You may have heard that May is Mental Health Awareness Month.
Social media feeds are flooded with calls to destigmatize mental health, check in on people, definitions of what is and isn’t mental health, and ways to be kind to your brain.
By now you’ve deduced that I’m an advocate for overall health and wellbeing, which is why Wellbeing is one of the five anchors of the Leadership Fluency Framework.
For me, Wellbeing encompasses mental, physical, spiritual, emotional, and financial health.
Everyone is going to have different needs and priorities in each of these areas. You get to decide what aspects of your Wellbeing may need attention and where you’d like to focus your energies.
I’ve included a few ways that clients have found helpful in boosting their Wellbeing. I offer them to you here in case you need support and aren’t sure where to start.
And, of course, the usual legal disclaimer: I’m not a licensed professional (other than coaching, obvs.). Engage in these activities at your own risk, and talk to a real doctor if you have underlying conditions before you embark on something new.
Mental
- Ask yourself in a challenging situation, “What’s the gift or opportunity here?”
- Set a timer and journal until the timer goes off
- Spend a few minutes doing something you find fun or joyful
- Make an eight-minute phone call.
- Call someone you care about – you can cover a lot of ground in eight minutes!
- Do something to improve your diet or sleep
- Crank your favorite music while getting dressed, in the car, or making dinner
Physical
- Take a walk around the block or your office parking lot
- Do light stretching before you jump in the shower or crawl into bed at night
- Find a walking buddy
- Play (kids, pets, friends or partners make great playmates!)
- Start your day with sun salutations
- Practice chair yoga
Spiritual
- Give yourself a 60-second mindful moment while your lunch heats in the microwave
- Listen to an uplifting podcast or audiobook
- Spend time in prayer or meditation
- Do something for someone else – look for a way to be of service
- Make a daily gratitude list
Emotional
- Make a coffee date to connect with someone you care about
- Practice breathing exercises
- Reach out to someone else who may need support
- Reflect on your top values and where they are or are not being honored
- What needs to change?Release negative emotions with this exercise
Financial
- Create, update, or revisit your budget
- Check your credit score
- Put aside money towards savings or a large bill
- Find/meet with a financial advisor or financial planner
- Listen to a financial podcast
- My favorite – save your $5’s. This started as a silly contest over a dinner with colleagues more than 15 years ago (I won the contest by the way…). Hubby and I are still at it, mostly out of habit at this point. Any time we receive a $5 bill, it goes into an envelope until our next trip. Over time, we have used the money for hotels, airfare, and vacation “fun money” and even a new mattress (which we literally paid for with a bag of $5 bills in a paper bag. The salesperson was a little flummoxed and we still laugh about it.)
This is by no means an exhaustive list, and you’ll note that none of these suggestions are particularly taxing. If your Wellbeing needs attention, go for quality over quantity. Don’t worry about how much time you allocate to any of these options. Two minutes is better than no minutes.
The bottom line, Katelyn, is that your Wellbeing is a leadership imperative. It’s not something you put on your “to do” list. It’s what gives you the mental clarity, physical stamina, social connection, and emotional regulation to take values-based actions and tackle your “to do” list.
No one is going to prioritize you except for you. So put your own oxygen mask on first.
What are you doing to support your Wellbeing?
