Since I started the Health&Hustle in 2016 I have learnt a lot about myself.
What works and what doesn’t work. My journey has opened up lots of avenues along the way, meeting lots of colleagues and building new friendships throughout the journey. Most importantly I have met some amazing people who have made some big life changes and achieved some amazing results. The best part of this, is that I have shared and been part of their journey. Going into the new year is challenging but a good starting point to turn things around if you need to make wellbeing changes. Considering the last couple of years and living through a pandemic as well as working in a healthcare setting, a lot of our mental health self care has suffered and accessing services for help can seem impossible with long waiting lists. These are simple tips to try along your journey.
Start a health and wellbeing diary. This is useful to track your progress and look back at your achievements. Start with writing 3 things that you achieved in the day, 3 things that didn’t go well. Think about what you can influence and what you can’t. Start challenging things that are not going well and how you can park them or reflect on resolutions. Add some muscle relaxation during your day or try some yoga exercises. Talk to a friend or loved one about how you are feeling. Talking is a great way to express your feelings and talk through the things that are not going to well.Capture magic moments from your day, don’t forget to include the funny ones, always good to have something to laugh about. I still chuckle about my friend who put her Fitbit in the washing machine and was 8000steps ahead of everyone. If you are experiencing negative thoughts, park or postpone it and move to a positive thought. This can be difficult but it is about today and not yesterday, try taming the black dog. Meet your obligations and start your day with a smile, better still have a chuckle or laugh about silly things. Let’s add an activity element to your health and wellbeing diary and schedule some fun activities to work towards. Where do we start with this one? Just check our activities and event page. It’s never to late to join a WalkTalkWalk or RunTalkRun group.
Learn to breath and use the exercises to relax. I use my Fitbit to help with this especially when I can’t sleep, there are loads of apps to help you with this. Eat well and enjoy your food, take the T from DIET and it spells? Healthy eating is challenging and I struggle with this, but I am a believer in working hard means you don’t have to torture yourself with eating well. There is plenty advice on this subject and balancing with exercise can produce some remarkable results. Ask for help if you need it. We are all human and it can be hard to ask for help, don’t do it alone and reach out if you need it. An act of kindness is always available if you need help. Build a good sleep pattern. This is really important and is one of the top three of your health and wellbeing. If you need a snooze go for it, but a good nights sleep can make a big difference, try and stay in your routine, early nights can make a difference to get 7-8hrs quality sleep. Practice good self care and pamper yourself to enjoy the feel good factor.
Be active during your day, take breaks and take a walk during the day. This is really important, especially when working from home. Your routine should include walks, a little movement every hour. Think about taking part in an active challenge. There are lots of challenges you can get involved with, why not support a charity whilst being active? Interact with friends, work colleagues or join a group. It can be difficult working from home but can be done. Coffee breaks, quizzes or just general catch up over MS Teams is popular. Engage or think about volunteering. This makes you feel good, I joined my Patient Participation Group supporting my GP practice, it gives you a feel good factor and there are lots of groups you can support. Stay in touch with friends and families. Reconnecting with friends makes a big difference, I recently met up with my best man that I haven’t seen for 35 years and WoW, you really appreciate those times. Join a good support network. Everyone has something to offer or just needs to be part of a group. We have created the Crew network and the banter, love and caring is out of this world. It’s open to anyone and we reach out using social media.
Unplug yourself from the news and let the world pass by. Too much news can be overwhelming so why not just switch it off or just get byte size chunks. The press is at an all time low with its reporting and can impact your mental health. Develop a gratitude jar for yourself. What do you do with all your change? Save it up and treat yourself or donate to a charity, feel good factor ticked off. Set some long term goals you want to achieve. Always start small and grow big, but why not set an achievable goal to work towards. Check your comfort zone and step out of it with friends. Now this can be a challenging goal but worth a go, you never know you might enjoy it.
Add some you time into your day. This is really important, you work hard so why not play hard? You need your own personal time though, do you have any hobbies? Build it into your time. Listen to music that makes you happy and treat yourself to feel good, the right kit helps get you in the zone, especially if it is a sport you enjoy doing. Experience the local area and explore new routes to walk or run. I challenge myself to find and change my routes and I have discovered places I never knew existed. Support someone who is trying to improve their health and wellbeing. Everyone can support each other achieve their goals and having a walking or running buddy really helps.
Celebrate your success and shout about it. Stand tall and be proud no matter what the size of your success is. How many of these can you tick off during 2022? My new year challenge is to continue doing what I enjoy and expand the hustle to allow others to work on their health and wellbeing. 2022 is our 6th year since the launch in 2016 and we will be celebrating in June with an event to mark the occasion. The group has evolved and going from strength to strength. In the health community we have more reforms ahead and I am pleased to say the Health&Hustle are part of the long term future to continue providing NHS staff and patients with a health and wellbeing infrastructure.
