

My childhood was full of these old English ditties which showed the social history of the ages. Using goose fat was commonplace in cooking, rearing your own goose was not unusual, inflation was unheard of, poverty was present in society and stress was plentiful.

Fast forward to Christmas 2022 and who knows what’s in store. Chances are that the only similar factor is stress.

Did You Know That Stress Kills?

Stress can be positive.  We need an element of physical and emotional stress to motivate and get us out of bed each morning.  However, when the level of stress experienced is overwhelming and therefore potentially unmanageable, your health will take a nose-dive.  Guaranteed.

How you manage your stress level is an interesting conversation for many.  From taking a long soak in a bath filled with essential oils and Epsom Salts to detox and de-stress you, to taking a gentle jog around your local park. From painting to craft making, from reading to playing music.  These are all ways to reboot your system.

Find a way to de-stress yourself that fits who you are. Who you are depends upon your behavioural style and your natural behaviour characteristics.  For example, using the DISC system of profiling, a high D behaviour style will de-stress by going for a long run and/or going to the gym. An ‘I’ type will party. High ‘S’ types may curl up with a book and high ‘C’ types often withdraw to re-charge and de-stress.

Making Sense of Life...

DISC Behavioural Profiling is an integral part of my Perfect 10 VIP Health Mentoring Programme. When my clients see the graphs and charts within their personal DISC report and understand how their behaviour is causing their health challenges, they are often astounded.  Some even say that their life now makes sense after all these years!

Not only does your behaviour style affect your health, but it also has a significant effect upon relationships within your personal life and in the workplace.

When opposing behaviour styles get together, without a deeper understanding of each other’s style, stress levels can go through the roof.  Christmas is a classic time for family and friends with different behavioural styles to get together with potential conflicts and misunderstandings created.

When stress is high, so is your blood pressure; your body is under attack; your cells pick up negative energy which leads to inflammation and disease. Not a happy situation.

What Is YOUR Leading DISC Behaviour Pattern And How Does It Affect Your Health?

During the past 25 years, I have become a specialist in the DISC model of behaviour profiling.  DISC is a common tool used in business especially for teams to become more productive and efficient by working to the behaviour strengths of each team member. 

So many people behave in one way at home, and then put on a suit or a uniform and behave differently when in public.  Effectively, they are hiding behind a mask. This behaviour is unsustainable in the long-term for most individuals.  Whilst we can modify our behaviour for short periods, until the behaviour is aligned both privately and in public, health challenges will arise.

I´ve also used DISC to help reconcile couples and families and was very successful in supporting students and teachers.

When working as an independent consultant mentoring head teachers and the senior management teams, we developed a model to support the students – even at infant ages. 

Ask a young child to choose what animal they would be if they were a lion, dolphin, puppy dog or an owl, and 99% of the time they will choose the animal which best reflects their developing personality style.  This enables teachers and parents to support the young person in ways that suit them, rather than stamping their own personality onto the child an expecting all to be well.

I used to support special pupil referral units (PRUs) where students had been excluded from school. Guaranteed their profile style always included the high D behaviour pattern.  If high Ds are not suitably engaged and challenged in the right manner, they will become disruptive which often results in conflict with the teachers.

Using DISC Profiling To Short-Cut Relationship Building

In one team I inherited in a workplace turnaround situation, by introducing DISC, the morale increased from 11% to 76% .

The team were able for the first time to understand themselves and figure out how to support each other more effectively, with kindness and respect.

However you are spending this Christmas, please keep your stress levels under review and don’t become a statistic of the wrong kind by allowing the differences in behaviour styles to upset your family gathering this year. 

Join my Saturday morning DISC Training School 9 to 11am. Email for details or book a call with me. Lets explore how you, your family, your workplace may benefit from introducing DISC.

I am the only DISC practitioner who blends DISC and Health. Let´s talk. Click here for more: https://linktr.ee/ElaineGodley

Elaine Godley MBA, O.A. Dip (Psych)
Voted Best Health and Wellbeing Mentor 2022 - UK

 Elaine lives in the Algarve, Portugal.  Her clients enjoy better health, greater mobility and reduced pain.

Through ‘at home’ laboratory blood tests, hair mineral tissue analysis, online metabolic testing and behaviour analysis, Elaine guides individuals on how to improve their health and wellbeing using nutrition, behaviour and lifestyle adjustments to reverse or avoid serious illness and disease.

For details of the Perfect 10 VIP Health Mentoring Programme and Team DISC Profiling contact elaine@discplus.health