Five ways to mental wellbeing.

You will have heard about eating your 5 fruit and veg a day for your physical health. Well now there are 5 things to do for your mental welbeing. At a recent conference in Norwich all was explained. The New Economics Foundation has distilled the report of the Foresight Project: 'Mental Capital & Wellbeing: Making the most of ourselves in the 21st century' into 5 key areas of action that you can take for your mental wellbeing. These are:

Connect …

Connect with the people around you. With family, friends, colleagues and neighbours. At home, work, school or in your local community. Think of these as the cornerstones of your life and invest time in developing them. Building these connections will support and enrich you every day.

Be Active …

Go for a walk or run. Step outside. Cycle. Play a game. Garden. Dance. Exercising makes you feel good. Most importantly, discover a physical activity you enjoy; one that suits your level of mobility and fitness.

Take Notice …

Be curious. Catch sight of the beautiful. Remark on the unusual. Notice the changing seasons. Savour the moment, whether you are walking to work, on a train, eating lunch or talking to friends. Be aware of the world around you and what you are feeling. Reflecting on your experiences will help you appreciate what matters to you.

Keep learning …

Try something new. Rediscover an old interest. Sign up for that course. Take on a different responsibility at work. Fix a bike. Learn to play an instrument or how to cook your favourite food. Set a challenge you will enjoy achieving. Learning new things will make you more confident, as well as being fun to do.

Give …

Do something nice for a friend, or a stranger. Thank someone. Smile. Volunteer your time. Join a community group. Look out, as well as in. Seeing yourself, and your happiness, linked to the wider community can be incredibly rewarding and will create connections with the people around you.

There is a recognition that there is a limit to what government and policy makers can do. Only you can eat your 5 fruit and veg a day, and you are the best person to decide how best to support and improve your mental wellbeing.

There is more information on the nef website: www.neweconomics.org

We are not on our own with this. We are part of families, communities where we live and the communities that we choose to connect with. In addition many people have work colleagues. Giving has to be to someone else even if it is smiling at someone in the street or a corridor.

So as a start here is your homework ;-) what are you going to give, to whom and when. There is space for you to tell us all what you did and how it went.

If anyone is interested in the full Foresight report please email us info@research-plus.co.uk and we can email all the pdf's to you.

For people in East Anglia, a date for your diary. On Sunday 4th October 2009, the Norfolk Mental Health Alliance will be holding its annual 'Fair @ the Forum' from 11.00 till 4.00 at the Forum in Norwich. The focus this year is '5 ways to wellbeing'. We look forward to seeing you there.

Enjoy your week. Until the next time...

Focus on Customer Service

Another set of articles came to my attention this week. Yet again they were concerned with customer service.

Curry's the electrical store has noticed that it is beneficial to promote its customer service rather than aiming at the cheapest price. People are willing to pay a little more if they are getting the added value of additional customer service.

An excellent way of getting some credibility for your customer service is to use a third party organisation to provide that for you.

The credibility has to come in an appropriate way that adds to your business in a powerful way. For instance, would it be a benefit for you to be able to say that over 90% of your customers would recommend you to a friend?

If the industry calls for it then, perhaps you too should think about going down the route of 'best buys'. The web site: www.services-plus.co.uk links to a company with many 'Which best buy' awards. For this company it works.

What would work for your company?

Would a local or a national external company providing third party credibility be of benefit to you?

What do you think?