How is your mental fitness?
Do you want to build wellbeing in your workplace? Denise talks with Dr Paula Robinson about her Mental Fitness model and how it is being used in schools and businesses to successfully improve community wellbeing and increase productivity.
Bio
Dr Paula Robinson is a registered Psychologist and the managing director of the Positive Psychology Institute in Australia. Well respected as a leader in the field, Paula travels all over Australia and Asia to help corporate organisations and educational institutions develop and implement wellbeing programs that employers and employees are happy to use.
The lowdown
In this interview Paula and Denise discuss Mental Fitness as a concept that people understand, relate to and want to engage with. Paula uses Mental Fitness as the process to move individuals, organisations and communities towards better wellbeing.
Mental Fitness gives us the energy and skills to navigate the difficult times in our lives. Like physical fitness, we need to train our mental fitness regularly. The four factors of Mental Fitness are Strength, Flexibility, Endurance and Team:
- Strength is developed through knowing our meaning and purpose in life. Knowing and using our personal strengths are key.
- Flexibility, in the psychology sense, involves being self-aware, self-regulating and accepting of ourselves. Through mindfulness we become aware of what is happening in our lives, without judgement. Through this acceptance we are more self-compassionate which leads to more flexibility.
- Endurance includes our personal resilience. A strong ratio of positive emotions, feeling competent and having control in life and work (self-determination) build this. Self-efficacy is believing in yourself which helps us persevere.
- Team refers to the social support and connections we have with others. Relatedness is necessary to build Mental Fitness. As Paula says, “You can’t move forward and be mentally fit without knowing who’s on your team.”
Additional resources
Read more about Paula’s work with Knox Grammar in Australia: https://www.smh.com.au/national/positive-tools-for-a-lifetime-20140227-33izc.html
Watch Paula’s webinar on building your family’s mental fitness: http://www.parentsnetwork.qld.edu.au/2018/05/23/build-your-familys-mental-fitness-free-6-june-webinar/
Grab a copy of Paula’s latest book, Developing Leaders for Positive Organizing: A 21st Century Repertoire for Leading in Extraordinary Times: https://www.amazon.com/Developing-Leaders-Positive-Organizing-Extraordinary/dp/1787142418
Read Paula’s article on conceptualising and measuring mental fitness in the International Journal of Wellbeing: https://internationaljournalofwellbeing.org/index.php/ijow/article/view/256/443
