Packing your team’s mental fitness kitbags
A Powerful Team WELLBEING Exercise
Whilst working with a team, I recently asked what they find helpful to pack in their mental fitness kitbag 🎒 to take care of their mental health in order to be well for work.
The response was INCREDIBLE.
Take what you need and share it far and wide:
Mental Fitness Strategies from Real People
💚 Being kind to myself when I’m not feeling my best rather than judging my vulnerability. I often write myself a note with some compassionate words.
✊ Having a coach and being part of an action learning set.
✍️ Daily journalling - I write three things I'm grateful for. When I get derailed by negative incidents it reminds me that the day is defined by the sum of positive things that happened too!
🙏 Focusing on gratitude and committing these gratitudes to paper.
🌳 The garden, walks on the beach, coffee with a friend - simple things but they are so important to me.
🏋️♀️ Exercise - My mental fitness is completely connected to my physical health. I always feel better after a session at the gym or kickboxing. I get so much energy after exercising.
💤 Sleep - A complete non-negotiable as it’s how I switch off and refresh.
🎵 Music - I honestly don't think I could survive without it. The right piece can transform a moment any way you want.
☀️ Nature - My idyllic moment is a mountain top in the sun with a refreshing breeze. No matter my pressures, this whisks them all away in the short term and reduces their mental impact in the long term.
🧶 Time to crochet - Active rest is so important to me.
🏄♀️ My paddleboard or heading to the water - Wrapped up on the beach listening to the waves. Something rejuvenating about being in, on, or near water 💦 it's how I switch off the many apps of the mind.
🤝 Connections - Knowing that you can reach out to people who will listen and not judge is a source of strength... also reaching out to help others.
💡 Reframing stress - Telling myself in a moment of stress that I am in a teachable moment, "This is literally growth happening right now."
🔎 Giving credit - Giving myself / others credit for things that are going well. Spotting something good and thinking this is going well because...
🚦 My traffic light system - Being aware of my Amber warning light is a signal to do something simple that tops up my resilience tank.
🛥️ My floating office - Being near the water and the fresh air is really good for the mind.
💥 Staying optimistic and curious and being kind to myself when others aren’t.
💌 Writing myself a letter of support - Like I would reach out to a friend in need. It's in an envelope titled 'OPEN ME WHEN YOU NEED SOME KINDNESS'.
🦮 Walking my dog - I can have an internal dialogue and work things through; it's cathartic.
🧘♀️ Yoga challenge - I’ve started a yoga challenge to do a practice every day this month. I feel so much better already, after 9 days - less stressed, more centred.
🐚 Hunting for treasure on the beach - Shells, sea glass, and pebbles. I can spend hours not thinking about anything. It is my meditation.
What Would You Pack?
What strategy would you like to swipe?
When we develop personal awareness and mental health habits and skills, we can strengthen our resilience, maintain wellbeing even in tough times. This is how we invest in our mental wealth and foster mental health sustainability.
My mission is to support teams, leaders and CEOs who are invested in bringing a culture of mental fitness and who wish to create sustainability of their workforce to support staff to be more personally resourceful, build a confident workforce and the conditions for improved productivity and success
If you or your team need some support or you’d like to take your team’s resourcefulness and personal awareness to the next level, with a Wellbeing Action Plan, let’s talk.
