HEALTH IN BUSINESS

What is the most important asset in any business or organisation?

Human Health of course… It used to be the tangible assets which included the buildings, plant and machinery – but now it is all about human capital and the people within the organisation who contribute significantly to the intangible assets. e

If you are a small company or self employed, your health, energy and vitality as the owner or leader of your company is essential for your entrepreneurial success.

The research shows that while sickness and absenteeism has reduced over the last 20 years, overall health and wellbeing has been on the decline. When we look at physical health incidence rates for cancer, diabetes and heart related illnesses they are all on the increase.

Mental health affects one in every four people in the UK, and I believe there will be a lot of people that are too afraid to raise their hand and share their fears, worries and challenges.

Before cancer, I never thought I had a mental health problem. Looking back, I can see that the levels of stress that I put myself under were a significant contributor to my illness. There were certain areas of my life that were significantly out of balance and, in some areas, out of control at times.

The thing is, I was too proud to share my inner most fears, worries and concerns and thought I had to climb the mountain, when in fact, what I needed to do was pull the parachute chord get out.

The great news is that all of this can change with the decision for us all to proactively focus on health. On my mission back to health, I have heard experts quote that 80% of modern disease is preventable or reversible.

Health in business will not only impact on the culture and energy of an organisation, it will also positively impact our families and the communities we live in.

Sometimes the challenge is that health can seem overwhelming and complicated so we give up. The information shared is very often conflicting and we don’t know which way to turn. If I had to put health into three simple steps this is what I would say:

Step 1: Focus first – mind over body Your mindset is the best tool in your box. Where your focus goes your energy will flow. If you feel stressed and overwhelmed a lot of the time, don’t be scared to seek support or help.

It doesn’t matter what position you work in, whether you are the CEO or the tea boy or girl – we all need help at times! There is no shame in seeking professional advice for mental health challenges. It is our opportunity in this generation to overcome our challenges and ensure we do not pass it through to the next generation.

Over the last five years I have embraced so many different types of work when it comes to healing my psychology, my emotional capacity and my spirituality.

Given that I was healing from a terminal illness, I was prepared to do any work and embraced it with an open mind. It has included psychotherapy, counselling, healing circles, shadow work, men only work, personal development, shamanic healing sessions, energy healing, breath work, different forms of meditation, yoga, special forces training with Ant Middleton and so much more.

The result of all this, is that it has helped me remember how to feel fully. Those emotions that I locked away deep inside that at times lead me to drink too much, take drugs and do things I am not proud of.

For some, I know psychological healing can be very painful, challenging and take time. That said, once you work through it, the rewards are can last forever.

If you are struggling, find someone you can trust and speak to them, go and see your doctor, speak up and reach out to an organisation like mind.org.uk

I hope sharing this part of my story will plant and seed for others to follow. There is light on the other side, shining bright!

Step 2. Fabulous Food Most would think that to get fit, lose unwanted weight you would have to go to the gym three to five times a week. In reality, most weight is lost outside of the gym. My principle when it comes to food is to eat food that is natural, whole and minimally processed.

At a health event I was speaking at in Monaco last year, I got the opportunity to meet the beautiful Jasmin Helmsley who wrote East to West and she said: “It’s not what we eat, it is how we feel when we eat it.”

This was so important to me because there is so much conflict between different nutrition movements that sometimes I was eating something that was perfectly healthy, but the way I felt about the food was bad. The comment she made was a gamechanger for the way I felt about food having been rigid on a raw vegan lifestyle for two years to that point. Step 3. Functional Fitness To be fit and healthy daily exercise is essential even if it is just a 20-minute walk. The second highest cause for sickness and absenteeism at work after minor illnesses is musculoskeletal issues. This can be caused by the lack of movement and sitting at a desk all day.

My personal vision for my body, which was inspired even more when I completed my first fell run last month (Pipe Dream), is to be ‘Healthy at 100’. At the event I was being overtaken by men and women well over 60. They were super fit and an absolute inspiration.

It is a great time to be alive, we live in one of the most abundant times in human history and health is available to most of us. There are some cases which are out of our control I know, but in the majority it is possible and I am walking evidence.

As leaders within business and organisations, it is our responsibility to lead through inspiration and be role models for future generations. Physical and mental health should not be reactive, it should be proactive. Self-care will replace health care in the coming years and it is never too late!

In January 2020, myself and the team at Fast Way to Fitness were challenged with creating a health community within an organisation, delivering solutions around the three steps I talked about in this article.

The initial pilot has been a huge success and we are looking to work with other organisations and companies to bring health to their employees. Most employees spend a third of their lives at work – so lets take health seriously and support to them. n

MARK BRYANT

If you would like to discuss individual health or a corporate health programme, please feel free to pop down to Fast Way to Fitness for a chat and a drink, or drop me a personal email on mark@ fastwaytofitness.co.uk