Speaker: Lianne Sipsma, Global Managing Partner , The Kaya Group
Is wellbeing a personal matter?
Lianne Sipsma: It would be nice if we could gift wrap wellbeing and express post it to everyone. But unfortunately, it doesn't work that way. Wellbeing is not something that you get given. It's something that you have to work for. Everyone of us has a vital role to play in creating environments within which wellbeing can be developed, our own and the communities within which we live, whether that's our family, team, or the organizations within which we work. We need to step up up and take ownership of our own personal wellbeing journeys. And one of the starting points is understanding what are those wellbeing resources and supports that we have available to us in order to face those challenges and demands that typify life today.
What do you mean by wellbeing?
Lianne Sipsma: Wellbeing is a state of being, and that state might be a mental, physical, emotional, social or spiritual state. But when we're in a good place, mentally, spiritually, physically emotionally socially, then that's what we call optimal wellbeing. When you're in that optimal wellbeing zone, life feels good. You do well. Work feels good too, and you do well at work too. We feel positive, engaged, fulfilled, and equipped to deal with the challenges and demands that we face in our daily lives.
What is wellbeing not?
Lianne Sipsma: Wellbeing is not a quick fix. It's not just a tick on a to-do-list and it's not a range of feel good self- care remedies that we might pick up on social media. Our personal wellbeing must be proactively managed, deliberately pursued and fiercely defended. Our very lives depend on it.
How does wellbeing work?
Lianne Sipsma: Wellbeing is a dynamic state. That means it's changing, shifting all the time. And one of the ways that we can understand wellbeing is to see it a bit like a seesaw, that piece of playground equipment from our youth. That means that we have it moving up and down. On the one hand, we have those perceived challenges and demands that we face in our daily lives in whatever context - at home or at work. But on the other side of the seesaw, are our wellbeing, resources and supports. Those things that equip us to be able to face those challenges and demands. It makes sense, therefore, that if we're able to proactively load and front load our wellbeing resources and support, we'd feel like we're in a better position to be able to manage those challenges and demands.
Is wellbeing important now?
Lianne Sipsma: Challenges to our wellbeing come in many different forms. It could be a conflict with a team member, perhaps it's financial pressures that we're facing, physical illness, significant life changes, environmental challenges. And today, even more so as a community, we face significant global uncertainties, making wellbeing all the more important to us. And as we face these challenges, some of which we've never navigated before, well, we need to feel equipped to be able to handle them. Our wellbeing resources are vital to dealing with these challenges. In fact, wellbeing is an antidote to the demands and challenges we face in current times.
