4 Tips to Keep Your Cool When Asked "What do you do?" (At A Holiday Event)

During the holidays, we come together to reconnect with friends and family to break bread. And with any event, a typical question of “What do you do (again)?” will pop-up. So how do we deal with this without losing our cool?

Here are 4 tips to guide you through this holiday season to help make things a little bit less dreary. 

1.  Prep - Identify who you may be avoiding & why. Take a moment to jot down on a piece of paper of who they are and why. This will give you the chance to be honest with yourself. We all have a few friends & relatives that we avoid because we’re not ready to talk to them quite yet (including me). It’ll help you mentally prepare and boost your confidence before the event.

2. Reflect & Reframe- Take a moment to jot down what you've been up to work-wise (the good, the bad, etc.). From that list, highlight (or star) things that have been going well for you at work. If you’re still in school and you’re reluctant to share your chosen major, keep it broad by sharing a class you like and that you’re taking the time to enjoy what you’re learning. If you’re currently working and it's been hard, and you’re looking to change paths, take the time to identify what makes it stressful and where are you hoping to go next. (Might as well make it a networking moment!)

3. Find a Buddy - Pick someone who will be your main person to have your back. Sharing with them which relative or friend might be hard to talk to this time and planning out an exit strategy will hopefully make things less stressful! You’ll get a chance to check in with the person—as emotions run high during holiday events. We’re all human and it’s nice to know that there will be someone who will have your back.

4. Breathe - This is the most important tip! Breathe before starting the conversation, during the conversation, and after. And I’m not talking about short shallow breaths, but deep inhales and exhales. Short breaths activate our flight or fight mode and let’s not get into what could happen... 

Do you have any tips that work for you? Let me know if you tried any of the tips and how it went! Today is the perfect day to start prepping. What are you waiting for?