“Everything I’ve done to date in the fitness industry is a search for truth. How do we live and perform and manage all of the stressors of life in the best ways possible?”

On this episode of Practice Well(Being) we kick off 2023 with Anders Varner, the host of the Top 10 Health and Fitness Podcast, Barbell Shrugged and a founder of R.A.P.I.D. Health Optimization, a high precision, custom-health solution designed to optimize health and achieve peak performance. 

We all aspire to perform to the best of our ability. Anders describes his pursuit to spearhead change in “performance healthcare.” In this conversation, we discuss what optimal health means and the importance of assessing the root causes and hidden stressors that can be hindering optimal performance. “We can never perform beyond the level that our physiology is constrained.” As we look to a fresh start on the year, Anders encourages us to understand the truth of our health today, make data-driven decisions that enable us to take action, build habits, and confidence toward a more optimal future.

You can find Anders at www.andersvarner.com and www.rapidhealthreport.com. His podcast is title Barbell Shrugged and you can follow him on Instagram at @andersvarner and @barbell_shrugged.  You can connect with Nita on LinkedIn. You can connect with Becky on LinkedIn, Instagram or at her website – www.untanglehappiness.com  

How can you run a great team? How can you really be a servant leader, an empathetic leader, a grateful leader, whatever you know you're working on, and not address mental health? It's by far the number one issue in the workplace, you know, And the pandemic just accelerated everything on anxiety and mental health.

 The statistics are stark. Pre-pandemic 18% of workers had an anxiety disorder sufficient to interfere with their ability to do their job. By 2022 that number jumped to 32%. Moreover 42% of workers in their 20s had an anxiety disorder.  And 50% Millennials and 75% of Generation Z workers have quit a job for mental health reasons. 

 In this conversation, we talked about ways to address anxiety – and mental health more broadly - in the work place including:

• The importance of being an empathetic leader. 
• Four questions you can answer as a leader to reduce the anxiety of your team. 
• The role of gratitude and recognition.

 Chester made a compelling business case for making a cultural investment in mental health as a tool for engagement and success. This is a must listen conversation for every leader.

You can find Chester on LinkedIn or at https://thecultureworks.com/.  You can connect with Nita on LinkedIn. You can connect with Becky on LinkedIn, Instagram or at her website – www.untanglehappiness.com  

"When we think about mental health, the first thing is we must understand that it's something we all have all of the time. So from the moment you are born to the moment you die, you have mental health. There isn't a moment on earth that any human being has ever been alive and they've not had mental health.”

October is Mental Health Awareness Month, and on this very special episode of Practice Well(Being) we shared deep conversation with Nick Taylor, co-founder of Unmind and former lead clinical psychologist with the NHS. Nick and his team at Unmind are transforming mental health and well-being in the workplace with their platform that helps drive performance for organizations, while empowering people to lead healthier, happier lives.

Nick is incredibly inspiring, with a background and story that draw you into the human experience – what is it that makes us who we are? This is a conversation that explores destigmatizing mental health, the variables that impact our mental health and well-being, the role our place of work plays in our mental health, and the critical role of data to measure and manage baselines and progress.

You can find Nick on LinkedIn or at nick.taylor@unmind.com.  You can connect with Nita on LinkedIn. You can connect with Becky on LinkedIn, Instagram or at her website – www.untanglehappiness.com