Eva-Maria: Surviving Xmas With Teens

 Read more from Eva-Maria here.

Well, well...it's that time of year again, isn't it!

WOW!

Lately, my inbox has been overflowing with people's feedback and comments about the upcoming festive season! A large thank you to everyone who has written in asking for more ideas on mixing teenagers and Xmas!

In fact, so many of you wrote in, that I decided to do something very special about it...

25 Day Countdown of Tips of Surviving Xmas With Teens!

Yup!

That's right!

Starting December 1st, we will be counting down the 25 biggest tips on how to survive these holidays, get your teens involved, and on top of all of that: do this without stress! I will be getting help with some of my trusty friends - teens and adults, so none of this would be possible without teamwork of course!

It's absolutely free to receive these tips - just head to www.eva-maria.co.nz and sign up on the Home Page!

We will be getting some media, and social marketing out about these tips, but it'll be great to make sure you friends and family know all about this countdown before it's too late! :)

And so, to start off with some pre-Christmas Tips, here is one tip that has appeared in some international media this past year, and has attracted by far the most feedback and comments I've received on any published work outside of my first book 'You Shut Up!'.

No kidding - in 2009 literally almost 1,000 of comments and feedback flooded my inbox and mailbox, just because of this article alone!

Thank You, Everyone.

And now, I would love to hear what you think of it...

So today's 'tip' (might I add, is applicable to any situation where a teenager is concerned) is called, simply: You Shut Up!

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YOU SHUT UP!

Gen Y are lazy. Gen Y are selfish. To understand Gen Y, you have to put yourself in their shoes and ask: “What’s in it for me?”
 
In recent years, the subject of Gen Y, and inter-generational relationships has been a popular and booming subject among businesses.
 
Sure, the younger generations in your workforce may have a different approach and mindset to every day ‘work’. But businesses are tired of hearing the broken record of younger generations being ‘selfish’ and ‘lazy’. They’ve heard it all before, and aren’t interested to hear more about them – they want to know what to do to get the different generations in line, and keep their productivity and efficiency levels up.
 
I won’t bore you with the theories of younger generations. I know relationships are hard to build, especially inter-generational ones.

But you know, I’m feeling positive today, and I hope you are too – today may be the start of something special. I’m going to tell you an insight and absolutely successful technique that anyone can use to actually improve a relationship between generations. Actually, not only can it improve a relationship, but the true value is that by using it, any situation can result in a win-win situation (as in no one is left with the short stick!) – both sides get what they want! Cool, huh?

Whether it’s between you and a youngster in your team, or between an elderly crew member and their manager who might as well be their son – this, one of many of my concepts are all applicable between generations.

I think relationships are always a two-way street, so it doesn’t matter who uses this simple tip, when, or where. The important thing is that at the end of the day, generational conflict in your workplace will slowly thin out to be a myth.
 
At school, we got taught that the hardest skill for a human being was to listen. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing!! And over the years, I met people who found it both easy and hard to simply listen to one another, but one thing was certain: when you DO listen, the power of it can really amaze you. So here are my 2 cents of the day:
 
You Shut Up - Everyone loves to be heard.

Next time you’re talking to someone, or even if there is an argument or misunderstanding, no matter how badly you want to speak over the other person, yell, scream or add your 2 cents in, take a breath and hear them out first. One of the following things may happen:

a) You may hear a story that can change your mind about what you were just about to say

b) They may blurt out some silly heat-of-the moment comment that you can share at dinner tonight

c) You would have given them the right of speech before you. This means they will immediately make a mental note of this, so when they’ve finished, they will subconsciously be inclined to listen to you without interruption. At the end of the day, you’re prepping your colleagues to let them listen to you, by psychologically respecting their right to speak.

And now, I'll Shut Up....

I hope I've given everyone something to think about..... for now! :)

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See you at the countdown!

Eva-Maria
<3

'Surviving Xmas With Teens'
www.eva-maria.co.nz

Published 27th Nov 2009

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