I take into consideration psychological well being quite a bit. It’s humorous – you don’t give it some thought in any respect till it begins failing you. Then, it’s just about all you may take into consideration. I take into account myself fortunate, although, as a result of I don’t must fake that I’m feeling fabulous once I’m not, and I can communicate brazenly about some struggles that I face. I’m grateful that psychological well being is a dialog the world is having; it’s comforting to know that I’m not alone, and that there’s hope.
Between the World Psychological Well being Day and Movember, I had a chat with Mario Sebastian, VP at Cisco CX EMEA South. I actually appreciated his authenticity sharing his journey.
tenth of October is the World Psychological Well being Day and the shift to prioritizing psychological well being that we’ve been seeing for the previous couple of years was actually echoed on this 12 months’s theme, Psychological well being is a common human proper. What does this theme imply to you?
Mario: I consider psychological well being is simply as vital, or in some circumstances much more vital than bodily well being. Sturdy psychological well being and resilience can assist you endure someof the bodily challenges.
You wouldn’t inform somebody with a damaged leg to simply recover from themselves or drink extra water, however that is what we frequently hear in relation to psychological well being.
Mario: Completely, and consequently, in relation to our psychological well being, generally we don’t really feel open to share our challenges. We fear others would possibly see it as a weak spot. This proves to be true with many males who expertise psychological well being challenges however dismiss their emotions and don’t search assist. They really feel pressured by the society and their surroundings to remain robust and conceal their issues. This will make the therapeutic course of troublesome, as it’s key to recognise and acknowledge that we aren’t effectively, and we must always be capable to discuss our challenges each with our family and friends, in addition to – if we need to, at work. I feel it begins with the leaders, they should create an surroundings the place folks can communicate freely and really feel protected speaking about their troubles. On the identical time, I feel leaders ought to enable themselves to be susceptible and open about their very own challenges with their groups. Don’t shrink back from having these conversations, as troublesome as they could be.
Psychological well being is one thing that we take very significantly at Cisco, and we just lately celebrated the corporate huge Psychological Well being Consciousness Week with the theme of Psychological Well being Unites Us – Shared Feelings, Distinctive Journeys. Because the sponsor of the Mindfulness and Resilience group at Cisco… What journey has led you there? Why is that this subject so vital to you personally?
Mario: In the present day, I follow a variety of wholesome habits like sports activities, yoga, consuming nutritious meals, in addition to meditation. Every day I allocate a while for my very own aware moments, because it helps me discover the stability and preserve each my physique and soul wholesome. Up to now I didn’t pay a lot consideration to it. Typically you really want to hit a wall to recognise you need assistance, and I discovered myself at that time just a few years in the past. I used to be fortunate to get assist from my spouse and a great good friend of mine, who launched me to the world of meditation and yoga. I began to hearken to my physique and my thoughts, and I really feel a lot more healthy now. It’s not at all times good; it’s ups and downs, and it’s vital to be aware and conscious of these moments when you find yourself not feeling nice, and also you would possibly must ask for assist from a trusted particular person or an expert. On the identical time, hitting that wall helped me grow to be a extra aware chief. I need to assist folks embrace the journey to a wholesome physique and thoughts.
Leaders ought to enable themselves to be susceptible and open about their very own challenges with their groups. Don’t shrink back from having these conversations, as troublesome as they could be.
As somebody who has been on a psychological well being journey for fairly some time, I fully agree with what you mentioned about recognising that you simply would possibly want change or assist. All of it begins with consciousness, trigger it’s solely when you find yourself conscious of the issue that you could really do one thing about it.
Mario: And that’s exactly why it’s so vital to foster an surroundings, at residence, with your folks, and at work, the place everybody can present up as they’re. We’re not robots, we’ve got emotions and feelings, and we shouldn’t have to cover them. It’s like what we mentioned earlier: when your physique is unwell, you go to a physician. Why would you deal with your thoughts any completely different and ignore or disguise the issue? We should proceed to boost consciousness and normalising psychological well being issues, in order that sooner or later we received’t must hit the all-time low to lastly get assist we want.
We’re human, and all through our lives we expertise ups and downs. Typically, it’s as a result of issues don’t work in our favour, however generally it could appear we’ve got all of it – a great profession, joyful household, well being, hobbies… And but we don’t really feel good. To make it worse, generally we don’t enable ourselves to handle it, as if our emotions usually are not legitimate.
Whatever the components that undermine our psychological well being, it’s vital that we acknowledge and communicate up about our points. In case you are struggling along with your psychological well being, please don’t let concern of judgement, disgrace or anything cease you from getting the show you how to want. Speak to somebody you belief or an expert and bear in mind, that you simply should be joyful.
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