Great Leadership & Great Wellbeing

Great leadership and great wellbeing go hand in hand so, if you're currently planning your training and development schedule for 2015, remember to include content that helps everyone perform at their best every day.

We design and deliver wellbeing modules to fit leadership programmes of all durations.  Take a look at our recent blog demonstrating how effective it can be to position wellness as a component of great leadership - with the right initiatives, dramatic results can be achieved in weeks, consolidated over months and will last for years. 

Click the link to read more: How long does it take to change healthy living habits?

As far as impacting individuals is concerned, here's just one example of the great results that are possible.  Imagine your whole business full of people like this...
 
'Since the programme, I am pleased and proud to report that I have lost 22lb in weight.  I ran my first half marathon in June and have registered for another in 8 weeks time.  I bought a bike and have fallen in love with cycling and now even enjoy the time I spend in the gym which was previously my idea of hell!
 
I have transformed my diet and I have never felt so alive and healthy.  I stay hydrated and sleep at least 8 hours every night, more if I can.  Long may this new lifestyle continue, thank you.'

You can read further examples of great wellbeing results here: Feel healthier, sleep better, balance life, feel great

So if you'd like some dramatic results for your colleagues and your business in 2015, contact us today to find out how you can best incorporate wellness initiatives on your leadership, training and development programmes.

In the meantime, we've compiled The Top Ten Quickest and Most Effective Healthy Lifestyle Changes.  Email info@the-tonic.com today to request your copy of this fact sheet.

For regular wellbeing updates and motivation follow The Tonic on Twitter.

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Wellness & Personal Performance Made Easy: Part 1

I wrote this series of articles for HR Zone.

During the last 15 years of delivering wellness solutions to businesses, two things have become very clear. 

1. The improvements that people would like to make to their wellbeing are usually very simple; the most popular including the desire to get fitter, increase energy levels, lose weight, sleep better and experience an improved sense of balance in life. 
2. There’s an endless array of challenges, issues and reasons why people struggle to achieve these seemingly simple wellness objectives.

So to help individuals navigate their way around daily challenges to peak wellbeing and reach a healthy, happy lifestyle quickly and effectively, this three-part series will highlight fast and easy success strategies relating to personal fitness, excellent energy levels, healthy eating and great sleep.

By the end of the sequence of articles, you’ll be able to fast-track any wellbeing changes you’re considering personally and you’ll also be in a position to share the information with colleagues, family and friends. 

So, here's the first installment of targeted tips for quality sleep, fantastic fitness and creating a food routine that works for you, all directed towards optimum personal performance and a calming sense of balance and control in life.

Good sleep enhances the quality and enjoyment of everything you do

It’s tempting to steal time from sleep in order to pack more into the day, but one should always be mindful of the quality of what you do as well as the quantity of things on your list.  At some point, skipping sleep can create a situation where although we do more, we might end up achieving less. The ideal situation is to establish a sleep routine that leaves you rested, recharged and refreshed ready for a day of being effective and productive. You’re far more likely to enjoy a busy routine of work, family, friends and hobbies if you’re well rested. Plus, if you enjoy life more, you’ll sleep better and so the virtuous circle continues.

Routine is key: choose a bedtime and a wake time

You probably have a rough idea of how much sleep leaves you feeling refreshed so set yourself a time by which you’d like to be asleep in the evening, and a time to wake up in the morning based on leaving yourself the right number of sleep hours between the two times. Experiment over a few nights until you establish the optimum times for you.

Establish what’s going on with your food routine

In the midst of a busy life, making progressive improvements to your current approach to healthy eating is likely to be easier than attempting to change everything about your food routine all in one go. For best results, target your efforts carefully. Begin by keeping a food diary for at least three days. Simple notes will be fine – the content, timing and quantity of what you eat and drink – and this will help you identify and make the most effective changes right away.

Decide what to stop, start or continue

Clearly identify what meals, snacks or food products you will be removing from your current routine, what you’ll be adding to your routine that’s not currently there, and what you’ll continue with. For the latter group, be specific about which of these things you’ll be having more of, what you’ll have less of, and what will continue at their current level of consumption. For example, you may identify that you’d like to drink more water, drink less coffee, eat more fruit or vegetables and decrease your portion sizes. Some elements of your food routine will be fine for content and quantity so you can continue with these, although you may wish to experiment with the timing of various meals or snacks and see what routine provides you with the most consistent energy and focus.

Be very clear on how much time you need for exercise

Time is precious so decide how much of it you'd like to spend on exercise each week. You might be pleasantly surprised by how little time staying fit will require. Most people need just two to four hours a week but many are put off exercise completely by the idea that they need much more. Don’t stress about carving out loads of time for exercise that you might not actually need.

Think quality, not quantity, and refine your approach based on results

Remember the most important thing is to maintain regularity with activity and make the best use of the exercise time you do have available. The easiest way to establish how much time you’ll need is by being clear on your objectives and identifying how long you’d like to take to realise them. Based on this information, devise a plan of what exercise you’ll do each week and schedule specific days and times for your activities. Roll out your plan and then review the time you require based on your weekly progress. If you’re looking for faster results, modify your plan slightly, changing either the number of workouts per week, the duration of your workouts or the intensity of your activity. 

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Fast-Track Wellbeing Results with Senior Management Buy-In

When wellbeing messages are trumpeted from the top of an organisation, the effect of positive role models, consistent communication and enthusiastic support is invaluable in helping people throughout the business understand how their individual, personal health and wellbeing is important, valued and a priority.

Take some recent feedback below that we received following one of our wellbeing workshops.  With this positive attitude driving the organisation forward, it's easy to see how a wide audience can be engaged, motivated and inspired to get involved.  

Indeed, these sentiments are a major part of creating the culture that many businesses strive for which is one where people welcome the opportunities offered to them by their company to take better care of themselves, resulting in enthusiastic opting in to a variety of initiatives.  People in these organisations actively want to get involved rather than feeling as though they should get involved.

The best wellbeing programmes should always be much more about the carrot than the stick which is why it's great for us to hear comments like this...

'Thank you again for your very informative Health, Wellness and Personal Performance presentation last week for our 60+ members of staff. 

It's extremely important in our high-paced, energetic working environment to maintain a healthy work / life balance and understand how the type of work we do (with the traveling, late nights and international expectations) can effect our overall wellbeing. 

Everyone on the team has made 3 commitments that they are working towards over the next few weeks, with the goal of integrating these new practices into their long-term routines - I hear people chatting about their commitments in the kitchen or commenting on their lunch choice for the day in relation to their goals. 

Clearly, the points raised in your presentation really have stuck with everyone and we look forward to your follow up in a few weeks time. We'd like to have you back to share this presentation with the other areas of the business as well.'

Photo by Andrew E. Larsen on Flickr.com

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2014 Update on The Single Most Effective Strategy for Guaranteed Wellness Results

One of our most popular blog posts from last year was:

The Single Most Effective Strategy for Guaranteed Wellness Results in 2014

We talked about small, simple wellbeing changes and how making progressive steps consistently will, very quickly, add up to dramatic and satisfying results.

Three months have passed since we wrote the blog so I thought it might be a good time to encourage everyone to check in with their progress and ask themselves:

• Is my health, wellbeing and personal performance the same, better or worse than it was on December 4th 2013?

• Have I completed simple daily actions towards optimising my wellbeing during the last 3 months?

• What have I done each week for the last 3-months to review and improve my wellbeing?

Once you've answered these questions the remaining question is simple:

• What would I like my health, wellbeing and personal performance to look like in 3-months (June 2nd 2014) and what will I do each day, each week and each month to ensure I achieve this objective?

As a little motivation, here are quick updates from 3 of our programme participants who followed the approach for 4-weeks:

'I'm sleeping a lot better probably due to better energy regime during the day.' 

'I am still doing more sport/running than I ever did before, so generally feeling very good.'

'I have managed to bring down my weight from 69kg to 66kg.'

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Some Wellbeing Motivation: Simple Changes, Fast Results

As we approach the end of February I thought it might be helpful to share some feedback from a few workshops we've run since the beginning of the year.

As ever, those who've had good results have kept their lifestyle changes simple and have been rewarded by feeling the benefits quickly.  Here are a few ideas for changes you might want to make and the positive results you could experience.

Thanks for the reminder. I did achieve some goals.   I lost two kilogrammes, slept better, ate less.  I will keep doing these things. 

The chosen commitments were:

• Eat more vegetables and better portion sizes
• 3 times exercise per week.  Every time more than half hour
• Sleep regularly

Thanks for the reminder: wellbeing goes well and and I lost 2 more kilos already - gym nearly twice a week.

The chosen commitments were:

• Go to the gym 2+ a week - lose 2 more kg
• Drink 2 litres of water, no more than 3 coffee = more productive
• Reduce sweets to once a day

So far , I've got all 3 of my commitments on track.  Now to maintain the momentum J

The chosen commitments were:

• Run, cycle, swim or gym 3 times/week
• Sleep more than 7.5 hrs at least 3 times a week
• Drink more water.  More than 2 litres a day.  And reduce caffeine/coffee in morning

Another participant has quit smoking and one noted that he'd finally managed to change his pattern of snacking throughout the day to achieve better energy levels.

Another commented, 'Thanks for a good session the other week.  it was very well received'.

You're very welcome.

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Free Toolkit To Boost Health & Energy In Your Organisation

To make it easy to keep your staff healthy, happy, engaged and motivated, sign up for our free wellness toolkit.  

The toolkit includes access to everything you need to inspire colleagues to get active, eat well, sleep better, build personal resilience and achieve a balanced lifestyle.  

The toolkit contains:

• Regular wellbeing tips: practical advice for your colleagues and strategic input for your business

• A regularly updated catalogue of fact sheets on key wellbeing topics

• Real world reviews of wellness initiatives in action to help you refine your ideal programme

• A complimentary wellbeing audit for your business - the simplest way to pinpoint how to take the wellbeing of your staff to the next level

• Preferential rates on our wellbeing workshops leading to results like these: 'More energy, less stress, get fit and eat well'

• Preferential rates on our wellbeing days and events generating feedback like this: 'How to run an amazing wellbeing event'

To receive your free company wellness toolkit all you need to do is email us at info@the-tonic.com and write 'wellness toolkit' in the subject line.

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Press Release: Busy Workers Risk 'Premature Ageing'

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Date: 4^th June 2013

Contact: Jeff Archer

Tel: 020 8995 1302

Email: jeff@the-tonic.com

Busy Workers Risk ‘Premature Ageing’

80% of executives record a body age 10-20 years older than their actual age

Modern working life is taking such a toll on the health of busy executives that the majority fail to achieve ‘normal’ results during targeted health assessments.  One sample found that 80% had a 'body age' between 10 and 20 years older than their true age.  

In a wider study, 37% had blood pressure readings indicating hypertension and 52% had a body fat percentage above the recommended healthy range.  

These statistics were gathered during leadership programmes attended by participants from a variety of global businesses.  Data was collected by wellness and resilience companies The Tonic and Fit2Lead.  

Tonic Director Jeff Archer explained, ‘We provide these lifestyle assessments to business leaders and executives to help them better understand how to manage their health and energy for improved day-to-day performance.  Positioning wellness and resilience as integral components of successful leadership provides participants with the ideal opportunity to assess the effectiveness of their current lifestyle routines and get motivated about priority areas for change.’

This format has proved to be an enormous success.  One participant commented that, 'the stress relief and energising effects are by far the biggest benefits for me’ while another felt that, following the programme, their ‘energy levels are more under control as are my productivity and ability to achieve more’. ’ Other participants reported that ‘finding out my body age was a real wake up call’ and ‘this provided me with the reality check I needed to start to make changes’.

Fit2Lead Director Adrian Smith added, ‘More and more companies are recognising the importance of resilience, ‘the bounce back factor’, in today’s complex and challenging business environments. The body age analysis has been a brilliant way for executives to learn more about the extent to which the rigours of modern working life affect the body, and it provides the ideal starting point for developing a resilience action plan to achieve a more positive balance.

To find out more about corporate wellbeing and resilience programmes contact Jeff Archer at The Tonic on 020 8995 1302/ jeff@the-tonic.com  

Image by Flickr:  TheeErin

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Inspiring Wellness Success Story 13

'Eat the Elephant one slice at a time'.

Next in our series of success stories, a powerful illustration of how some simple planning with sleep, exercise and how much coffee to drink led to improved energy levels lasting for years.  A very clear example of how a few moments of focused thought can result in better performance and enhanced enjoyment of life for the long term.

Here's what made the difference for this individual:
The date of the wellness programme you attended 

Spring 2008

The lifestyle changes you made during programme

• Getting more sleep
• Taking regular exercise
• Drinking less coffee 
• Thinking in the morning, about when I am going to sleep at night. It secures a better rhythm, and it was something I learned from you

The lifestyle changes that have stuck with you to the present day 

All of the above

The secrets of your success with wellbeing 

Eat the elephant one slice at a time. If I had tried to do massive changes I am sure it would not have stuck. With the smaller adjustments I made, these have stuck as they were easy to implement - and they have made a big difference.

What advice that you received made the greatest impact on you? 

When you get up in the morning already start thinking about when you are going to bed at night

The biggest benefits of making your lifestyle changes? 

More surplus energy

Anything that got in the way of success with wellbeing 

No - as with all changes, they take time and there will be lapses. But having made small changes, these are easy to revert to if I have fallen off course

When wellbeing is working for you, what are the key elements that make the difference?  

Plan your sleep
 

Read the previous instalment of our Inspiring Wellness Success Stories here

Order your copy of “Successful Corporate Wellbeing Programmes: How to create a dynamic, energised and engaged workforce and boost business results” from our website today.

Image from Flickr: ohad*

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Huge Appetite for Company Healthy Eating Plan

**Press Release**

700 employees download new programme in just one week

Over 700 employees have downloaded a new company-wide healthy eating plan within its first week of going live.

The plan, which was designed by wellness company The Tonic for British Gas in conjunction with the British Gas Wellbeing Team, contains a comprehensive selection of meals, snacks, recipes and shopping lists, along with healthy living resources for staff working in a variety of different environments including those based in offices and those working in the field.

British Gas National Wellbeing Manager Helen Knight explained, ‘We’re aware that healthy eating can be a real challenge across our business, so we wanted to provide our employees with a practical solution.  Our aim is to be proactive in supporting our people to take good care of themselves.  The healthy eating plan looks fantastic and we’re delighted that it has proved so popular already’.

Tonic Director Jeff Archer says, ‘In putting this programme together our aim is to make healthy eating as easy as possible for people who we appreciate are time poor.  The plan includes plenty of suggestions to cater for all tastes along with practical advice to help everyone fit healthy eating into the busy routine of work and family life.’ 

For more information on The Tonic and their corporate wellbeing programmes contact Jeff Archer on 020 8995 1302 or jeff@the-tonic.com

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