This post is all about mental health, and how you can become an ambassador for it. This is something that I really believe in, and a lot of our talks and the content that we produce is all about mental health because it’s a fundamental aspect of our health. If we don’t have that, it’s very difficult to have good physical health, emotional health, spiritual health. One of the ways that we can promote more of this is at work, there are lots of talks about mental health at work, but has it got teeth and what does this really mean?
What I’d encourage you to do is become the mental health ambassador in your workplace. What this means is simply speaking out about mental health, being open, being willing to get vulnerable, obviously in the right time and place and with the right degree of vulnerability, but always become that change that you want to see.
If you’re in a senior position or if you run your own business and you’re reading this, you are in a prime position to radically change the culture in your business to be more open and to respond better to mental health challenges that your team will inevitably have. If you can do that and harness that, it’s going to make your company a place that people are going to want to work in. It’s going to help you attract and retain key talent. Be that change. If you’re a senior leader, talk about your experience with mental health, whether it’s you personally or whether it’s your family or a member of your team that’s happy for you to share, but speak up.
Encourage good habits as well. The things we know contribute well to mental health are movement. They are exercise. It is eating well, sleeping well, having enough energy to do the things you want to do in life. All of those things are important, therefore is there anything you can do within your environment to change things and to promote some of those really important things to help your team and you have better mental health at work?
What’s your Health IQ?
If you’re reading this, you’re are probably in a reasonably senior position, running your own business or have a busy life running the home and juggling other responsibilities. Either way, you’re busy. The convergent pressures of work and family life have probably meant that the time you did have to spend on health and fitness has disappeared. Why not talk to us and see how we can help.
Leanne Spencer is an entrepreneur, coach, TEDx Speaker, author of Remove the Guesswork, and founder of Bodyshot Performance Limited. Bodyshot is a health and fitness consultancy that helps busy professionals get more energy by removing the guesswork around their health, fitness and nutrition. Visit www.bodyshotperformance.com or email [email protected] to register your interest in our services and connect with us on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.