Mental fitness – the source for good life and business

While physical fitness has been high on the list for people and employers alike, we still fail to see that we need a similar proactive approach also for our own mental fitness.

As keeping the mind fit demands quite a similar proactive training approach to going to the gym, we have carefully designed and developed the world’s first mental wellness gym for teams. The only difference is that the training object in this mental wellness gym is your mind, instead of your physical body. 

Like in all modern gyms, your training environment here is relaxing and a training journey rewarding. Yes, also somewhat demanding, but that is the purpose. At least if you want to develop a better version of yourself! 

The main differences, compared to physical fitness gyms, are:

• You can enjoy these mental fitness gym sessions easily over the Internet from the comfort of your own office or home; 
• Instead of physical exercises, you participate in training your mind.

What remains the same is – without your individual effort to take part, nothing changes.

How is my mental wellness journey designed?

You start every new mental wellness training program with a self-evaluation, which enables you to notice what you need to train in your inner domain. 

On completing the self-evaluation, there are training sessions with high-quality FullHD videos with a professional trainer Dr. Helena Lass.

After each video training session, you will go through a quiz – this is the feedback that enables you to consolidate what you just learned during the video session.

Answering session r supports learning work-related intrapersonal skills. Applying those intrapersonal skills at work, later on, enables us to overcome the subconscious errors that we have been unaware of. Engaging in questions during the training helps us recall the correct answers, allowing us to reduce our previous subconscious 'programming' and replace it with an aware response.

Your training journey here is designed to change your habits and enhance your understanding. It allows you to have a better quality of life after the training. You will see right away if you passed the quiz. If you did not pass, you are welcome to repeat the training session (fully or partly) once more. You are led from session to session to properly obtain applicable new intrapersonal skills.

No bad grades and no reports to superiors. Instead, training your mind here is a supported and relaxed learning journey that you undertake for your own benefit.

When you have finished all your current training sessions you then start the final self-evaluation process. You once again receive instant feedback on how you have progressed over your training weeks, just like getting real-time feedback from your personal trainer in the gym.

And that is not all, with every single e-training you will access a supporting workbook. It enables you to work out your own individual plan for your achieving excellent mental fitness.

This workbook also includes group discussion guidelines that support making your work and your workplace mentally healthier. When interpersonal wellness becomes a common standard for all, everyone can thrive, and your work gets done faster and with fewer mistakes.

Intrapersonal skills based approach to mental wellness

Awareness-based intrapersonal skills, as taught by Dr. Lass, are essential skills to understand our own internal processes – by obtaining good intrapersonal education, the path to our mental fitness can also be learned and practiced. 

Maybe it is fair to illustrate it like this: learning intrapersonal skills is like learning any professional skill that you solve with your mind. It is similar here. You sit and learn by solving tasks and challenges in your mind.

What's the allure of this approach?

About 90% of the time we use our heads as our main ‘work asset’ instead of our physical bodies. Even if your work is only 20% mental and 80% physical, you still actively use your mind. You have thoughts and emotions running in the background. 

Does this mental wellness gym have a scientific background?

The intrapersonal skills-based approach for looking after our own mental fitness was explained in more detail by Dr. Lass last year. She published her scientific paper: 'Developing Intra-Personal Skills as a Proactive Way to Personal Sustainability - The Preventative Side of the Mental Health Equation' in a book by Routledge that is distributed globally.
 

'Personal Sustainability' by Routledge 2018. Dr. Helena Lass in Norway where she presented her scientific paper during the 'Emotion Revolution' conference (photo: Ingvar Villido).

When mental health problems appear, you act way too late

This new approach is necessary, as looking after our inner domain is something that we tend to postpone or avoid altogether. Let’s look at the gym analogy again. When our physical body is already ill, we need to go to the doctor instead of the gym. The gym is about the prevention of illness. The real purpose of the gym is nipping a problem in the bud. The gum is about training your physical fitness while you are well.

It is the same with your mind – it needs training while you are well. A proactively trained mind enables you to have excellent mental fitness. So, the main reason to proactively take mental wellness gym trainings is to be ready for all situations when the ride gets tough. Have you experienced such mentally exhausting situations? 

We all have! You are not the only one. Probably there are no exceptions. What sometimes leaves us to believe otherwise is that some people fly through the problems by seeing them as challenges, while others get fried and tired and give up. Which are you? 
 

Intrapersonal skills support work

Individuals who effortlessly navigate problem-solving situations thrive because they've gleaned unique insights from prior experiences or have cultivated more supportive habits through exposure.

They probably possess somewhat better intrapersonal skills than others. They know how to deal with stress and avoid burnout. They know how to relax and cope with extreme exhaustion. They might know how to overcome anxiousness or feelings that are depressive. Whereas you probably do not.

How about people in your team? Are they good or bad at keeping calm and solving problems without excess stress? If your answer isn't a definitive 'Yes', they need to improve their intrapersonal skills.

Yes, right now!

It will enable you to prevent the problems in your inner domain from arising in the first place. Proactivity is what the concept of mental wellness is all about! 

What are the benefits of mental wellness?

Excellent mental wellness and intrapersonal skills bring several benefits:

• You are more productive and engaged with what you do;
• You are less distracted and irritated;
• You become less stressed and your burnout risk lessens;
• You get along with others (in your team);
• You feel alive, not just mindful, but more aware of the actual situation and ready to act.

All this becomes achievable for you in case you start looking after your internal domain just as you look after your physical body.

Once you learn new intrapersonal skills, you can experience a life that has much higher inner freedom. It makes stressful situations less stressful inside your mind.
 

Safe haven for developing mental wellness

We look for better vibes. We remember how people handle difficulties and how openly and honestly they communicate. However, while we value honesty, we want all critical feedback to be personal. This training environment does not share your test results with anyone, especially not with your boss. Here we respect everyone's privacy.

Improve productivity and employee engagement

Knowing how to handle difficulties in our inner domain boosts cooperation. There is less toxicity in work environments if people understand their inner domain and lead it well. It enables us to get more done with fewer resources.

If your team is more effective, your work results get better. Your work engagement improves. Your quality of life improves. Your ability to integrate your work with your life improves. That means your family life improves. As a result of a happier and more productive team, you will also see improved business results!

Does this sound great?

Mental fitness then is about learning intrapersonal skills and practicing these as part of our everyday work and life, which supports that we can function at our absolute best. 

Mental wellness does not just happen, as most mental health issues do due to a huge lack of intrapersonal skills. Maybe it is about time you too to learn how to be mentally fit and well? Maybe, it is about time to learn to live a stress-free life without risking burnout.
 

When you experience the training, you might have questions and a wish to meet like-minded people.

Can I ask mental wellness related questions?

As Wellness Orbit is on a mission to make looking after our mental wellness as something normal and beneficial we facilitate a closed Facebook group for all our mental wellness gym trainees. It is a place where you can connect to like-minded people and ask questions and discuss with others what should be our real inner priorities to stay mentally well.

This group is a small ecosystem of mental wellness and fitness-related opinions for you so that you can have support even if your team’s mental wellness gym subscription with us has ended. It enables you to keep going and see that mental fitness is a journey, not a destination.

Yes, this Facebook group is closed to outsiders – it is an alumni group only. However, the good news is, it doesn’t matter what training you take or took or how long you stayed with us – membership of this alumni group is open for you as soon as you start any training. 

How can I find inner motivation?

You can say that every modern professional or leader needs inner motivation. All Wellness Orbit e-trainings support finding your inner drive! We know that no emotional motivation lasts, as all emotions come and go. You will see the best results in your life and work when you put what you learned into practice. 

When what you do becomes your drive, it keeps you going. We know, we have seen all our share of troubles and difficulties and still kept going. What is taught here is tested. It is your starting point or inner journey that has the potential to take you further. What you learn here, enables you to learn more efficiently later on in other areas.

We know that intrapersonal skills are better than external or emotional motivation. Those skills enable you to discover your own inner potential and apply it for your good, as well as for the good of others.

Are you now more motivated to focus on securing excellent mental fitness for everyone in your team? In case you still have questions or need help feel free to contact us. In case you made up your mind, get your personal offer now.

CONCLUSION

We assure you all work-related mental health issues are preventable by focusing on stress reduction, burnout prevention, and proactive mental wellness. The graph by CIPD (see below) shows why you should take action now! Stress and work-related mental health problems are the leading reasons for long-term absence.

This blog post is written by Kaur Lass. Latest update 22.09.2023.