Inside this month’s issue:
- Business Book Club
- Wellbeing Wendy Wednesdays!
- Developing skills on resilience and managing stress
The Garrett Learning newsletter. A mental health and wellbeing update to find out what has been happening, what’s new & what’s coming up!
We are * Supportive * Curious * Welcoming * Encouraging * Straightforward * We are Garrett Learning.
What’s been happening?
During my leadership and mental health programmes, I encourage people to leave their work laptops at home if taking some annual leave. We need to take a break, however, I’m going to be honest with you here, it’s a serious case of ‘do what I say, not what I do’.
A few weeks ago, we (husband and I) went away and I thought I needed to enforce this boundary with myself, surely, I need to lead by example here! I didn’t take my laptop on holiday! And it felt GREAT to have a real break!
Do it! Try it! The world doesn’t fall apart.
(Thanks Becks for the image!)
Something else which has been great, is during the last 11 months, I have been part of an online book club – Saltoria Marketing Book Club and Sally Day who facilitates the session has provided a great space to learn and develop. We are currently reading, or in my case, listening to Feel Good Productivity by Ali Abdaal. Come and join us on the last Wednesday of the month. Find out more by clicking here: https://www.saltoriamarketing.com/saltoria-book-club/
Learning and socialising with others are great ways to boost our mental wellbeing!
What’s new?
I’ve been toying with *yet* another idea – ‘Wellbeing Wendy Wednesdays’ However, this is where I need you… what does this look like?
Each Wednesday I would share some wellbeing tips, a tool, app etc – What would you want to see? Let me know!
Here are some mental health, wellbeing and resilience tips to start you off and help set your own boundaries to wellbeing:
- What are you committing yourself to?
Check-in with yourself to see what you are saying yes to. From a work perspective and your social life too. The festive season is around the corner.
I’ve picked up this tip from listening to this month’s current book; Feel Good Productivity. The author shared the approach of either saying ‘Hell Yeah or No’ when someone requests something of you or a decision needs to be made. It’s a concept created by Derek Sivers.
Next time someone asks you to do something or go somewhere, check in to see if your initial response is ‘Hell yeah’.
If it isn’t, ask yourself, should you be saying yes at all?
2) Life isn’t without its challenges.
How do you cope when negative things challenge you? What happens to your thoughts and how do you manage situations or events that are stressful?
We need to understand how we manage stress and pressure to overcome challenges rationally and calmly. When you feel your stress levels increasing, what do you do?
When problems arise we can develop our problem-solving skills further by listening to all the facts available to us which will enable us to make an informed decision.
We need to communicate clearly and be transparent to all parties involved.
After the event, we should take a moment to reflect and review what happened. This will improve our resilience and prepare us if the situation should arise again.
3) Build a great network of people around you.
Yes, you may have heard this before. Some people are ‘Radiators’ and some people are ‘Drains’.
Radiators give off positive energy, they’re great to be around. They’re your cheerleaders. They encourage you and want the very best for you. They spur us on.
Drains do the opposite. They suck the energy out of you. It’s an effort to be around them. They literally drain the life out of those around them.
You choose who to spend your social time with (not always your work time, however you can minimise spending time with the drains). Have a think about who uplifts you, makes you feel energised, you can be yourself around them. They’re your crew!
This model below can also help our thought process. It’s the Circle of Control and Influence by Stephen Covey:
Our inner circle of control is about what we can control ourselves. Such as: Our own actions, thoughts, words used, mindset and choices.
The circle of influence is aspects of our life that we can’t fully control but we may be able to influence it in some way. Such as: Your commitments, other people’s opinions of you, Policies at work, workload.
The outer circle, the circle of concern, is the area that we can not control or influence. Examples of these include: Decisions you have made in the past, the weather, the news, Government policy, football score, what we have said in the past to others, the traffic, what other people say/do/act.
Next time you’re in a bit of a pickle about something, or you are in a stressful situation, what circle does it sit in? If you can’t influence or control that stress factor, we need to ‘let it go’.
What’s coming up?
Obviously another holiday! I think you all know me well enough by now! We’ll be breaking up for the Christmas break on Thursday 12th December and returning to work on Monday 6th January.
We have our training diary open for the first part of the year. Here are the upcoming open MHFA England programmes:
Adult Mental Health First Aid dates (£325 per person):
Monday 18th & Tuesday 19th November 09:00-17:00
Tuesday 10th & Wednesday 11th December 09:00-17:00
Tuesday 6th & Wednesday 8th January 2025 09:30-16:30
Tuesday 18th & Wednesday 19th February 09:30-16:30
Mental Health Skills for Managers (£150 per person):
Wednesday 29th January 09:30-13:30
Tuesday 25th February 09:30-13:30
MHFA half day Aware (£150 per person):
Tuesday 28th January 09:30-13:30
Thursday 20th February 09:30-13:30
MHFA One Day Champion (£195 per person):
Thursday 23rd January 09:30-16:30
MHFA Refresher (£150 per person):
Thursday 12th December 09:00-13:00
Thursday 9th January 2025 13:00-17:00
Wednesday 22nd January 09:30-13:30
Thursday 30th January 13:00-17:00
Thursday 6th February 09:30-13:3
Want to talk to me about group (corporate discounts apply if booking 8+ people) or bespoke training, please send me an email on wendy@garrettlearning.co.uk to discuss your requirements.
To bridge the gap between the MHFA England training and when you come back to complete a refresher, we have the Workplace Wellbeing Hero monthly meet ups!
If you are:
– Promoting mental health in the workplace
– A Mental Health First Aider
– A Wellbeing Ambassador
We welcome you to become a Workplace Mental Health and Wellbeing Hero!
You can join for £20 per month per person (forever!) Find out more by visiting: www.garrettlearning.co.uk/services/workplace-well-being-hero/ or join us for a one off meeting for £35.
What do you get for your money?
- Each month you can attend the live session or watch the recording of an educational workshop.
- We’re joined by guests with alternative wellbeing outlooks
- Attend quarterly workshops, invite your colleagues to help spread the message and raise awareness of mental health and wellbeing. You are a hero after all!
- You’ll connect with other like-minded people to exchange best practices, share ideas and support each other. Ideal if you’re the only mental health-trained person in your organisation.
- Each session will host a Q&A section so you can bring your questions and queries.
I can’t wait to hear from Jo!
What’s coming up?
The Work and Wellbeing Retreat with Garrett Learning isn’t all work and no play! (If you’ve met me in person, you know this is true!)
The Work and Wellbeing Retreat is about:
– Escaping the everyday to focus on you and your well-being
– Enjoying a change of scenery allows to be more creative in our business
– The space gives our mind a chance to rest and think
– When we do nice things for ourselves it makes us feel good
– We meet with new people that spark conversations and ideas
– We deserve the rest!
Could you imagine spending two nights in a luxury hotel room like this? All within a castle? Come and join us on 26th -28th February 2025 to set your intention for the year.
Secure your place with a £100 deposit today. Find out more here: www.garrettlearning.co.uk/work-retreat
Want some help?
Garrett Learning creates welcoming, memorable, and learner-focused learning experiences to reach individual and business goals. Book a discovery call with us to see how Garrett Learning ( www.garrettlearning.co.uk ) can help:
- Lunch and learn workshops
- Leadership and development sessions
- MHFA England Programmes Open courses
- Bespoke training
- 1:1 mentoring
- The Work Retreat
- Become a Workplace Well-being Hero!
Book a chat with Wendy here: https://scheduler.zoom.us/garrettlearning/1-1-cuppa-and-chat
We (Wendy and her growing team!) are here for you when you need us. We are here to hear you! We are kind in nature and open to hearing everyone’s point of view. Our training and overall learning experiences are built to ensure you feel comfortable and can be yourself.
If you want to discuss your future plans, I’d love to hear them! Get in touch!
m: 07859 878 599
c: https://scheduler.zoom.us/garrettlearning/1-1-cuppa-and-chat
l: www.linkedin.com/in/wendy-garrett-7522bb50/
f: www.facebook.com/GarrettLearning
i: www.instagram.com/garrettlearning