What were your biggest fears in your growing years?

I’d say my biggest fear has to be the fear of instability. As we all know, the pandemic has hit everyone from businesses, employees, families, to individuals. My fear of instability definitely is a recent fear that we all were forced to face, to pivot, change, and adapt to a situation where no one was prepared for, and make decisions, with no confirmation if it’ll actually help.

How did you overcome those fears?

Realizing that everyone is facing these same fears. Everyone is trying and adapting to the biggest challenge of trial and error all over the world. To me, there is some form of peace when I know that I’m not alone in feeling these fears. So to help myself, I choose to help others too, and I believe by doing that, we help lift each other from the same place of darkness.

What were your workplace anxieties when you started your professional career? How did it overall impact your performance?

Definitely, my self-esteem was one of the hardest things to overcome at the beginning of my professional career. The anxieties of feeling not good enough, if I were to mess up in some way, the fear of failure all overwhelmed me.

How did you overcome those anxieties?

I would list areas that I am good at, and areas that I would need more help in. I write my end of the year journal of things I learned, things I mastered, things I’ll need to develop for the next year. This way, I learned that the areas where I often feel anxious about, I treated them as an area for me to learn and develop. When I eventually do, I realize that I overcome my fears, by writing them down.

What do you wish professionals knew about mental health?

That there are down days. Everyone feels them. Some take minutes, hours, days, and some others need longer time to recuperate. Mental health, just like physical health, needs nourishment, rest, and kindness. Having a down day doesn’t mean the staff is being lazy, but rather, they need rest. As long as we get professional help, to strategize a way to get better, rest is still essential.

What are the workplace practices that can worsen or enhance the mental health of employees?

Personally, as I have been a staff, and also a business owner, there are many things that are up to the system to improve the mental health of their team, but at the same time, it is also up to the individual to seek out their own path to be mentally healthy. I believe that when the task is disassociated from the individual, all members of the organization can focus on the task, and not see it as something personal when a suggestion of correction is implied. At the same time, disassociating the individual from their behaviours. When the time comes to correct a particular team member, it is the observable behaviour that is corrected, not to label the individual.

What are the major causes aggravators of mental health problems associated with work?

Definitely toxic behaviours in the office. Behaviours like encouraging speaking down on other team members, not being accountable, and so on.

Describe a “healthy mind” in your own words

It is not easy to achieve a healthy mind. Just like our body, we can’t be 100% perfect. My perception of a healthy mind is a mind that is resilient, understanding their individual strengths and areas of improvement, and knowing when to stop and learn. Just like your own body, you’d need to know what are your strengths, parts of your body that you’d need to strengthen, and knowing when to monitor and make changes to what needs to improve.

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