Holiday Stress Starts Before the Holidays: How to Set Boundaries & Protect Your Mental Health |PIX11

Holiday stress doesn’t start in December. For many of us, it begins weeks (or even months!) before the holidays arrive. I joined PIX11’s New York Living Well to discuss why holiday stress starts earlier than we think and share practical strategies to set boundaries, manage expectations, and protect your mental health before the season gets into full swing. In this segment, we discuss: 🎄 Start early: Don’t wait until you’re overwhelmed to think about boundaries and expectations. 💛 Focus on what you CAN control: You can’t control other people’s expectations, reactions, or family dynamics, but you can control how you respond. ✨ Protect your time and energy: You don’t have to say yes to every invitation, obligation, or tradition. 🧠 Shift your mindset: Remember, two things can be true. You can love the holidays AND find them stressful. 🙌 Give yourself permission: You can do things differently this year, even if you’ve always done them a certain way. The goal isn’t to eliminate holiday stress. It’s to develop the tools to navigate it without sacrificing your well-being. As I share in my book, When Life Happens: The Mindset Shift You Need to Manage Stress, Build Confidence, and Break Free, it’s not about controlling everything that happens around us. It’s about learning how to respond when life happens. 📚 Get my book, When Life Happens: https://whenlifehappensbook.com/ 🌐 Website: https://www.drrachelnyc.com/ 📱 Connect with me: Instagram: @drrachelnyc 📺 Thank you to PIX11 and New York Living Well for having me! #HolidayStress #SettingBoundaries #MentalHealth #DrRachelGoldman #WhenLifeHappens #PIX11 #StressManagement #HolidayMentalHealth