MARCH 17 2016

AS SEEN IN HAPPY + WELL BLOG [WELLNESS@WORK EXPO]

When thinking about our career development, most start by looking at what they’re doing, what they want to be doing and the opportunities to develop, advance and change.

However, the most fundamental piece in this whole equation is often overlooked – our own wellness. As career coaches, we see that those who make good choices in terms of their mental and physical wellness are at their best and as a result, they achieve superior career and life outcomes.

Given this correlation between individual wellness and career success, we started researching this in 2009 and discovered from the evidence that there are 6 behavioural elements that facilitate wellness at work. We call them the 6 cylinders of wellness® and they are:

NUTRITION – ignoring generic advice and getting a tailored diagnostic on what your body needs right now;

ACTIVITY – we’re built for movement. Being in motion every 45min and getting at least 30min of low intensity activity [i.e. walking] per day– that’s it;

OUTLETS – those hobbies that unplug us from the matrix and create a FLOW experience;

SLEEP – no blue screen technology in the sleep zone and consistent rest patterns;

SOCIAL CONNECTIONS – regular face to face contact with positive people;

TIME OUT – holidays and mini-breaks as part of our life DNA.

The empirical research isolated these factors and show that those with a higher 6-cylinder profile experience less stress, greater mental alertness, more energy and less fatigue, higher self-esteem, better memory, greater fulfilment, less workload pressure, greater focus and higher overall levels of happiness.

Now imagine the career success achieved by harnessing all of these wellness outcomes.

From our experience, we observe confident networking, strategic career decisions, time and focus professional development, superior problem solving and taking on new opportunities with a positive and successful mindset.

Further, our own research in 2014 showed that by making small shifts to these 6 cylinders, Australian staff were able to reduce their stress levels by 8% and their workload pressure by 16%, while increasing their focus, concentration and memory.

So whether your goal is a career change or career advancement, the first priory is a focus on your wellness to unlock all of your resources and to be at your very best.