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HKWorld Mental Health Day – October 10th 2019
Aaron Claridge, Area Manager – Queensland
As someone who works full-time managing consultants and clients, and whose position also importantly involves driving team culture and engagement, I believe exercising and self-reflection is vital for me in maintaining my mental health and wellbeing.
By starting each day with my weight training, which I feel sets my day up for me, I feel I achieve a positive personal goal daily. The feeling of succeeding or reaching daily set goals ensures that I have the feeling of satisfaction and joy that’s vital in feeling happy and accomplished.
Exercise and weight training are passions of mine, and I always like to say, if you’re able to do something that you’re passionate about every day, it goes a long way in feeding one’s personal happiness.
Additionally, it’s important that I take a step back and be thankful for the things that I have managed to achieve in life. This allows me to appreciate or re-evaluate and then move forward with clarity.
Sarah Ross, Marketing Manager
Life is super busy, and it can be hard to switch off. Technology makes everyone so accessible nowadays, and the boundaries of work can become blurred. I work in an extremely busy role with a wide range of diverse projects, so a little daily self-care is certainly something I live by. I make a concerted effort each week to do some essential self-care initiatives to ensure I am in a great frame of mind.
I always kick start my day with a healthy berry smoothie, and then listen to a brief meditation session on the train to work. Healthy food and some positive affirmations set me up for my day. Working in an office environment sees me sitting for long periods of time, which absolutely needs to be offset by exercise. Yoga is my number one preference – I love stretching out and feeling my stress levels dissipate.
The truth is, for you to be the best you can be, you need to ensure your weeks are peppered with those things that make you feel good. And the reality for me is, the more I take the time to look after me, the better I feel, and the more productive I become. #selfcare
Frank Petridis, Manager – Engineering & Infrastructure
The engineering industry is constantly buzzing, and my role each day is to find the best talent to support all my clients and maintain close relationships with both clients and candidates. Maintaining my professional relationships doesn’t stop there - I am dedicated to my ongoing mental health and wellbeing by additionally making a point to say ‘G’day’ or ‘How are you travelling today?’ with a smile to all my colleagues in the morning as I walk to my desk. Building and, importantly, maintaining relationships with those around me is the most important tip for me to live a healthy lifestyle.
On top of that, learning to manage stress and difficult situations by taking a ‘time-out’ is a tip that I live by. I try not to stress over situations in which I cannot control, and if I’m suddenly in a situation that I have no control over, I’ll intentionally take a step back and have a 15-minute break. This time away lets me relax, put my thoughts in order and think of outcomes that may assist in rectifying the situation.
Tanya Anderson, National Area Manager – Permanent & Flex Staffing Solutions
Life can be extremely hectic, and with a busy role at work and being part of a large family, I find that I continually need to strive for work/life balance. Each morning I ensure that I have 10-15 minutes of quiet time over breakfast to mentally prepare for the day. For me, this is a great time to think through the priorities for the day and often during this time, I find that I’m able to think through challenges clearly and come up with some strategies on how I could approach them.
I wish I was someone sporty that could climb mountains and run marathons – but sadly I’m not! It has been a bit of trial and error over the years finding some fun fitness activities that I can enjoy doing – but I have found them – I do Bollywood dancing (one day I hope to move from the back row!) and I also do weekly gym classes in the park with ‘Step into Life’ – lots of fun and lots of laughs are had at both with great people and the sessions fly by.
I feel very grateful for everything in my life and I am very passionate about my work – I love opportunities to be able to give back to friends, family and my staff, and ensure their lives are also full of the things that make them happy for their mental health and wellbeing.
Liam Kelsall, Recruitment Consultant
I have worked across a range of high pressure, results-based industries, and mitigating stress and maintaining a positive outlook have both been fundamental to my success and longevity.
I think I am blessed with a naturally buoyant attitude and a high level of resilience. However, I’m also quite mindful of my thoughts and habits and deliberately manage them to maintain a sense of positivity and mental wellbeing.
My number one tip is to start each day from a place of gratitude. Staying appreciative of all the good in your life allows you to operate with a mindset of abundance and contentment. For the most part, maintaining this perspective should be easy. We live in one of the wealthiest, safest, cleanest and most beautiful places on earth. This should not be taken for granted. As long as you are safe, healthy and sheltered, with access to clean water and food, you immediately have it better than many people, people no less deserving than you. Whenever I lose sight of this, the universe has a way of introducing me to someone with ‘real problems’. Unhappiness comes from obsessing over what you lack.
There are many other simple things that work for me. I try to make sure I am spending time in nature, especially by the water. I ensure that have quality time with my family and friends. I also think that regularly doing something physical allows your brain to switch off, it has an amazing ability to recover if you just give it a rest. Martial-arts and swimming have been great options for me but nothing is more cathartic than a long walk. Eat well and get enough rest. Lastly, it’s important to do things for other people without any expectation of a return. Contribute to the happiness and wellbeing of others. It could be something as simple as cooking a nice meal for your loved ones.
Look after yourself and the people around you.
Olivia Berletta, National Manager – Executive and Professional
Working in recruitment services is akin to juggling 6 balls while balancing on a flaming unicycle. And because it’s so hectic for me, it’s so important that I need to do everything I can to take care of myself – for both my physical and mental health.
I can’t stress how important being active is and how it can influence your attitude and lift your mental wellbeing. My day generally starts off with a one-hour gym session, which I believe gives me energy and positive thoughts to get me through the rest of my day, and always wraps up with me walking home from work with music in my ears to clear my head of the day.
Those that know me, know that what makes up most of me is my smile. Smiling is so contagious and I’m always looking to spread it around! It’s so important that I stay positive and spread it to all those around me, so I always try to fill my days with laughter and kindness whether I’m with my peers, clients or the candidates I interact with.
Every day I’m constantly striving to be even more positive and improve my lifestyle in any way I can, and my daily mantra to you: life is short, ‘live each day to the fullest with no regrets’, and ‘allow your mistakes to strengthen you’.
Manan Shah, Client Relationship Manager
Listening to music and spending quality time with the people most important to me are two key things that are a big part of my daily life in maintain my mental health. For me, I maintain my relationships and connect with my close ones by simply hanging out with them and discussing absolutely anything and everything.
After finishing work every day, the one thing I absolutely look forward to is spending time with my wife and our son, whether it’s just outdoors for half an hour, relaxing in our home, or doing some form of fun activity together.
Music is also another major part of my life and plays an important role in looking after my mental and emotional health. My morning and afternoon commute to and from work is spent completely immersed in music! I love to listen to a wide range of different genres and am constantly open to discovering new music each time.
It’s very important to look after my mental health, as for me, it allows me to realise my potential, set goals for myself and scope out what I can possibly achieve if I try to set my mind to it. By doing this, I feel I’m able to work productively and cope with the stresses of everyday life, as well as maintaining a successful work-life balance.
My tips to look after yourself and maintaining a healthy mental state:
- Strive for balance between work and life
- Foster and maintain good relationships
- Do something that you love to do and find time for it (adopt a “ME” time!)
- If you see someone down, don’t hesitate to ask, “are you OK?” (although I wholeheartedly support ‘R U OK? Day’, I feel we don’t need to wait for one day in a whole year to ask!).
1 in 3 Australians are affected by mental illness, yet many don’t open up or seek help because of stigma.
Mental health difficulties can be incredibly hard to deal, and you may find that it takes a long time to really get past what’s affecting you. But it’s important to know that you are not alone and those around you will support you.
If you are struggling with your mental health, please don’t hesitate to reach out to Lineline on 13 11 14 for 24-hour support, or Beyond Blue on 1300 224 636 for anxiety, depression and suicide prevention.
