It’s December, the festive season for many around the world.  

It’s the time of year when you feel warm inside and listen to Christmas carols 24/7 (or is it just me?). It’s the season when you want to be nice to yourself and just give in. Have that extra glass of wine. Have that extra piece of cake. 

But there’s another side to Christmas; dealing with family drama. Maybe you’re arguing with your spouse about which side of the family you should spend Christmas Eve and Boxing Day with. Perhaps the fight is with your separated parents. Maybe you’ll have to drive for hours and hours (maybe even take a flight?) just to try and keep everyone happy. Maybe you’re dreading seeing Uncle Bob, who’s always got something nasty to say about your life choices. And what about Auntie Claire, who will, as usual, be asking when you’ll be getting married, having a kid, buying a house, being promoted, getting a kidney transplant, etc. 

Worry no more. 

At ECRUU, we’ve put together a very special Christmas survival guide to help you through the tough times. The good news is that you only need to do TWO things. 

Survival tip #1 – Take your pick and leave the rest  

At ECRUU, our mandate is to keep you on top of the sugar and ethanol news that is available for free on the Internet. 

There’s A LOT of news out there, and sometimes people complain that there’s just too much. “You should stick to reporting on big countries like Brazil and India. Do you really have to put news on Fiji/Uganda/Guyana etc?” we hear. 

The thing is, yes, we do. We have clients who only care about Fiji/Uganda/Guyana etc and not so much about the ‘big guys.’ 

So we tell these people (whom we love very much!) to ignore what is not useful and only pay attention to what is for them. 

The same applies to your brother, Jo. Take the good stuff (you know there is some good stuff, buried deep down) and let go of the rest. Everything, and everyone, becomes so much more enjoyable like this. 

Survival tip # 2 – Focus on your strengths  

Whether you’re like us and selling a subscription service, selling sugar, or even just yourself and your talent inside a company, it’s not easy. There is always someone who wants you to be, or do, something differently. 

Many people have expectations that, sometimes, don’t align with what we want for ourselves, with who we are, or with what we do. It’s nothing personal; that’s just how human beings work. 

At ECRUU, for instance, we’re often asked to add analysis or conferences to our media monitoring service. We take the feedback into account and then decide whether it’s useful. Overall, our strategy is to focus on our strengths; finding sugar news from all over the world and intelligently summarising it. We prefer to focus on one thing and do it really well. 

So the next time your cousin Beth tells you that you’d be more successful if only you changed this or that, just remember to focus on your strengths. 

ECRUU wishes all their readers a happy Christmas holiday season and a happy New Year. 

Oh, and if you’re worried about catching up on all the sugar stuff once you’re back from holidays, we’re here for you!