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1st June 2020 In Anxiety, Body, Emotional Intelligence, Mind, Personal Development, Spirit, Stress, Work Life Balance, Workplace Health

WFH Vol 5: Dealing with Life

Dealing with LIFE!

Life is what happened before COVID-19, and it will continue to happen after. This really short blog post will share a few points to consider when life does what it often does…

Do you ever think ‘Come on now Life, give me a break’?

Yeah me too…

Life is forever challenging, always testing. It seems that Life likes to give and then take away… Life can be a real sh*thead at times.

When everything seems to be going to plan it can suddenly go horribly wrong. But that’s ok. It’s nature. It’s part of the cycle, and something we have to accept because it’s when we fight life, life starts to hurt.

Don’t fight against life

Another word for this is acceptance. We hear it all the time but it doesn’t make it any easier to apply. So try this… If something has happened that you’d wish hadn’t, look at it with curiosity. Nod your head at it and say ‘Ok Life, so this is the next test!’. ‘What’s this one all about? Where’s the lesson?’

I encourage you not to say ‘I don’t want this to happen’, simply affirm what you’re going to do about it. I say this because the more we say what we DON’T want it, the more of it we get. Our attention stays in the place of the ‘thing’ we don’t want. We must set our sight forward. What DO you want? Doesn’t that feel better already?

Close your eyes

I don’t mean this literally.

When we’re going through the downtimes, the more we tend to look around, the more we see how well everyone else is doing. ‘They’ve all got their sh*t together, but not me’.

Looking at others takes your eye off the prize. It can disempower you by making you feel like a failure. BUT, please don’t be fooled by what your eyes show you.

Finally…

Know that you can, and will get past anything you may be going through right now.

How can you know? Because…‘You’ve already survived 100% of the sh*t life has thrown at you.’

Look, life isn’t meant to be easy all the time. Where would the fun be in that? Every emotion we have, positive, and negative was meant for us to feel. The joy, the happiness, the sadness, the pain. It’s all part of being human, it’s all part of the experience… Also, it’s impermanent just like life itself.

But remember, as soon as the fighting stops, the hurt loses its power, it loses its hold. Then it’s time to move past it and experience some of the good stuff.

To get the ball rolling, here are a few links to some FREE wellness practices to keep you active in the meantime;

For the mind:

Personal Development reading list

For the body:

10-minute breathwork session

Live On-demand Yoga

Fitness programme

For the spirit:

(Here is a little video that guided me on my path)

Ted Talk — Science and Spirituality

Insight Timer for meditation

NOTE: If you (like many) find keeping to your best intentions a little challenging at times, gamify it and reach out to a friend/accountability partner to keep you on the ball.

Any questions? Feel free to drop me a line; mason@projectmindwork.org

If you’re looking for something a little more robust to keep on top your physical and mental fitness; The Home 360º Programme

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27th April 2020 In Anxiety, Body, Emotional Intelligence, Health, How to, Mind, Personal Development, Spirit, Stress, Uncategorized, Work Life Balance, Workplace Health

WFH VOL4: The importance of Balance

Balance — Why is it so important?

Think about this… If work is going well, but your social life is non-existent and seeing your mates is important to you… how would you feel?

 (Actually, this probably isn’t the best example considering the current climate)…

Ok let’s say work is going well, social life is great, but you have poor health…. OR, health is good, social life is great, work is going to plan but you have a toxic relationship at home – how do you think that you will make you feel?

What I’m saying is that it’s extremely important to pay attention to all your life domains if you’re to experience a peaceful, stress-free mind. Most of us do one to two things:

The first — You focus solely on all things going well in your life and ignore the things that aren’t. Which in turn leaves you with that constant unsettled feeling in background that you may be able to shake off now and then, but it will always find its way back to the mind.

OR —  You’re the person who solely focuses on the single thing that seems to been going wrong, which causes you to feel like everything in life is ‘going-to- pot’… That one thing is having full domination of all your life’s domains.

So you see, either way, we need to have an awareness of what’s going in order for us to achieve a peaceful balanced mind. The longer we bury our heads in the sand to ignore that ‘thing’ we’re not wanting to face, the bigger it will grow, the harder it will be to confront and the more frequent it will come back to visit us until finally, it will force us to do something about it… and being forced to do anything isn’t the greatest way to handle a situation.

On the other side on the same coin, that one ‘thing’ having such a negative impact on all the other life domains needs to be put into perspective. What’s going well in your life? What will you do about that one thing holding you back from stepping into your power?

Below is a simple exercise called The Wheel of Life. It’s a great way to get a snapshot of the level of satisfaction you’re experiencing in each life domain.

Note: I’d encourage you to try and fill this out with pre-lockdown-life satisfaction in mind.

 

Wheel of Life Exercise

Completed Version –

Balance

/ˈbal(ə)ns/

noun

  1. an even distribution of weight enabling someone or something to remain upright and steady.

 

Allow your emotional state to be standing tall, upright, and steady. Gaining balance prevents overwhelm by giving you more control over your thoughts. It brings peace of mind and allows you to make better decisions… decisions that you’ve made by choice, in your own time, and from a calm place.

 

So how do we achieve balance, and peace of mind?

 

Step 1: Complete the wheel of life

The first step is to learn where the imbalance is. It may highlight a few unknowns, and it will for sure cause for action, but it will be well worth it. Of that I am certain.

 

Step 2: Put things into perspective

Put things into perspective and you may realise that it isn’t your life that’s not going well but in fact, just one thing that we can turn our attention to and aim to solve. Reduce the overwhelm by putting things into perspective. Allow yourself to acknowledge, reset, and start again from a place of understanding and calm.

 

Step 3: Be honest with yourself

We lie to ourselves way too often when we say things like… ‘I’m actually ok with ‘X’ not going so well at the moment, I have to focus on ‘Y’ right now’.

Please people, don’t fall into the trap of putting something off to focus on something else. Unless you’re truly ok with ‘X’ being how it is, do not ignore it. Face it head-on and your ‘Y’ will be a lot more enjoyable… along with everything else. Be honest with yourself as you will be the only person to suffer in the long run.

 

Use this time to find your equilibrium… Make balance be a post-lockdown goal.

 

To get the ball rolling, here are a few links to some FREE wellness practices to keep you active in the meantime;

For the mind:

Personal Development reading list

For the body:

10-minute breathwork session

Live On-demand Yoga

Fitness programme

For the spirit:

(Here is a little video that guided me on my path)

Ted Talk — Science and Spirituality

Insight Timer for meditation

NOTE: If you (like many) find keeping to your best intentions a little challenging at times, gamify it and reach out to a friend/accountability partner to keep you on the ball.

Any questions? Feel free to drop me a line; mason@projectmindwork.org

If you’re looking for something a little more robust to keep on top your physical and mental fitness; The Home 360º Programme

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13th April 2020 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Mind, Personal Development, Spirit, Stress, Work Life Balance

WFH VOL 3: Motivation

Keeping on top of your physical and mental wellbeing

 

VOL 1: Habits and VOL 2: Routine is about to be given the glue to help it all come together…

MOTIVATION, Such a big word, something that either comes in waves or doesn’t come at all. Something we all want more of but find it so so hard to maintain… Or do we? When does the need for motivation come into action? When we need to do something we don’t want to do. Right? Wrong! Everything needs motivation but many have just muddled up the order of priority.

We already have the motivation, lots of it. It’s just misplaced much of the time.

For example, how much motivation is needed to go to the pub after work on a Friday? Compare that to the amount of motivation that’s needed to go to the gym after work on a Friday. (which is the best time, as everyone else is in the pub). You see, you do want both of those things but going to the pub perceives to take little or no motivation. It’s become a habit/part of your weekly routine… Do you see where I’m going with this?

VOL1 and VOL2 of this WFH support blog covered the importance of habits and routines. Everything is about mindset, and with a slight mindset shift, you can literally change your life for the better. Let’s stick with the Pub Vs Gym analogy… You have attached the act of going to the pub with being easy and fun, and the act of going to the gym to be difficult and, well, just not fun. Let’s look at how you feel AFTER the pub… say on your way home or the next morning… how about when it’s a big one and you check your bank statement. Let’s compare this with how you feel once you leave the gym, a bit achy? yeah, but I bet you feel good. Proud that you made it, smug that you’re not in the pub? Imagine if this became part of your weekly routine, if the gym became a ‘good-habit’ and you started to see the weight coming off, the muscle definition coming through, the fitness levels improving? How motivated would you feel to continue this new you? I’d suggest that you’d be pretty motivated for your next gym session.

Motivation

/məʊtɪˈveɪʃ(ə)n/

noun

  1. a reason or reasons for acting or behaving in a particular way.

 

I once read somewhere, something along the lines of “At some point, the pain of not doing it becomes greater than the pain of doing it.”

What I take from this is that the short-term gratification will never offer you long term benefits i.e. deciding to be overweight and

unhealthy (Pub and snacks) Vs Deciding to in better shape and healthy (out of place/uncomfortable in the gym)

Think about the mental implications this can lead to also? Short-term insecurity Vs long-term self-loathing… I know, it’s harsh but I’m afraid it’s true. I have worked with many clients from both sides of the spectrum and the short-term insecurities never last long.

Anyway, I’ll shut up now and get onto the good part… How to get and stay motivated?

Step One: Look at the thing you want to achieve.

Have a goal in mind. Don’t be scared to make it big. Whether in fitness, business or personal development, have a goal in mind. We humans NEED direction. Like the saying goes ‘if you have no direction, you’re already there’.

Step Two: Find your motivation

Think of your ‘why’. Connect to your goal, connect to the future you. Keep that person with you at all times. Reminders on your phone is a good one.

Step Three: Light the fire

NEVER think about ‘the thing’ that needs to be done i.e. the going to the gym. ALWAYS think of the outcome i.e. the new body, the endorphin release, the pride. Visualise it.

Step Four: Change the relationship you have with the ‘thing’ you want to achieve

Remember motivation becomes easier once you change the relationship you have with that thing you’re wanting to achieve. The comfort zone becomes bigger, your repetitive behaviour will see to that for you.

A common mistake that many make is to look for something external to motivate them… maybe a video. The problem with this approach is that you’ll always be dependant on it. Be motivated by YOUR goals, they will always be there to give you that much-needed kick up the butt.

Step five: How to stay motivated.

You can’t… Well not to all things at all times anyway. I don’t think I’ve met a single human that has never had to dig deep and go through the steps again to get them back on it.

Falling off the wagon does not mean we can’t hop back on. People throw the towel in too early and confess that they’ve tried and failed. So if you fall off the wagon, just repeat the steps.

To get the ball rolling, here are a few links to some FREE wellness practices to keep you active in the meantime;

For the mind:

Personal Development reading list

For the body:

10-minute breathwork session

Live On-demand Yoga

Fitness programme

For the spirit:

(Here is a little video that guided me on my path)

Ted Talk — Science and Spirituality

Insight Timer for meditation

NOTE: If you (like many) find keeping to your best intentions a little challenging at times, gamify it and reach out to a friend/accountability partner to keep you on the ball.

Any questions? Feel free to drop me a line; contact@mindsetmason.com

If you’re looking for something a little more robust to keep on top your physical and mental fitness; The Home 360º Programme

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3rd April 2020 In Anxiety, Body, Health, Mind, Personal Development, Spirit, Stress, Workplace Health

Keeping on top of your mental and physical wellbeing

WFH VOL2: Routine

This word scares many of us, yet it’s a necessity for survival in one way or another…

Whether you’re a fan of routine or the very word gives you the shivers, THIS is the time to include one into your daily lives.

Week two completed — How are you feeling? Still holding in there? Whether you’re struggling with the lockdown or finding it ‘a walk in the park’, all this down-time can be used in such a way that you will emerge from this feeling confident, motivated, focused, recharged and ready to win at life. How? With a killer routine…

Week 3 is about to commence — As I mentioned in last weeks post about Habits, Routine is what will support your efforts and assist in these new behaviours forming into your new ‘good habits’. Ok so let’s assume you’re on board with this, you’re open to designing a lockdown-routine that will see you arise post-lowdown in peak physical, mental and spiritual shape…

I know I know, this probably won’t be the first time you’ve attempted to incorporate a routine into your life in the name of personal development — but this is for sure the first time you’ve attempted to incorporate a daily routine into your life during a global pandemic.

(Again, I have to do another shout out, but this time to the community spirit I’ve seen so much of. It’s a beautiful thing that I’m seeing so many exhibit…. Let’s just say that after the early days of the toilet roll stock-pilers, my faith in us humans wasn’t where it is today. So this is a mention to all those banding together, being considerate for the less fortunate and clapping outside their homes at 8 pm for the NHS.)

New times new you — Let’s design a routine;

Routine

/ruːˈtiːn/

noun

  1. A sequence of actions regularly followed.

Action — What are your current actions? Are they pushing towards your 360º approach to health (I go on a lot about health being a 360º thing i.e. Mind, body and spirit as you’ll probably figure out over the next coming weeks. I will go into more detail about why it’s important to pay attention to all three if we’re to truly experience fulfillment and happiness).

If there were to be only one thing I could give you take into the weeks ahead to consider when designing your routine, it’s this: PUT YOURSELF FIRST — Parents, please continue to feed your kids… What I mean by this is that it’s OK to do things for you, actually ‘OK’ isn’t the word, it’s NECESSARY. When you look after no:1, you’re in a much better position to look after no:2 and no:3 or however many numbers you have to look after.

When you’re feeling good, calm, stress-free and at peace, you’re able to give more, care more, nurture and support more, which is why it’s so important to ensure you’re fully charged if you’re wanting to make any kind of positive impact.

Ok with that said, I mentioned last week that I’ll be supporting you all by providing some of the fundamental tools and practices needed to get you through the next few weeks which will ensure an easy transition back to the ‘new version’ of normality.

I’ll be introducing new topics each week to cover a 360º approach to your wellbeing i.e. Your mind, body, and spirit. Next week we’ll be looking at Motivation, and how to find, and most importantly, how to keep it.

If you’d like to jump ahead and grab a free eBook that covers some of the things I’ll be touching on how to — Be your own Life Coach — simply follow the link. Re Routine, consider these 5 steps;

Step 1: Set yourself a goal that you’d like to achieve whilst in lockdown (and beyond)

Similar to step one in last weeks ‘Habits’ blog post, know what would your routine be geared towards. If your goal is to get overweight and finish Netflix’s library, then we know what would be needed for that… I’m hoping that’s not your goal. But find it, is it a financial goal, a fitness goal, an emotional goal or something else?

Step 2: Research the actions that will need to be taken to achieve the goal

Don’t be put off by the word research, it sounds like work because it is, but it’s working on you, which I’d suggest is the most important thing we should constantly be working on. Look at what others have done to reach the same goal (youtube is a great resource — after reading).

Step 3: Prioritise

Time to get real. You find that the higher the difficulty of any given task, the lower it may find itself on the to-do list. Visualise the outcome in order to know what your priority is. Feel the outcome, connect to it, live it. Then decide where your new goal fits on the hierarchy ladder.

Step 4: Diarise

Don’t go mad and put a crazy amount of tasks in your diary. That will only add stress to the stress. Let’s make this achievable and fun — Achievable does not mean easy — What needs to be replaced? Where will all these new good-habits fit into your daily routine?

Step 5: Mirror talk

It may sound a little silly but it’s been a game-changer for me. Take yourself to the mirror and have a word with the person looking back at you. Let them know why you want this, why it will work, and that together it’s already done.

Bonus Step: Accountability Partner

If you’re feeling brave, drop me an email with your goal and your new routine and I’ll check in on you to make sure we’re keeping on the wagon 🙂

I’m on contact@mindsetmason.com

To get the ball rolling, here are a few links to some FREE wellness practices to keep you active in the meantime;

For the mind:

Personal Development reading list

For the body:

10-minute breathwork session

Live On-demand Yoga

Fitness programme

For the spirit:

(Here is a little video that guided me on my path)

Ted Talk — Science and Spirituality

Insight Timer for meditation

NOTE: If you (like many) find keeping to your best intentions a little challenging at times, gamify it and reach out to a friend/accountability partner to keep you on the ball.

Any questions? Feel free to drop me a line; contact@mindsetmason.com

If you’re looking for something a little more robust to keep on top your physical and mental fitness; The Home 360º Programme

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29th March 2020 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Mind, Personal Development, Spirit, Stress, Uncategorized

Keeping on top of your mental and physical wellbeing

WFH VOL1: Habits

Easy to pick up, hard to put down…

We’ve now completed our first official week in lockdown, and it seems that most of us have survived it with our wits still intact. But, how are we all feeling about the week ahead — Week 2?

(Quick shout out to those in the NHS working their butts off to keep on top of this pandemic, and a further shout out to the wellness professionals offering free classes to keep us all moving while much of the world stands still.)

I expect that this week maybe a little more daunting, especially as we start to look forward and consider the likely possibility that the 3 week lockdown period will be extended. Fear not, it doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom, as bad as this thing is, it’s happening and if I’ve learned anything from my years of working with people in crisis is that acceptance is a powerful and useful tool.

We must accept that it’s happening, as we have no choice. However, we do have a choice as to how we wish to respond. Let us look at a few responses to the lockdown that I’ve heard over the last week:

“I’ve just been taking it easy, I like the extra time in bed and making the commute to the kitchen”

“I’ve had a few glasses of wine each night and catching up with friends via video call, it’s been nice”

“I’m going to need some more Netflix recommendations”

Do any of the above resonate?

We are in a time of crisis and I agree that we have to make ourselves feel calm and comfortable to keep our panic levels down, but on the other side of the same coin — when will your physical and mental fitness work its way back into/into your everyday life?

Surely you must have thought about it, and probably decided that this week (week 2) may be the week you start, if so, use this post as a reminder, if not, use this post as a sign that your wellbeing must take priority if you’re to get through this with minimal physical, and minimal emotional damage.

habit

/ˈhabɪt/

noun

1. A settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up.

See, even the definition says that they’re hard to give up. Solution? Don’t pick them up in the first place. Now is your opportunity to pick up the habits that will serve you well. Good Habits — Just as an FYI, this post isn’t just something to get you through the COVID-19 pandemic, this is the chance for you to literally decide and design the (elusive) version of yourself that you were looking for before this whole thing hit us.

So over the next few weeks, we’ll be supporting you by providing some of the fundamental tools and practices needed to get you through the next few weeks to ensure an easy transition back to the ‘new version’ of normality.

I’ll be introducing new topics each week to cover a 360º approach to your wellbeing i.e. Your mind, body, and spirit. Next week we’ll be looking at Routine, their importance, the benefits, and how to implement.

If you’d like to jump ahead and grab a free eBook — Be your own life coach — simply follow the link. Re your habits, consider these 5 steps;

An easy trick for this is to close your eyes and visualise your perfect day — What time do you get up, what do you have for breakfast, what does your morning routine look like. Do this for your week, and your month. How awesome is that you?

We’re talking habits, not addictions here although there can be a fine line. Habits can be ingrained into or subconscious, but bring mindful of them i.e. bringing them to the conscious mind is the first step to letting go of them.

A little NLP technique for you — Take your list of habits, and simply acknowledge when they arise. By having the awareness of when the habits arise/their triggers — we allow the conscious mind to beat the subconscious to the punch.

Go back to your perfect day exercise — What did you do regularly. What habitual behaviours did you exhibit and contribute to your day, week, and month?

Just to give you a clear distinction between the two — A habit is an action we do often in a regular and repeated way. Routine is a regular way of doing things in a particular order. The main difference between habit and routine is that habit is a recurrent with little or no conscious thought whereas routine requires a high degree of intention and effort

In the meantime, I encourage you to start this very moment — we have a lot more time on our hands and this is the very same time we’ve all been asking for since forever. If you’ve ever said ‘Only if there were more hours in the day’… now there is so use them well, use them wisely, use them in the name of personal development.

To get the ball rolling, here are a few links to some FREE wellness practices to keep you active in the meantime;

For the mind:

Reading list

For the body:

10-minute breathwork session (An amazing way to start your day)

Live On-demand Yoga

Fitness programme

For the spirit:

(Here is a little video that guided me on my path)

Ted Talk — Science and Spirituality

Live Meditation – Every Friday 07:30pm

App –  Insight Timer for meditation

NOTE: If you (like many) find keeping to your best intentions a little challenging. Gamify it and reach out to a friend/accountability partner to keep you on the ball.

Any questions? Feel free to drop me a line; contact@mindsetmason.com

If you’re looking for something a little more robust to keep your physical and mental fitness out; Check out The Home 360º Programme

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18th February 2020 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Personal Development, ROI in Wellbeing, Spirit, Stress, Work Life Balance, Workplace Health

Wellbeing “Hacks” for your company

Wellness aka Wellbeing… It’s way more than a hot topic. It is now an actual thing… a necessary thing.

But I guess the question is – to all my HR, L&D, Head of People people, Employers, and anyone else who’s been given the responsibility of looking after the health of your employees – What does wellness mean to you?

Do you believe there is real value in keeping your people well maintained and in good health? Let’s (for the sake of this post) say that you do agree with us and that looking after your teams will have a positive impact on all aspects of the company, including the bottom line – What are you currently doing for your employees?

Yoga?

Massage?

Workshops?

All, none, or some of the above? What’s the engagement like? Were the offerings asked for by the employees or did you just give it to them? Finally, is your company one of those that has a ‘Wellbeing Day/week or even month’ and offer nothing else for the rest of the year?

I realise I’m asking a lot of questions here, but I’m hoping that these same questions may start being asked internally.

Yes, I know, It’s true… There may not be instant gratification for the leaders, c-suite, or shareholders, etc and it may take a minute or two to see it’s true value, HOWEVER, there is now proof, actual hard data, real evidence that investing (properly investing) in wellness programmes will allow your company to enjoy an ROI as this one-of-many studies suggest. 

Going back to the barrage of questions I asked; Many companies may call a wellness provider in to deliver some wellness stuff without knowing what wellness actually is, or may simply wish to tick a box. We encourage you not to be those guys.

True wellness is a 360º thing, i.e. mind, body, and spirit. Mental, physical and spiritual health (more on spiritual health in the near future) needs to be addressed if we are serious about making a real positive impact. Mind Work believes that the ‘Mind Matters Most’ which is why we encourage companies like yours to initiate any wellness solution by having a better understanding of where your employees’ minds are at.

 

No need to panic as there are a few simple mini-hacks for companies of all sizes to implement starting from next week:

 

Hack 1:

Hold more 1:1’s and mean it. By ‘mean it’, I mean the line managers need to show up i.e. ask the right questions and really listen to the answers. We all just want to be heard right? True communication is a fundamental component for your employees to feel that they are valued.

 

Hack 2:

Internal Comms – Simply send out emails suggesting wellness/stress combatting articles. Some may read them, some not, but it brings the topic up, shows you’re aware that people may be suffering in silence… It shows that you actually give a sh*t.

 

Hack 3:

Simple but effective – Surveys. Again, be sure to ask the correct questions if you’re wanting the results to genuinely reflect the wellbeing or your employees. Gear the results towards the physical and mental health of your teams, not towards performance and company culture.

 

 

If you have any questions, please feel free to get in contact: mason@projectmindwork.org

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22nd July 2019 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Mind, Personal Development, Spirit, Stress, Work Life Balance, Workplace Health

Start the work

Here we are again, another week at work. Despite how you’re feeling this morning, being here at work is actually a good thing, and among all the challenges we face here day-day, I encourage you all to be grateful. Now I’m not saying to be thankful for the difficult people and conversations that you may face, or for you to be happy about the workload and the late-night you may have to pull to send it off. Nor am I asking you to enjoy the anxiety and stress that builds up all too frequently. But, just to acknowledge the simple fact you have a job that you’re being paid to do it, and of course, not to forget you have the ability to leave if you wish… Yep, I know that last one is pretty loaded but ultimately it’s the truth.

That being said, although you can get up and walk out if you like, that’s not what I’m suggesting here. Leaving your job is a conversation for a whole other blog post, one which would include buzz words such as ‘values’, ‘purpose’, ‘fulfilment’ and all that good stuff – But for now, we’ll keep on topic.

I have an idea to offer you that can be used to make the job less of a struggle. We all have bills to pay, which means working/having a job is a must (So let’s just accept that for now)… but before doing others work i.e. the type that is supposed to take place between 9-5 but always ends up being later – the real work needs to be done on one’s self.

That’s correct, what I’m talking about here is self-work/personal development. After all, if we spend most of our waking day working for someone else, does it not make sense that the rest should be spent working on ourselves? Invest in yourself and watch your stock grow!

Why do I need personally develop? I hear you say. In my humble opinion, it’s through personal development that true happiness and more importantly ‘fulfilment’ is found. So if our days consist of work followed by television, the pub, oh and a visit to the gym a couple of times a week to make ourselves feel better – then, of course, we’ll eventually hit the ‘Unhappy Wall’… Hard!

If you’re not looking after your mind, body and spirit (yes spirit) then work life will have a larger negative impact than necessary. I touched on this in last weeks post in Step 3 – but thought I would try and encourage you to take it a little further and approach your personal development as THE most important aspect of your life, after all, if you’re top of your game you’ll be of better service to everyone, both inside and out of the office. 

Personal development can be anything from improving a talent you already have or learning a new one, aiming for your potential, swapping negative habits and thought patterns for positive ones. It can be something simple like time management and finding a routine that serves you… for routine, a book named THE MIRACLE MORNING is a game-changer.

My question to you is ‘What do you currently do in the way of self-improvement?’ Or maybe you don’t need to improve, maybe you’ve got it all sussed out and happy to be exactly the same person you are today until the end of time? If so then I’ve wasted your time and you may discontinue reading now, BUT if you have the self-awareness to realise that some work could be done, then let’s focus on that.

When we decide to work on ourselves, external situations become less important, have less control over us, it loses its power. You become your prime objective, you are your no:1 motivation, and almost bulletproof to all the BS that we often see around us. 

The problem with ‘self-work’ is that many see it as exactly that – ‘Work’. The truth is, it’s unlucky that it will happen overnight, or even over 2 nights… studies say that it takes 66 days for a new habit to become a behaviour, but what’s 66 days out of a lifetime? Another great thing is that you do not need to go through this change alone. There are plenty great coaches out there (Myself being one of them – visit www.mdr-coaching.com for more info) that help clients stick to their goals, overcome their challenges and to hold them accountable to ensure success.

The brain is plastic, (not literally) The brains plasticity refers to the brain’s ability to change throughout life. The human brain has the amazing ability to reorganise itself by forming new connections between brain cells (neurons). Therefore allowing us to lose habits and behaviours that may have been great 10 years ago but no longer serve us.

So in conclusion, please don’t let your life revolve around your work, your work MUST revolve around YOU. In order to take control of your life, you must build a relationship with yourself, your mind, your thoughts and your actions. Be active, not reactive, be the cause, not the effect.

Wishing you all a lovely week. 

Until then, Ciao for now.

If you have any questions on anything discussed, please don’t hesitate to get in contact.

Contact me direct via mason@projectmindwork.org   

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14th July 2019 In Anxiety, Body, Health, How to, Mind, Personal Development, Stress, Workplace Health

Less stress in 3 simple steps

Lovely people! If you’ve read my last few posts, you’ll know that I’ve made my thoughts pretty clear on what ‘wellbeing-at-work’ really is and should be – especially as I am seeing more and more that ‘employee wellness’  is being disguised with or replaced by a half-hearted ‘one-off wellbeing day’ or ‘one-off wellbeing week.’ What will a short term wellbeing initiative achieve, not sure?!

Anyway, it’s Monday, YAY! Another week of early starts, ‘motivating meetings, juicy deadlines, exciting emails, time-saving lunches at the desk, office politics, lovely late nights in the office…all the ‘delights’ of corporate life!

How does this make you feel? Totally fine, I hope. Or does it bring on that knotty feeling in the gut…you know the one! Or does your chest start tightening, and maybe you’re little short of breath and your mind is racing? Some would call this anxiety!

Ok, so I know this is all a bit heavy for a Monday morning, but I can assure you, it doesn’t all have to be doom and gloom. I will help those feeling the fear by planting a few seeds that will grow into feelings of calm, peace, acceptance –  making the rest of the week (almost) a doddle.

How though? I currently work with people on a one-one basis or in a team scenario to reduce (in the aim of elimination) the stresses and anxiety levels that many experience on a daily basis and not just on a Monday, the whole week, month, year.  We work together to find simple ways in which de-stressing practices can be assimilated into your average day without any dramatic changes needing to be made.

Before I go into the practices that are designed to make your (let’s say) week a little easier, I’d really like to emphasise the point that those feelings of stress and anxiety are NOT normal, they are NOT part and parcel of a job and they should NOT be accepted as so.  We often hear clients say things like ‘…yeah I’m stressed, buts that’s normal.’ This mindset is dangerous and a fundamental cause of the increase in avoidable mental health issues.

This mindset keeps us holding on to ‘little stresses’ that may seem so minor, or little that you think you can deal with easily. But, all of these little minor stresses got stored. They are the straws piling up eventually breaking the poor camels back. Don’t be the camel.

So, here are three easy steps to make the week a little more, erm…. for now, let’s just say manageable.

  

Step 1

Is to mindfully acknowledge the feeling of stress. recognise it, tell yourself  “it’s ok,” sit with it for a bi,t and understand that whatever the external cause was, it’s now your choice on how you deal with it.

You have a few options. You can let the stress lead the way and dictate a response (which 9 times out of 10 is an emotional one), or you can bring a little calm back to the mind, logically think about the situation that’s causing the stress. If it is something you have to do… either do it or don’t. All the stressing in the world won’t change the outcome. If it is something that has already happened,  it has already happened. You can amp up your stress x10 if you like, but I c guarantee it will not resolve anything. So, you choose how you wish to proceed.

The list of possible stress triggers to some may be obvious or if I listed them here, would be too long and stressful for some to read, but the same principle remains.

The mindful acknowledgment of our stresses is a powerful tool. It allows more control over our actions, our reactions. This positive behaviour change will be noticeable almost immediately. It reduces the size of the ‘thing’ that would usually trigger the stress, but most importantly it will reduce the amount of time your body/mind spends in stress-mode, and lessen the risks from the myriad of health symptoms that stress can lead to.

For more on this, have look back on my post from a couple of weeks ago.

 

Step 2

It is all about you, it really is. So step 2 is – ‘time for YOU’. Why wait until the pressure is unbearable before you decide that you need to step outside and take a breather? Try setting a reminder for a 5-10 minute break every 90 – 120 minutes.

You will be amazed at the increase in focus and productivity this brings. Give your mind a break, just like you would need to sit down after running around for hours on end, don’t make your brain do all this leg work without any break, let it take a seat before you put it back on the treadmill.

Remember, this is your mental health we’re talking about, so it’s not to be taken lightly.  Here, Debbie Hampton discussed this beautifully ‘Why you need to give your brain a break‘

 

Step 3

Dare I encroach on your personal ‘out-of-office’ time? I do because this really is where the magic happens, but also where a little graft is needed. At Mind Work, our ethos is the ‘Mind Matters Most’, and we all need to understand that it must be treated as so if it’s to be kept fit and healthy.

What’s your meditation? Find it. Sitting in quiet crossed legged for periods of time has tremendous benefits, but let’s just take it one step at a time. Find your meditation, find your zen, walk in a park, workout, read something that makes you feel good, build that brain muscle. Going home and watching junk TV like Love Island is literally like taking a dump in your head. Avoid this.

We always hear the term ‘you get out, what you put in’ the mind is no different. I encourage you to think about this seriously. This also means that what goes in needs to come out, like pretty much everything else. So I’m sorry to say that a trip to the pub won’t do you any favours in clearing out the mental negative-junk that your poor brain has consumed throughout the day.

Everyday stresses are stored, and they build up gradually without you noticing, and by the time we do realise we’re stressed/ anxious or unhappy, we’re often already in the hole with an uphill to climb ahead of us.

Look, I have helped many people out of some really deep holes, so if you feel that’s where you are then fear not because it is impermanent. I promise, there is a way out and it is within your power to get you there.  However, prevention is better than cure right? Why wait for the shit to hit the fan before you start taking steps to improve your mental health, to personal development, to being able to live a happier, better-balanced life?   

 

Make the decision to make the change and look into employing these three simple practices into your days. So, lets recap:

Step one

Mindfully acknowledge the stress/anxiety. Sit with it, understand its cause, react with rational thought.

Step two

Give yourself a mental break. Rest the brain often, avoid overworking the mind.

Step three

Find your meditation out of the office – take your mindfulness home with you, find your release, not your suppressant.

 

Wishing you all a less stressful week ahead. If you have any queries, please do not hesitate to get in contact.

You can email directly via mason@projectmindwork.org

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8th July 2019 In Anxiety, Body, Health, Mind, Personal Development, Stress, Work Life Balance, Workplace Health

Who’s to blame – Employers or Employees?

So this is officially a weekly word from Me the founder of Mind Work… I’ll mainly be talking about wellbeing (obviously), but also touching on the daily challenges many of us face, the questions we have around them, and most importantly, ways we can navigate through this (sometimes overwhelming) thing we call life.

Last weeks post was kind of a mini-rant where I touched on what I thought was wrong with the way we approach Wellbeing at work. Although the topic is on the radar for most companies in the west, it is taking its time in becoming ingrained into the culture of the workforce.

But my question is… If we had to lay the blame – because everybody like to point the finger – Who is guilty for the lack of attention given to the physical and mental wellbeing of us all?

The Employer – Or the employee?

The employer, employs to make the company profitable right? Right! Their ideal aim would be to have the strongest team firing on all cylinders all of the time. Yes? Because a company can (and often is) be referred to as a machine. So why the hell does the employers not consider the maintenance of the machine, to be the MOST important aspect of ensuring its performance?

So I’ve got a little analogy – Imagine your boss is driving home from work after announcing a new project deadline to an already tired team (something we hear A LOT at Mind Work) and their petrol light comes on. What do they do? They give the car fuel, they ensure it’s got what it needs to go, to move, to perform.

You get the picture, and this is quite a nice segue to the other party who may be responsible…

The Employee –

Taking it back to the car thing… What is the difference between the machinery and the employees? Well, the car lets its boss know when it’s needing something, oil, water, petrol, etc. Now I’m not suggesting you ask your bosses to pour you a drink, but if you’re allowing yourself to burn out without having the conversation… who is to blame?

For me, this goes across the board. You or I may be feeling fine and in tip-top condition, but if our collogues are struggling, it’s our duty to bring this up, and NOT use it as an opportunity to climb the ladder. Not use it as a chance to compare ourselves thinking how in control we are because I can tell you… Burn out, chronic stress, depression… it can get us all. 

So, what do I suggest? Something that we all know how to do… Talk! But the caveat is to talk honestly, and bravely, to your peers, your colleagues, your bosses, anyone. Just start talking about it. Plant the seed. It may not be for you directly but with the 85% are experiencing a clearly recognisable level of worry regularly, there are a number of people you work with that you’ll be helping.

So before you go off and start the much-needed conversations. I have another question – That I guess (for now) is rhetorical as you can’t reply is – Do we even know what mental health is?

I’m not so sure as many still believe that if we’re not hearing voices that tell us to do things or feel like jumping off a bridge, then we can just put it down to a bit of a mood. If someone is quiet at work and unengaged it may be thought that ‘He/she just doesn’t have the motivation.’  – And with that being the narrative of a large amount companies in this day and age, then it’s no wonder that He/She doesn’t feel too comfortable sharing the fact that the “lack of motivation” actually stems from something a little deeper than just a lull job satisfaction.

I’ll leave it there from now, but in essence – and of course, these are just my views that some may agree or disagree with. What’s important is that we give this topic the respect it deserves.

Have a lovely week.

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30th June 2019 In Anxiety, Body, Health, Mind, ROI in Wellbeing, Stress, Workplace Health

How To Run A Marathon… With Just A Days Training!

It sounds almost impossible, doesn’t it? Well, it kind of is. Yet many companies (of all sizes) seem to take this approach to their employees’ wellbeing… more specifically, their employees’ mental health.

Wellbeing has been a hot topic over the last few years and it has lead, no forced, companies to include some kind of wellness activity/event into their “culture”. We have seen a rise in ‘Wellbeing days’ once a quarter… Or maybe even a cheeky ‘Wellbeing week’… once or twice a year. This is NOT enough… it’s like trying to run a marathon with just a days training. Or going to the gym overweight and leaving with a six-pack. As I said, this is just not enough.

Ok, we get it, a lot of companies still have that old systematic approach to business ingrained into their DNA, but where are all the visionaries? The forward thinkers that understand that your workforce is the most important commodity if you want to run a sustainable, and profitable business?

We feel that wellbeing needs to be included in the budgets, right up there next to the marketing and sales spends. The investment is sound too… a proven ROI of 3:1 on a correctly implemented wellbeing programme means that there are no more excuses.

Workplace stress is the 21st century’s greatest health epidemic, and avoidable work-related stress is not only causing problems with our physical and mental health, but problems that we take home and allow to infect our personal lives, and those we care about. Stress at work leaves many of us feeling unhappy. So why only 9% of the global workforce has access to wellbeing programmes baffles me. Financial compensation is no longer enough.

We have somehow come to accept our own stress, deeming it a part of life. Normal. Now I’m not trying and scare anyone but if we just take a second to look at the symptoms that stress can cause, it may highlight the severity and magnitude of what we’re dealing with here…

First, there are the Physical Symptoms;

Low energy, headaches, diarrhoea, constipation, nausea, aches, pains, insomnia, frequent colds and infections, loss of sexual desire and/or ability, nervousness and shaking, ringing in the ear, cold or sweaty hands and feet, dry mouth and difficulty swallowing, clenched jaws and grinding teeth.

Then the Cognitive Symptoms;

Constant worrying, racing thoughts, forgetfulness, and disorganisation, the inability to focus, poor judgment, being pessimistic or seeing only the negative side… none of which are great in a working environment.

Also the Behavioural Symptoms;

Changes in appetite — either not eating or eating too much, procrastinating and avoiding responsibilities, increased use of alcohol, drugs, or cigarettes, exhibiting more nervous behaviours, such as nail-biting, fidgeting, and pacing… you get the picture. 

IT HAS TO STOP!

… And they were just the short term symptoms, and don’t get me wrong, a little stress every now and then is not something to be concerned about. But ongoing, chronic stress (which many cases are) however, ups the ante with the problems such as these bad boys;

The Chronic Stress Symptoms;

Depression, anxiety, and personality disorders, cardiovascular disease, heart disease, high blood pressure, heart attacks, strokes, obesity and other eating disorders, menstrual problems, sexual dysfunction, skin and hair problems, such as acne, psoriasis, eczema, permanent hair loss, gastrointestinal problems, Accelerated ageing and Premature death!

Basically, this sh*t can kill you.

WE SPEND 1/3 OF OUR LIVES WORKING…. Arguably our best years too, so isn’t it fair that our employers make those years as enjoyable as possible? Yes? No? Or should we all hate Mondays and love Fridays? Could more focus one wellbeing be the answer?

Most wellness companies are in fact ‘wellness platforms’ – Unlike the straight biometric screening or coaching companies, the leading market vendors offer web-based platforms and mobile apps to help deliver and administer their programs.

We get it, it’s so they can scale…  but as amazing as the 21st-century digital world is, it cannot match the human need for a hug or a handshake i.e Technology is unable to replace the benefits made with human interaction.

Imagine a world where companies understood the importance of wellbeing, imagine what the environment would be like to work in. Less stress, less tension, less short fuses. What would home life look like… social circles? Imagine what it would do for humanity!!!

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