Accountex is a fantastic opportunity to hear lots of perspectives on running your accounting firm better. To learn how to leverage technology, increase productivity, hone your systems. But how often are you considering your mental wellbeing as a system for a stronger, more powerful business?
Self care isn’t just a zeitgeisty buzzword, it’s good business.
Prioritising your health and promoting a behaviour of wellness in your workplace means a happier, healthier and more productive team. And it starts with you – the business owner.
How much time do we waste with minds full, instead of being mindful?
As Accountants we tend to have very strong conscious minds which is useful, but it means we spend a lot of time in our minds in self talk – analysing and over-analysing everything.
I’ve met people who still spend time getting upset about things that happened many years ago. Things they wish had happened differently. Some people are so good at it they make themselves upset, arguing in their head with people who aren’t there. Ultimately they can make themselves unwell.
This is what happens when we constantly run negative movies in our heads: our mind cannot distinguish between real events and imagined events.
How do you react when you watch a scary film on the TV? You jump! Your heart rate and temperature increases. Chemical processes happen in your body, even though the threat isn’t real. You prepare to fight or run. Smart as you might think you are to be able to distinguish make believe from reality, your body has already responded.
When you run a scenario in your head – “I’m upset at this person” or “I’m upset when that happens” or you worry about terrible things that might happen in the future, your body reacts the same way. If it perceives a threat, it shuts down your thinking brain, so you react first and think later.
If your team are spending a proportion of the day lost in their mind, creating stress about things that happened in the past or may never happen in the future, who is actually getting the work done? What could your efficiency be like if all these unnecessary stresses and anxieties were removed?
American philosopher and psychologist William James said “The greatest weapon against stress is our ability to choose one thought over another”.
This is being mindful. As part of the Armadillo Wellness Programme, I’m going to be sharing the best practices you can adopt to help you become more in control of your thoughts so you feel stronger and happier. Imagine how much more you could achieve every day without the nagging stress and anxiety?
The success of your firm and your team depends on individual mental wellbeing and a unified mindset. I look forward to helping you change your mind – it’s as simple and as uncomplicated as that.
Join me at 12 noon, May 12th at People, Talent and Culture.
