Fa la la la la… Merry everything and a happy, wait, what – we’re in 2023 already?
Give us a break!
Not quite feeling the ‘festive spirit’?
Hopefully, for most of us, some form of time off or time-out is almost here.
Yet, as you jingle all the way into that hard-earned rest, it’s crucial that you intentionally carve some time out for other things that count too. Time to refocus your mental game so you can bring your A-game to get back in the game when the new year arrives.
A recent interview with psychological behavioural analyst, Dr. Marli Jooste highlights how festivities can be used as an opportunity to explore the different ways we can cultivate prosilience with simple mental health practices. Dr. Jooste is actively involved at RAiN Chartered Accountants, overseeing and co-journeying with them as part of their people and leadership development as well as overall wellbeing of staff.
It’s time to think about how we can maintain our prosilience throughout the year. This article provides some insights in this regard.
Be intentional about that break
We get it – it’s time to slow down, soak up the sun and seriously press ‘pause’ on the hamster wheel we’ve been running on. Take a break from all the worries that weigh us down.
According to Dr. Jooste, you should definitely take a break from worrying.
However, it is also the perfect season to be proactive in the way we choose to rest. Dr. Jooste further states that this is actually a golden opportunity to start preparing for a more mentally healthy and specifically prosilient you in 2023.
This, in turn, can help us be better prepared or better equipped to deal with and face the inevitable challenges the new year holds.
Practically speaking, acting upon intentions can be as simple as taking your diary and blocking out specific, realistic times to cultivate rest. Seeing blocks of ‘my time’ may be just what we need to maintain the prosilient edge amidst a hectic schedule. Look, we’re not saying throw caution to the wind here. We’re also not being prescriptive about what you should do with your ‘my time’.
As much as we are wired to work, we’re hard-wired for connection too. And when we connect with what recharges us, we will have the fuel for whatever lies ahead. Even though the concept of ‘rest’ may look different for us all, we all need to give ourselves that permission to take time out, despite the world’s merciless pace and relentless demands.
A proactive approach as we approach 2023
Prepping our prosilience really pays off when the working environment we’ll return to also plays its part in cultivating a more prosilient workforce.
RAiN Chartered Accountants aims to encourage prosilience in 2023 through their most recently implemented 4-day work week. The idea of the 4-day work week is no new kid on the block, but has been gaining momentum in recent years. *From these articles, it is clear that this concept’s efficacy has recently been lauded.
From a psychological perspective, Dr Jooste asserts that the 4-day work week allows for longer recovery and/or recharging over weekends. RAiN Chartered Accountants actively encourages a culture of planning and prioritising to be better prepared, but to also cater for contingencies in day-to-day challenges.
“We, for example, embrace the art of support structures and communication, especially attentive listening, also to one’s own body. Something that I tend to consider as quite exciting, we are almost ready to embark on journaling for some self-reflection, guidance, goal setting and personal growth.”
This is so much more than just scoring a ‘free day off’. In fact, this concept is a two-way street that, if utilised effectively, creates an environment for employees to immerse themselves fully in their work, which leads to increased productivity, and to have more time to engage in self care, like exercise, family time or stress management.
Get that daily dose of gratitude
If the thought of carving out a ‘power hour’ every day to embrace and improve your prosilient self seems too much like work this festive season – take a step back.
Start small.
Give thanks and celebrate what and who you have. Every. Single. Day.
Gratitude can become a proactive catalyst to building better grit for the ‘old faithful’ companion of change that will accompany us into the new year.
“It all starts with that mind shift of starting your day with what you are grateful for. You can start with as little as three things, which already lifts the spirit, as opposed to grabbing your cell phone to start worrying about your never-ending to-do list.” Dr. M. Jooste
And what better time to practice it than now?
We get to rest. We get to gather. We get to slow down. There – three things already.
Rest. And rest well on every level, so we can bring a more ‘probrilliant’ self to the table…
And let 2022 be on its merry way.
*https://edition.cnn.com/2022/11/30/business/4-day-work-week-results/index.html
*https://fortune.com/2022/11/30/four-day-workweek-trial-results-success/
