The half-way mark

WorkLifePsych News 011

Welcome to the July newsletter. And even though it's still summer (nominally at least - has anyone seen the sun lately?), I have an eye on plans and initiatives for the second half of the year. More on that later.

But what about the half of the year we've just come through? If you made a commitment to some kind of change or goals at the start of the year, the half-way mark gives you the opportunity to check in, evaluate progress and make any course adjustments that might be necessary. 

🔍 Looking back

It's incredibly useful to review our progress on a regular basis. I'm a fan of taking time each week, month and quarter to pause and evaluate how things have been going. It's an excellent opportunity to both bank the wins, but also make adjustments based on your learning, so your future self can benefit.

It's easier than you think. When discussing the benefits of a review, I generally share a model like this with my clients:

• The target: Firstly, what were you trying to achieve? Is it still relevant and important to you? Have your motivations changed? Why precisely do you want to reach this target?
• Wins: Looking back over the last six months, what went well? What progress have you made, and how? How do you feel about the progress you've made? What personal skills and other attributes do you think helped you here?
• Issues: What didn't go so well? What challenges did you face, and how did you respond to them? Can you identify the root causes of these issues?
• Pivots: What can you do differently as a result of this? If necessary, how can you scale back your plans to make them more achievable? How might you generalise your wins to other areas of your life?
• Enlightenment: What did you learn from these experiences? About yourself and the world around you? What have you learnt about making personal change and working towards goals?

Working through a simple review like this can contribute to continued success and an even better second half of the year. There are any number of reasons why we don't make progress towards our goals and you can learn more about them in this episode of the podcast.

🎬 Can you give yourself a fresh start?

What you learn from a review like this can give you the insight you need to make a fresh start when it comes to change. Rather than completely abandoning your attempts at change, due to setbacks or a lack of progress, draw a line under the first six months, and begin a new chapter.

As Katy Milkman points out in her excellent book 'How to Change':

Fresh starts increase your motivation to change because they give you either a real clean slate or the impression of one...

If your goal is still relevant and meaningful, take what you learnt from your review, apply some helpful compassion to your thinking and self-evaluations, and begin again. The most important thing is to learn from a review like this, make the necessary adjustments, and continue on your journey.

Remember: there's still half a year left!

♥️ A wellbeing focus!

Looking ahead to later in the year, wellbeing is going to be my primary focus after the summer. I have an exciting and - I hope! - educational wellbeing campaign planned. This will include podcast episodes, new YouTube content, live events and webinars - all focused on workplace wellbeing, involving some real experts in this space.

Whether it's rest and recovery, strategic wellbeing initiatives, the links between wellbeing and performance, or the role of leaders in promoting sustainable ways of working, I'll be covering all the bases.

Keep an eye on here, on our LinkedIn page our Mastodon account and our Threads account for more announcements in the coming weeks.

⚡️ Is your culture cracking?

In the most recent episode of 'My Pocket Psych', I was joined by fellow psychologist and author of 'Make it Human' Sarah McLellan, for a discussion about the role of organisational culture.

Sarah describes the work she has done in exploring organisational cultures, the impact culture has on the employee experience and the importance of cultivating organisational culture with intention – rather than just letting it emerge. You can watch our discussion below.

💬 Answering your psychological flexibility questions

Our final Psychological Flexibility Q&A session is scheduled for July 30th at 12pm UK time. It's a great opportunity to ask us anything about the skills we've covered in the 'First Steps in Psychological Flexibility' podcast series.

👉🏻 You can join us via the following Zoom link: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86049008087 

Check out the questions I answered in the last Q&A session in this video: 

📆 A date for your diary

A quick reminder of this month's coaching webinar, something we do every quarter.

On July 31st I'll be co-facilitating with the always-excellent Dr. Rachael Skews. We're going to examine how to support employees living with chronic health conditions. This population is both very large and also quite neglected when it comes to considering workplace wellbeing initiatives.

We want to illustrate the scale of the problem, but also illustrate how an evidence-based coaching approach can support these employees in navigating work while living with these conditions. It's a free event and you can reserve your place by visiting our events page here: https://worklifepsych.cademy.co.uk/chronichealthconditions 

✈️ Next stop: Edinburgh

One of the first events in our wellbeing programme is already scheduled. On Wednesday 18th of September, I'm running an Evidence-based wellbeing event in Edinburgh. A collaboration with the team at World of Work, I'll be explaining what it means to be an evidence-based practitioner in the workplace and how HR and L&D professionals can ensure they build their wellbeing activities on the evidence - not just fashions and fads. Oh, and we'll bust a few wellbeing myths along the way!

Attendees will leave with a solid understanding of evidence-based practice, clarity on the common workplace wellbeing pitfalls, and a plan for making wellbeing something that works at work.

👉🏻 Tickets are just £20 and you can reserve your place by visiting https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/workplace-wellbeing-what-works-tickets-913784382687 

I'm really excited about this and the other events we've got planned for you.

Thanks for being part of the WorkLifePsych community.

Richard