This month marked the third Beyond Blue Charity Walk I’ve been so proud to be a part of with some truly amazing people and I thought it would be fitting to share a few things I’ve learned to staying at my happiest.
- Don’t be scared to do what you love. When I set out to pursue what I was passionate about in health and fitness 8 years ago I made the choice to leave behind what I believed was a “safer” and more financially reliable job to a career where the average length is less than 3months. This has been the best decision I’ve made and something I feel extremely lucky and privileged to be able to do.
- Have the courage to ask for help. There’s never any shame in asking for help. I realised that it was often my ego getting in the way and a concern for being seen as weak, incapable or dumb. When I started asking for more help from family, friends, colleagues, professionals, coaches and mentors I was gifted with an abundance of support in so many areas of life.
- Check your lens. Having some of the best managers and mentors, I am constantly taught that your reality is as true as the perspective of lens you choose to view things by. Whether it’s a global pandemic, injury or simply trying to understand someone’s differing opinion this has always helped keep the calm and notice the bigger picture.
- Meditate. The evidence is there that various breathing techniques, meditation and other mindfulness practices can help to stimulate the processes in our body for rest and recovery. I’ve incorporated a daily 2 minute breathing practice into my mornings to help manage the often very busy “monkey mind” and bring greater calm to some of the small daily challenges that can pop up.
- Always make time to move! This is so important. Being physically fit and active goes hand in hand with mental clarity and health. It doesn’t have to be much; walk, run, swim, cycle, lift weights, do yoga, whatever you find fun or engaging. For me I love having challenging fitness goals with a plan to follow, but there have definitely been times where I just want to run with a mate or head out for a walk and coffee with friends and family.
- Help someone. I feel very lucky to be able to help people with their health and fitness goals and now lead and mentor fellow health and fitness professionals in their education and careers. I’ve loved nothing more than being a part of that journey with them, sharing some of the challenges and feeling the reward of progress in our day to day.
The list goes on and is always evolving! For those thinking about what’s on theirs, we have a whole team of health and fitness professionals that would love to listen, learn and help where we can.
