If you leave the office early and pick the gym over impressing your boss, are you less likely to get a promotion?
Does wellbeing come at the cost of career success?
Private Wealth Management Association and Inspire2Aspire co-hosted a Laughter Yoga and Wellness workshop for apprentice alumni and apprentices - training our future leaders to use wellbeing as an investment (and not a cost) in their lives. This includes managing stress sustainably, positively reframing challenges, using mindfulness & breathing to improve performance and reaping the benefits of staying healthy and happy.
All this while succeeding in their careers.
Did you know wellbeing and career success are positively related?
When you take the time to exercise, eat healthy and give yourself time for recovery, physical wellbeing reduces the number days you’re taking sick leave. What’s more – it reduces medical expenses for you and your organization.
According to the Centre for Workplace Mental Health, every year, work-related stress causes 120,000 deaths, and stress-related health costs have skyrocketed to an annual cost of $190 billion. Physical wellbeing includes a healthy relationship with success, where you strike a delicate balance between stress and performance. Optimizing on the eustress (good stress) and knowing how to deal with distress (bad stress).
When you create Positive Relationships at Work, you’re able to collaborate better, promoting creativity and innovation at your organization. What’s more, a social support circle makes us more resilient and happier. According to the Alameda County Studies, men and women without ties to others were 1.9 to 3 times more likely to die from ischemic heart disease, cerebral vascular disease, cancer, or a host of other diseases within a nine-year period compared to individuals with many more social contacts.
We need to master social and emotional intelligence to improve our relationships, especially in a digitally connected world where many people value quantity over quality. Social Media can be a double-edged sword, which is why a better relationship with technology matters too.
With Positive Emotions, you have hope, efficacy, optimism and resilience to deal with life’s challenges and turn them into learning opportunities. With Positive Reframing, especially in a VUCA World of increasing volatility, complexity, uncertainty and ambiguity, you can still thrive.
Wellbeing applies on a body-mind-spirit level. A clear mind lets you focus and not fall prey to distractions. This is where mindfulness comes in handy. Meditation also helps with stress management. It causes our adrenal glands to dial back production of the stress hormone cortisol. The increase in blood flow to our brains improve performance, attention span and memory, while deeper breaths let us take in more oxygen.
What’s more, a sense of meaning and purpose in your work creates passion and perseverance. It also means more loyal, engaged employees that are likely to stay longer at an organization. Research by Limeade Institute found that when employees feel they have organisational support and wellbeing resources, they’re more likely to recommend their company to a friend.
To the finance professionals that love statistics, is wellbeing a cost or an investment in your life?
A huge thanks to PWMA for inviting us and Phoebe Yeung for organizing. Thanks to all the participants!
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