Tag Archives: Christmas

4 ways to pick great gifts for your husbands personality

4 Ways to Pick Great Gifts for Your Husband’s Personality

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4 ways to pick great gifts for your husbands personality

I’ve long been fascinated with personality traits.  So much of what we do, how we react to certain situations, were based on predispositions.

When I was young, I’d hear, “She’s got a whole lot of personality!”  That was to say, I was strong-willed, hard headed and liked being right.

Some traits are learned.  Others are innate.

Taking various personality tests helped me understand how I was wired and how to build upon my strengths while improving my weaknesses.

What I love about this post and what Cheri Gregory does is she studies personalities for a living and tells us how to use that information to create and live the life we desire most.

And in this post, based on The Four Temperaments (take free quiz here), she shows you how to choose great gifts for your husband’s personality.

Until tomorrow…make it a great one!

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As newlyweds, Daniel and I made a point to relax together on the couch each evening.

While we caught up on each other’s day, I’d rub his neck, and he’d give me a foot massage.

One day about six months into our marriage, Daniel stopped mid-sentence, got a quizzical look on his face, and asked, “Do you prefer foot massages or neck rubs?”

“Neck rubs,” I responded, confused.

Then the light bulb went on.

I asked him, “Which do you prefer?”

Sure enough! 

“Foot massages,” he replied.

Armed with new knowledge, we switched: I started giving him foot massages, and he started giving me neck rubs.

We were happier on two levels.

As receivers, we were now getting what we most wanted. And as givers, we knew for certain that what we were giving was greatly valued.

 

Making the Personality Connection

Selecting Christmas gifts that match your husband’s personality type can give this same mutual satisfaction.

Gifts that connect with your husband’s personality goals and emotional needs are likely to be received as highly practical. And on a deeper level, they demonstrate your understanding and respect of who he is as a person.

Here are some quick guidelines and ideas to get started:

Sanguine: the Popular Personality

Goal:  Fun

Needs:  Attention and Approval

Gift Ideas: 

  1. Comedy DVDs to watch and laugh at together;
  2. Invitation for a “Mystery Trip” together (to a fun destination);
  3. A ridiculous gag gift.

Melancholy: the Perfect Personality

Goal:  Perfection

Needs:  Sensitivity and Order

Gift Ideas: 

  1. Organizational device for some area of disorder in the house;
  2. “Quiet Coupons” he can use when he needs silence and solitude;
  3. A book that combines key interests (i.e. the effect of music on the brain)

Choleric: the Powerful Personality

Goal:  Control

Needs:  Achievement and Appreciation

Gift Ideas: 

  1. The latest does-it-all gadget;
  2. An engraved pen and pencil set (for making and checking items off lists);
  3. A customized World’s Best Husband award

Phlegmatic: the Peaceful Personality

Goal: Peace

Needs: Self-Worth and Comfort

Gift Ideas: 

  1. A cushy beanbag chair or comfortable blanket for chillaxing;
  2. A CD of a favorite musician or genre of music;
  3. Coupons for “Movie Night” at home (complete with his favorite home-made snacks).

The One-Size-Fits-All Gift  

Write, print, and frame a list of things you love about your man.

  • If he’s Sanguine, be sure to include the ways he makes you smile and laugh.
  • If he’s Melancholy, list how he makes your life better.
  • For a Choleric, focus on all he does for you.
  • And for a Phlegmatic, note the ways he keeps you on an even keel. 

Personality Resources

  • Free eBook: Top 10 Priceless Gifts for Each PURSE-onality that Don’t Cost a Dime
  • Videos: “You’ve Got PURSE-onality!”
  • Audio:  De-LIGHT-full Giving in a Weighty World

What ideas would you add to these lists?

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5 Simple Steps to Reducing Stress this Holiday Season

5 Simple Steps to Reducing Stress This Holiday Season

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5 Simple Steps to Reducing Stress this Holiday Season

On Wednesday, when I sat down to write 7 Ways to Create a Stress-Less Marriage During the Holidays, I had no idea HWC contributor, Kim Hall, was writing this post.

As soon as I received her email letting me know this post had been written, I knew we had a series in the making.

Kim usually writes over at TooDarnHappy.com but when she guest posts here for us, I’m the one who is usually to darn happy.

I trust you had a beautiful Thanksgiving holiday, and hope this new HWC series will help usher in a holiday season filled with less stress and more love.

Until Monday…make it a great weekend!

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The Christmas season ought to overflow with peace, joy, and love.

Too often, however, it is overshadowed by stress and irritation at the towering pile of “to do” post-it notes and lists.

I want to encourage you that there is a simple solution though: P-E-R-C.

E-R-C stands for Eliminate, Reduce and Cope, and it’s a strategy I learned from Melissa at Whole 9 Life.  I later added the P, which stands for Protect.

Behind it is a simple and powerful principle of making intentional choices that respect your time, money, and relationships.

Here are five simple steps to reducing stress this holiday season:

1.  List everything you and your spouse can think of that you love, want, or are required to do: Gift giving, attending parties and events, mailing cards, etc.  You may need a calendar to keep track, especially if you have children in school.  Seeing the events on a calendar can be a powerful visual to help make decisions!

2.  Make a first pass and categorize everything with a P, E, R, or C.

Melissa describes the process:

Identify those you can Eliminate, those you could Reduce and those you must simply Cope with. Consider evaluating time, money and accepted obligations all at once; you may be able to eliminate or reduce more stress than you believed. (For example, if cleaning the house on your day off is a big stressor, consider revising your budget to hire a cleaning service. If you’ve accepted too many social requests, prioritize one or two that are the most important to you, and beg off the rest. They’ll forgive you, and you really can’t afford to take on any more right now.)

Protect, of course, is for those to-do’s that are a real joy for you, such as Family Tree Trimming Day or a Christmas Eve service.

This process may take more than one pass as you negotiate the sometimes choppy waters of guilt, pride, obligation, and finance on the good ship Compromise.

If you get stuck, create a Pro and Con list to help guide your decisions.  You can also ask yourself: Would I enthusiastically add this to my seasonal events if it wasn’t there already?

3.  Create a master list and/or calendar of the items you choose after going through this P-E-R-C process.  Creating the master list with your spouse allows you to put in writing what you will do and what he will do, allowing you to successfully divide and conquer.

4.  Find reasons to be grateful for the Cope items.  Intentional gratitude will help these items pass more quickly and joyfully, as opposed to responding with cries, criticism, and complaints, which will magnify your annoyance. Need help getting to grateful? Start here.

5.  Savor the season. :-)  Remember there will still be busyness, as well as obligations that aren’t exciting, but intentionally choosing how to spend your time and being grateful for everything will ultimately reduce stress and increase joy.  And really, isn’t that what we’d all like a little more of this holiday season?

 Question: How will you use P-E-R-C to help reduce stress this holiday season?

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