#MentalResilience Archives - Astute Financial

‘You are not alone’ Stress Awareness Day 2019

Its National Stress Awareness Day 2019.

Some stats from the Health and Safety Executive Department figures

The UK’s economy lost a total of 12.8million workdays in 2018 solely due to stress

602,000 UK workers suffer from work-related mental issues such as depression and anxiety

44% of work-related sick days were caused by depression and anxiety

Stress Awareness Day on November 6^th was created by the International Stress Management Association (ISMA). For 2019, Resilience is the theme – enabling people to employ key coping mechanisms when coping with the everday pressures of life – at work and at home.

FIRSTLY you need to gauge your own mental state – Ease that tornado of thoughts which make you start to feel anxious, take a step back.

Every Mind Matters has a five-questions quiz to help you have a clearer view of your mental health and for you to understand how ‘stressed’ you are..

Once you understand the state of your mental health you can begin to increase your resilience to your own, personal ‘triggers’.

Mental Health charities such as Every Mind Matters and Mind provide more tips but have a go at these initial tips…you will need to practice these as for many these will be outside your comfort zone. It will be worth it though!

BE MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD and confident when dealing with people. If others are placing unreasonable or unrealistic demands on you, be prepared to say how you feel and to actually say “no”. Practice saying no in front of a mirror. Baby steps. Work your way up.

USE RELAXATION TECHNIQUES – you know yourself what helps you unwind, whether a nice long soak in the bath, listening to your favourite podcast or playlist. Set aside the time to do this. Don’t put this off. It is important you have ‘me time’ to properly relax.

ALLOW YOURSELF TO EXPLORE AND DEVELOP NEW HOBBIES AND INTERESTS. Set aside an activity that is totally removed from anything that causes you stress. This is a brilliant way to release you from everyday pressures. You are worth it. Stress can make people feel isolated and alone, but hobbies where you can interact with likeminded souls is a great way to meet new people, forge new friendships in a ‘safe’ environment that you can trust.

CREATE TIME FOR FRIENDS. Talking to friends about the things you find hard is proven to alleviate stress and can increase confidence and positive wellbeing. The act of talking helps keep your worries in proportion and can help your friends too. It is scientifically proven that laughter and smiling release produce chemical reactions in your body and brain – endorphins – that will help you relax and ultimately feel better.

SEEK BALANCE IN YOUR LIFE. Very hard for many of us, but if all of your time & energy seems to be sucked into your job or children its definitely time to look at ways of focussing on different areas whether family, hobbies or friends. Lack of diversity in life breeds discontent and often causes the seeds of anxiety and stress to grow.

KNOW THAT IT IS FINE TO SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP. No man or woman is an island. All of us need to accept that from time to time it is OK to admit you need a bit of help and that may include medical support. Reach out to the NHS – they have several free therapies including Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (changing your thought process through ‘re-wiring your brain), Mindfulness (ensuring you are ‘present’ and ‘in the moment’) or Ecotherapy (channelling the soothing power of nature to help with mental health issues.) Your GP will be able to prescribe additional medication. If you feel like you need further care, you can talk to your GP. There are even Apps that you can access from your pocket smartphone. The NHS and Every Mind Matters recommend ones and click here to get these.

Above all, remember that although you may not feel like it, you are not alone and help is there for you.

‘You are not alone’ Stress Awareness Day 2019

Everyone had a great time at our business breakfast on Mental Resilience. Our guest speaker, John Dabrowski, did an amazing presentation explaining the importance of mental and physical wellbeing professionally and personally to each and every one of us.

Some key takeaways: –

We all need to take the time to develop our self-belief and sense of self-worth. It is these that give us the confidence to perform to our maximum potential at work or in our personal lives.

It is crucial to pro-actively train ourselves to look for the positives when adversity hits. Easier said than done, but John demonstrated some great techniques we can all implement as part of our daily routines to make these changes become an important habit and vital life skill.

John also talked about the importance of visualisation. When you have a challenge to overcome, be it a difficult meeting, a new responsibility at work or where you have to present to a team for the first time, John talked about the power of visualising yourself succeeding. You need to close your eyes and in your mind picture the ‘challenge’ and picture yourself successfully doing it. This is incredibly powerful and triggers synapses in your brain which automatically kick into gear when you physically attempt to do the ‘challenge’ to help you.

John went on to give some brilliant examples of sportsmen and sportswomen who have achieved the absolute pinnacle in their disciplines. From an early age they had a goal, visualised themselves being successful and then had the focus to singularly pursue their dream. The ability to focus is actually key in developing mental resilience and John spoke in depth about this.

Mental resilience also means being able to bounce back from physical as well as mental adversity. John encouraged us to seek out the positives regardless of the situation… there is always some positive that we can take – it’s just that sometimes it is easier to do this than others.

Another key area are Comfort zones. – it is only when we challenge ourselves to move outside our comfort zones that we can truly grow our inner self-belief and ultimately grow our confidence levels. So when you are given a new task which stretches your abilities and makes you nervous, if you complete this – the completion of that task will instil a new aura of confidence so that eventually this challenge will become a natural part of you which you can confidently execute. Then you can move onto the next challenge!

There were many other things that John mentioned and these are explored in depth in his book “Off The Wall – How to develop world class mental resilience”. Click HERE to go to John’s website at JD Mindcoach

So – thank you to John, our team at Astute and of course our guests who came and made the event a really memorable and potentially life changing experience!

Some photos of the event:

John-Dabrowski-Giving-one-of-his-books-to-winner-at-Astute-Recruitments-Mental-Resilience-Workshop

John Dabrowski sharing a great video clip of a famous basketball player at Astute Recriutment Ltd Business Breakfast on Mental Resilience

Exclusive Mental Resilience In The Workplace Business Breakfast Hosted By Astute Recruitment With John Dabrowski

Astute Recruitment are delighted to announce our next exclusive quarterly business breakfast event will take place on February 15th 2018. We have managed to secure a fantastic international guest speaker, published author and business coach – John Dabrowski!

· Have you ever felt that pressure of work is getting too much?

· Do you wish you could relax more and feel less stressed?

· Are there times when you get stuck in a negative mindset?

· Could you and your team benefit from techniques to maintain a positive mindset?

· Would you and your team like to be inspired and energised at work?

If the answer to any of the above is yes…then this event is for you! You will hear from John about the key strategies to improve your own mindset and that of your team in this powerful workshop.

John has spent over 30 years in the business world, putting him in a unique position to deal with contemporary business challenges. His vast mix of experience, accomplished ability to make personal growth simple, delivered with his infectious enthusiasm and energy, has inspired audiences, and made him a most highly regarded and sought after expert in all aspects of mental resilience.

Photo of John Dabrowski
Mental Resilience Expert
International Speaker
Published Author

http://www.jdmindcoach.com/

Programme: –

7:30          Registration, complimentary tea/ coffee and           Complimentary breakfast
7:45          Introduction
7:50          John Dabrowski
8:45          Opportunity for Q & A / Networking
9:00          Close

Free car parking is available and if you have any special dietary requirements please contact Mary Maguire – [email protected]

Please let us know if the breakfast event could be of interest and one of our team can forward you a complimentary and exclusive invitation to attend with details to confirm your place. This event is strictly by invitation only and there are only a few places so ensure you don’t miss out and contact Mary Maguire, Managing Director on 01332 346 100 or by email [email protected] for more information.

Do let us know if you would be interested in hearing about other events… and if you would like to subscribe to our monthly newsletter where we will announce other events and topical career and business articles, videos and more!

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Mike

16:04 13 Mar 23

Highly recommended! Josh and Sarah have been fantastic at Astute. They've found and placed me in 2 jobs now between them, both really responsive and excellent at keeping you up to speed with things. Very knowledgable about the roles and happy to talk to companies with any queries you have.

C R.

10:45 27 Jan 23

Great agency one of the best ones I've worked with! Liz has been a great help and support in helping me towards a new direction in my career life. She is very attentive and keeps me in the loop at all times! She makes the extra effort to work with my preferred requirements for work and even if it isn't completely attainable she meets me in the middle and does as much as she can to help! Also Liz is very funny might I add 😂 and I'm happy that I can now put a face to the name after all these years! Thank you again Liz for all your help and support! 😊

Christine

10:32 20 Dec 22

Josh and the Astute team was very swift to help me to find roles that matched my profile. They are really reliable and will help through every step of the recruitment process going out of their way to assist and follow up when needed. Could not find a better recruitment agency!

Helen Pinegar

16:19 18 Dec 22

Fantastic recruitment agency.. Josh was extremely enthusiastic, encouraging and clearly knowledgeable about what was needed from both the employee and the employers point of view. Extremely supportive especially in regards to interview preparation and endeavoured to procure feedback promptly. Wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Astute in the future to both candidates and recruiting businesses particularly for the right fit for the role!!!

Lisa Leigh

11:56 30 Nov 22

I have worked as a candidate for Astute and they have been excellent. Super friendly service and professional agents keen to fit the right person to the right job. It has been a pleasure dealing with them and I would happily work for them again in the future. Highly recommend this agency.