“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  

“[A]t every single generation people are thinking way more intentionally ... about, hold on, how am I showing up? What am I doing? What am I giving? What am I getting? How do I make sure that I'm not ... overgiving under receiving ... how do I put that in balance?

 On this episode we take on one of the biggest buzzwords of 2022: Quiet Quitting. 

 Join us to learn:

• The wide variety of behaviors that are being characterized as quiet quitting and what’s really at the root of quiet quitting.
• Some tactics you can use to move out of burnout and quiet-quitting.
• What quiet quitting and connection have in common. 

 You’ll also hear why we ultimately believe that quiet quitting is an invitation to us all to figure out how to do life – including work – better.

You can connect with Nita on LinkedIn. You can connect with Becky on LinkedIn, Instagram or at her website – www.untanglehappiness.com  

On this episode of Practice Well(Being) Bree Buchanan joins us to share her story which took her from developing a panic disorder in law school, to practicing attorney in the domestic violence space using alcohol to cope with stress, to losing her marriage and job which prompted her to go all in on recovery. This personal journey ultimately propelled her to be the Chair of ABA’s commission on Lawyer’s Assistance Program and the Founding co-chair of the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being and co-author of its groundbreaking 2017 report, The Path to Well-Being: Practical Recommendations for Positive Change.  Now she’s the president of the Institute for Well-Being in Law (IWIL).

 In this deeply impactful conversation we talked about:

• How who we are and what we do as lawyers works against well-being. 
• The importance of understanding the ways that the world is different and how the “calcified culture” of the legal profession is negatively impacting lawyer well-being. Spoiler alert – we all agree it’s time for some serious evolution. 
• A new vision for the future of work in law which includes well-being and the leadership and army of advocates it will take to get there. 

You can also find Bree on LinkedIn or at IWIL. You can connect with Nita on LinkedIn. You can connect with Becky on LinkedIn, Instagram or at her website – www.untanglehappiness.com  

“If you have a defined purpose, I think that you can also call it the true north or whatever you would. You would say if you have that, I think you can take decisions and link it back to, to this.”

 On this episode of Practice Well(Being) we explored critical topics around sustainability and purpose with the co-founder and CEO of impactvise AG, Adrian Peyer. impactvise is driven by the belief that law firms and in-house corporate counsels are key players in the modern value chain, with a unique position to support the move towards a sustainable future. Adrian co-founded impactvise after 20 years as in-house counsel, General Counsel and Company Secretary.

 In this episode you will hear how:

-        ESG moved from back office to boardroom and from a corporate proposition to a law firm proposition.

-        To identify, articulate and differentiate purpose so that it can be used a tool for decision making, employee retention and client attraction.

-        Purpose is fundamental to sustainability.

 You will also learn a little bit more about the ways that impactvise is helping law firms identify and leverage their purpose with an eye towards ESG progress.

 If you want to learn more you can find Adrian on LinkedIn or at  impactvise You can connect with Nita on LinkedIn. You can connect with Becky on LinkedIn, Instagram or at her website – www.untanglehappiness.com  

“What happened during the pandemic, some [organizations] were leaning on training resiliency in the time of chaos. That’s not the time to do it. Train resiliency when things are calm, cool, and collected…that’s how you build resiliency. Then, when things get cranked up, you focus on peoples’ strength because that’s what brings the best out of people.”

 On this episode of Practice Well(Being) we went on a journey with Adam Reiber, Director of Well-Being at Morgan Lewis – a multi-national law firm with over 2200 lawyers and legal professionals. Adam served 20 years in the US Army before moving into the corporate space and applying the theories of positive psychology he learned in the military at Microsoft and now at Morgan Lewis to fulfill his mission: so that others may thrive.

 This is an incredibly powerful conversation where we discuss with Adam the importance of building resilience individually and organizationally to thrive in work and in life – both when times are good, and especially when they’re chaotic. Adam’s study of human excellence really highlighted for us the power of not just self-care, but of understanding one’s self. We discuss growth and strengths, and why love is the supreme emotion, even in an organization.

 You can also find Adam on LinkedIn or at Morgan Lewis. You can connect with Nita on LinkedIn. You can connect with Becky on LinkedIn, Instagram or at her website – www.untanglehappiness.com  

“Life is always going to happen…you’re going to have a time when you need a time out…I always try to remember the people who stood in the gap for me, and I will always stand in the gap for others…it has amplified my career. To me, when you have a career that feels good, you will have achieved success.”

On this episode of Practice Well(Being) we shared deep conversation (and shed a few tears) with Lynne Espy-Williams, lawyer and Chief Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion Officer at Cozen O’Connor in Philadelphia. 

This is a conversation that touches on early influences and the impact of good examples early in life; on the village it takes to rise to your best self; on the power of sponsorship and mentorship. We discuss the importance of deep, authentic, and psychologically safe relationships in life and in work and that gratitude is a fundamental through-thread to feeling value and bringing value. The importance of all of this on sustaining a purposeful and inclusive culture – and that this is “all of our job.”

 You can also find Lynne on LinkedIn or at Cozen O'Connor. You can connect with Nita on LinkedIn. You can connect with Becky on LinkedIn, Instagram or at her website – www.untanglehappiness.com