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Are you Living to Work? – Part 15

Physical exercise

Do you do enough? Is enough really enough? Do you stroll when, for it to be effective, it needs to be a vigorous walk? Is taking the dog out a matter of you standing still and throwing a ball? Is your gym membership a convenient sop or do you go frequently? How can you stretch yourself?

Whether we act on it or not, we know that our health will be improved if we are physically fit. Not only does it impact upon our skeletal and muscular wellness, but it also can be very influential on good mental health.

Many people enjoy exercise and, for them, the only issues are creating time and, if at a time of some trauma, the self-discipline to do it. 

It is often reported in the papers that we need regular exercise. However, it is more about frequency than regularity; every Christmas day is regular but three or four times a week is frequent enough if it is adequately vigorous.

A recent study for the NHS stated 40% of us don’t walk briskly for 30 minutes in a month!!! This is a statistic which deserves some thought, and it isn’t I walk briskly for 30 minutes, so I don’t need to do any more.

It can sound patronising, but going for long walks is easy and we can quickly build up distances and pace for it to be very beneficial. It can also be superb thinking time. One caveat is it can be easy to drift into negativity, so it requires self-direction or better still walk with someone else: dogs optional but potentially wonderful.

Rob Ball
Contact:
07850 954075
rob.ball@workhorizons.com
rob.ball@naturallyconcerned.com

Websites:
Work Horizons – Organisational renewal through engaged, productive people
Naturally Concerned – Developing Better Business Leaders
www.framingourfuture.com

Books:
Beating the Wisdom of Hindsight: 75 Ways to Pursue Fulfilment and Avoid Regrets eBook : Ball, Rob:
Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Sponges-Overcoming-behaviours-absorb/

Online Programs:
Empower Change by Learning to Live Well (indegu.co.uk)
Expanding Your Work Horizons (indegu.co.uk)

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Are you Living to Work? – Part 14

Health First – Prevention

Anyone facing a potential crisis in life or even a sought-after change may face some physical and psychological issues. The first and primary concern is for the health of our people. Too many of us lose the motivation to exercise, eat the wrong foods and open a bottle of wine (or two).

When faced with a crisis there is a temptation to withdraw. This is a natural reaction and not one for which anyone can be criticised. However, part of the answer to sadness and despair is physical activity. The thing which is certain is you will be no use to yourself or your family if you are unwell, so make sure it doesn’t happen.

This is not the time for binge drinking and eating. It is the time to focus on sleep, exercise, diet and, perhaps most importantly, your mental health. The number one piece of advice is, ask for help.

Do not think these are issues for you deal with on your own. There are numerous examples of people losing their jobs, not telling their family, pretending to go to work as normal, filling days with job hunt, getting into debt and spiralling into despair. And it could easily have been different. Was it pride, fear, embarrassment, protection from the reality for the family or a combination of some or all of these? Yet, overwhelmingly, the better option was to share the facts and seek solutions together.

The phrase, “A trouble shared is a trouble halved” is, of course tosh in itself. It remains the same, but it does have more people trying to solve it, bringing different perspectives and thoughts.

Rob Ball
Contact:
07850 954075
rob.ball@workhorizons.com
rob.ball@naturallyconcerned.com

Websites:
Work Horizons – Organisational renewal through engaged, productive people
Naturally Concerned – Developing Better Business Leaders
www.framingourfuture.com

Books:
Beating the Wisdom of Hindsight: 75 Ways to Pursue Fulfilment and Avoid Regrets eBook : Ball, Rob:
Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Sponges-Overcoming-behaviours-absorb/

Online Programs:
Empower Change by Learning to Live Well (indegu.co.uk)
Expanding Your Work Horizons (indegu.co.uk)

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Are you Living to Work? – Part 13

Dealing with emotional strain

Do you suffer because of emotional strain? Do you know what is causing it? Are there several factors at the same time? If you do, you need a number of things: support, direction and hope are three of them. We can help to ask good questions, and help you identify the positive aspects of the situation and actions to take.

• What situations cause you discomfort?
• Why do you feel uncomfortable?
• Do you deal with these situations better on some occasions? What is different?
• Have you had embarrassing experiences?
• Has your boss expressed disappointment in your performance?
• Has your partner, or someone else you admire, told you they feel let down by you?

It is only by confronting these issues will they be conquered. The level of personal honesty needed may be difficult but will be worthwhile. 

Have you talked to your boss or partner about their perceived reaction? 

A great question to answer for yourself is, “What is the worst that can happen?”   It is very likely the thought of something going askew is far worse than the reality ever would be.

Depending on your personality and the way you approach job hunt or the process of setting up a business, it may be emotionally challenging. We know that when you decide to go for a job or have a great idea for a new venture, people immediately invest emotion in them, or else why are they making the effort?

Additionally, there may be financial implications; bills to pay and the need for a salary or the requirement to make an investment. None of this is easy but Rule 1 is don’t try to do it on your own. Loved ones are on your side or professional career advice may be necessary.

Rob Ball
Contact:
07850 954075
rob.ball@workhorizons.com
rob.ball@naturallyconcerned.com

Websites:
Work Horizons – Organisational renewal through engaged, productive people
Naturally Concerned – Developing Better Business Leaders
www.framingourfuture.com

Books:
Beating the Wisdom of Hindsight: 75 Ways to Pursue Fulfilment and Avoid Regrets eBook : Ball, Rob:
Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Sponges-Overcoming-behaviours-absorb/

Online Programs:
Empower Change by Learning to Live Well (indegu.co.uk)
Expanding Your Work Horizons (indegu.co.uk)

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Are you Living to Work? – Part 12

Emotional strain

Whether the pressures and stresses come from work, relationships, or anything else, they do create an emotional strain. For some people pressure is manageable but for others it passes the point of elasticity, and it becomes a problem. Employment being under threat or even starting a new job are stressful.

Whatever the source of emotional strain, the impact can be debilitating. It becomes stress when the individual’s ability to function is impaired. 

It is a widely held view that the most stressful events are:

• Death of a loved one
• Moving to a new house
• Changing jobs

For some young men dealing with being a Best Man at a wedding, because of the speech, is an incredible strain. It fills them with dread and causes sleepless nights.

A little tension is healthy. People who are too laid back underperform sometimes. Their laissez faire attitude can create complacency. Even the most experienced public speakers get a flutter in the tummy before taking the floor. However, they know what it means and embrace it; it sets the adrenaline running and heightens the powers of concentration and delivery.

Rob Ball
Contact:
07850 954075
rob.ball@workhorizons.com
rob.ball@naturallyconcerned.com

Websites:
Work Horizons – Organisational renewal through engaged, productive people
Naturally Concerned – Developing Better Business Leaders
www.framingourfuture.com

Books:
Beating the Wisdom of Hindsight: 75 Ways to Pursue Fulfilment and Avoid Regrets eBook : Ball, Rob:
Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Sponges-Overcoming-behaviours-absorb/

Online Programs:
Empower Change by Learning to Live Well (indegu.co.uk)
Expanding Your Work Horizons (indegu.co.uk)

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Are you Living to Work? – Part 11

Re-building 

We all meet resistance; we all are knocked back by people or circumstances on occasions. It is the manner we deal with these issues that counts. In a job hunt there will probably be unsuccessful applications; is it personal, does it make you a failure, are you a bad person? Of course, the answer is “No” but it can feel that way. How will you react and move forward?

The Bing definitions of resilience are:
1. The capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness
2. The ability of a substance or object to spring back into shape; elasticity

When we are resilient, we are able to bounce back into our emotional balance. We deal with the vagaries of life in a mature manner, which allows us to move on to the next issues. Former footballer, manager and now pundit, Ian Dowie, called it Bouncebackability.

The word toughness might imply rigidity and that isn’t the requirement. Individuals need to be able to process information, learn from it and act. One of the major reactions to disappointment is inertia, the emotional jerk which says, well if I’m not wanted, I will just return to my darkened corner. 

In the search for a new job or great opening, it is very likely that anyone will meet hurdles before they are successful.

You may be a fatalist who thinks it wouldn’t have been right for me anyway, so it’s a good job it wasn’t offered to me. 

You may be a pragmatist, who searches for clues for improvement in the hunt. Was my CV properly focussed? Was my covering letter appropriate? For which questions can I better prepare my answers?

Very often the inability to gain a specific job merely relates to another candidate’s background being closer to the job profile. It isn’t about you; it is about the other person.

Resilience is the faculty which allows the person to absorb disappointment and fully function anyway.

Rob Ball
Contact:
07850 954075
rob.ball@workhorizons.com
rob.ball@naturallyconcerned.com

Websites:
Work Horizons – Organisational renewal through engaged, productive people
Naturally Concerned – Developing Better Business Leaders
www.framingourfuture.com

Books:
Beating the Wisdom of Hindsight: 75 Ways to Pursue Fulfilment and Avoid Regrets eBook : Ball, Rob:
Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Sponges-Overcoming-behaviours-absorb/

Online Programs:
Empower Change by Learning to Live Well (indegu.co.uk)
Expanding Your Work Horizons (indegu.co.uk)

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Are you Living to Work? – Part 10

Being a change enthusiast

When asked at, for example, an interview, “Do you like/adapt to change?” it is easy to say yes even if it isn’t meant. However, it will be conveyed to the questioner more powerfully if it is true and you can give real examples of you enacting it. Can you find genuine instances of change in action?

The research by Everett Rogers around the subject of change adoption has shown how people react to the prospect of change:

– 2.5% (1 person in 40) loves change and throws themselves into it immediately
– 13.5% (1 person in 7) is an early adopter and will accept change quickly
– 34% (1person in 3) are in the early majority and will follow the lead of others
– 34% (1 person in 3) are in the late majority and will get there eventually but are seen as negative influences
– 16% (1 person in 6) are laggards and will never change

The laggard may even be in self-denial and believe they are adaptable. However, at times of change these are the people who will be the most expendable, even if they have valuable skills. The laggard drains the team and the business of energy and acts as a brake.

Therefore, it is time to be a change enthusiast, to accept change and to be seen accepting it. 

• Have you made suggestions for improvements?
• Do you volunteer for projects or tasks?
• Are you capable of asking qualifying questions without sounding negative?
• Do your colleagues recognise your natural inclination to adopt change?
• Are you seen as someone involved in office politics and gossiping?
• Do you naturally see the problems?
• Are you able to provide solutions?
• Does the prospect of change make you feel uncertain and worried?

These questions need answers for yourself based on honesty. If you are getting a sense of an underlying desire for the status quo, that which you know, if is important you address the issues.

To help you describe your adaptability you need examples, whether they are small or large scale. What changes have you adopted? When were they? Who else was involved? What was achieved? Who initiated it?

It is a great idea to keep a note of your involvement. Have you ever been in an appraisal review in which you know you have done a lot of good things but when challenged find it difficult to give real examples?

Most people have and a key outcome is to learn to write things down. Every organisation wants people whom deliver; be an achiever and be able to show the evidence, especially as a lover of change.

Rob Ball
Contact:
07850 954075
rob.ball@workhorizons.com
rob.ball@naturallyconcerned.com

Websites:
Work Horizons – Organisational renewal through engaged, productive people
Naturally Concerned – Developing Better Business Leaders
www.framingourfuture.com

Books:
Beating the Wisdom of Hindsight: 75 Ways to Pursue Fulfilment and Avoid Regrets eBook : Ball, Rob:
Amazon.co.uk
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Time-Sponges-Overcoming-behaviours-absorb/

Online Programs:
Empower Change by Learning to Live Well (indegu.co.uk)
Expanding Your Work Horizons (indegu.co.uk)

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