Unhijack Your Holidays: Quiet Your Saboteurs and Strengthen Your Sage
- Meri Stockwell
- Nov 5
- 3 min read
Ever notice how easily the holidays turn into a mental obstacle course?
"I’ll relax when this project is done."
"I’ll enjoy myself once the house is ready."
"I’ll be happy when everything slows down."
The problem is: it rarely slows down.
As a business and talent strategist and a Qualified Positive Intelligence Coach, I have learned — in my life and with my clients — that:
Happiness isn’t earned after chaos. Happiness is created during chaos.
And nothing exposes our internal patterns more than the holiday season.
The Real Source of Holiday Stress
(Spoiler: it’s not your calendar)
Your stress doesn’t come from:
the extra events
the family dynamics
the year-end pressure
It comes from your Saboteurs — the internal voices that hijack your thoughts and emotions.
Maybe you’ll recognize some of mine:
The Controller: “If I don’t handle it, it won’t get done right.”
The Hyper-Rational: “Feelings slow us down.”
The Stickler: “It must be perfect.”
These voices convince us that peace is possible only after we finish everything.
But Positive Intelligence research shows something different:
You are unhappy when Saboteurs are running your mind. You are happy when your Sage is leading.
Your Sage is calm, grounded, curious, creative, compassionate, and able to see possibility instead of pressure.
Happiness Is Not About Your Circumstances.
It’s About Your Emotional Mode.
Ask yourself this question:
“Was I happy in the last 24 hours?”
Your answer isn’t based on achievement. It’s based on the emotions you experienced.
Saboteur Mode feels like:
Stress
Guilt
Frustration
Overthinking
Judgment
Sage Mode feels like:
Presence
Curiosity
Joy
Compassion
Ease
The moment you shift into Sage, your emotional state — and your happiness — follow.
Why Achievements Don’t Create Lasting Happiness
Research from Positive Intelligence and positive psychology shows:
We all have a baseline level of happiness.
Achievements create temporary spikes.
Challenges create temporary dips.
But we return to our baseline.
Happiness doesn’t rise with success. Happiness rises with mental fitness.
You Can Rewire Your Brain for More Happiness
Your baseline happiness level is determined by the ratio of:
Saboteur strength vs. Sage strength
Strengthen Sage and you:
Get hijacked less frequently
Recover faster when stress hits
Experience more daily joy
Same holiday.Different brain.Different experience.
Try This Right Now (10 seconds)
Rub your fingertips together and focus only on sensation.
Temperature
Texture
Movement
That's called a PQ Rep.
It interrupts the hijack and activates Sage.
Presence > Pressure
Imagine a holiday season with…
Less stress
Less guilt
Less perfectionism
And more:
Presence
Peace
Joy
You deserve that.
Your family deserves that.
Your team deserves that.
Holiday Saboteur Reset — 50% HOLIDAY SAVINGS
Available through December 1, 2025
Individual Holiday Reset Package
✔ Complimentary Saboteur Assessment
✔ Seven-week Positive Intelligence program (app based)
✔ One private one-to-one coaching session with Meri
✔ Personalized action plan for the holiday season
Save 50% when you register before December 1.
👉 Start here: https://formrobin.com/f/vjoypgw
✅ Onboarding flow:
Complete the form at the link above.
Within 24 hours receive the Saboteur Assessment link via email.
After the assessment is completed, you will receive a payment link to finalize enrollment and get app access.
Once payment is processed, your PQ app access and coaching session scheduling link are sent.
Team Holiday Saboteur Reset Session
(Custom pricing based on team size and goals)
Complimentary Saboteur Assessments for the team
Live facilitated reset session
Grounding tools to reduce year-end stress
Optional January reset session
You cannot control the holiday chaos. You can control your internal experience of it.
About Meri M. Stockwell
Meri M. Stockwell, MBA, CSP, CEP, is a business and talent strategist, certified Predictive Index Partner, and Qualified Positive Intelligence Coach. She helps leaders see people clearly and align talent to strategy so organizations perform at their best. Known as a trusted advisor to executives and teams, and mentor to hundreds of leaders around the globe, Meri blends behavioral science, mental fitness, and practical leadership tools to build teams that click and results that stick.
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