My Mental Health

Last week, I had a wobble…

I can’t put my finger on what it was specifically, and in all honestly, it was most likely a culmination of a few things that have been going on…

• I have just sold my house, and had an offer accepted on a new house.
• I also did the classic Physio thing and didn’t listen to my own advice, so hurt my back a week after the gyms reopened, so haven’t been able to train as much as I might have liked
• Work is starting to get busier again, after a LONG period of things being very slow, and I have come to realise that I don’t transition very well from being ‘not busy’, to ‘busy’, and vice versa. But history tells me that I’ll be fine once the wheels start turning again.
• I also had a mental health webinar to deliver on Wednesday, and in the lead up to those webinars, the ‘Imposter syndrome’ gremlin comes out all guns blazing. I then feel so much less anxious once those webinars are delivered, and the feedback is always amazing! This week I even got a follow up email, to say that they had had some really great comments about the webinar!

So I guess those four current issues were enough to just start tipping the balance from me coping, to not coping, and starting to feel a bit of a sense of overwhelm this week. I am better now at identifying when things might be on the turn, so I spoke to my boss on Wednesday, and the ‘solution’ that we settled on was that I was going to take a couple of days annual leave on Thursday and Friday to try and just settle things down (He did actually tell me not to take them as annual leave, but as mental health related days, and he is an incredibly understanding manager when it comes to mental health)

Identifying Problems or Complaining?

This weekend, I am part way through a book today (it’s a very short book), and in the book the author talks about identifying problems. They discuss the idea that you haven’t identified a problem unless you have also come up with a solution. If you think you have identified a problem, and you have no solution, there is a possibility you’re just complaining!

So, on the basis of that argument, last week I was complaining. As much as I am getting better at identifying when I things might just be starting to turn, I thought the ‘solution’ was to have a couple of days off, which I didn’t even manage to do! So clearly that wasn’t really much of a ‘solution’.

Solutions

This weekend I have subsequently tried to implement some better solutions, to help prepare me for the week ahead – some consciously, some less so.

Firstly, and most importantly for me after the past few months, I’ve caught up with some friends. Saturday I had a day out with some mates, and we just spent the day eating, drinking and laughing. And it was flipping brilliant.

Then, I made sure I got myself out of bed this morning, and I trained. My back isn’t fully settled, but I still managed to get into the gym and move about a bit, and I definitely felt better for it. I also headed out for a walk this evening, again just to get moving

I’ve also mapped out my week, checking what I have in the diary, so that I know what lies ahead of me. I know that I am far more productive in the week when I spend some time over the weekend making sure I am prepared (Not my hands in that picture I might add! or hat, unfortunately..)

And finally, I’m now sat here writing this blog, listening to The Radio 1 Chillest show, with Sian Eleri (If you haven’t listened to this on a Sunday, you should).

Writing about these things for me is quite a cathartic exercise. I guess its my form of mindfulness in a way. I have to think quite deeply about what I am writing, and tend to block everything else out to allow me to focus. Its important for me that what I am typing actually reflects what I am feeling, rather than just posting these blogs for the sake of posting.

Mind, Body and Connect

And as I was sat here thinking about what I had done this weekend to try and better prepare for the week, I realised that they actually align to the three pillars of One Stop Wellbeing.

I’m sure this week will have it’s ups and downs, but my plan is to continue to implement some of these strategies, to try and help get me manage my week a little better. My plan is to post another update next week, by way of a bit of accountability. I’m not even sure this blog will make sense to anyone, but I guess its been my opportunity at the end of the weekend to recalibrate my thoughts ready for the week ahead.

Mike, Founder of One Stop Wellbeing