I am all for trust, human connection and well-being - there is a lot of bad shit happening in the world already. So, from my privileged position of living in a safe environment, and with a lot of opportunities and many kind people around me, I think that life is too short for well-being washing and unnecessary hardship. If I think I know how to make things better, I will speak up.
Mental health and well-being are a serious matter. I have seen a lot and I have struggled a lot with these myself.
Pressing this red button means sounding the alarm and looking for help. Some options are easy, some are not - and different things will work for different people.
For me, one way of dealing with issues is talking to other people and trying to understand if what I am feeling and seeing is only my perception. I am doing all sorts of things to cope and I know there are many ways of dealing with stuff - depending on how critical and serious the situation is.
One of the steps is understanding the issue at hand.
These books have been essential to my well-being, mental stability and my understanding of the things I can do to make my own life a bit better (yes, it is subjective, and yes, it is my life, and yours is often in your hands, too).
My Goodreads - Red Button Books shelf
It is important to talk about what might be going on, when and why. As a teaser, but something I am about to share soon, is the following from one of the books on my shelf:
Our research has identified at least six forms of mismatch that can exist between a job and the person holding it:
- work overload
- lack of control
- insufficient rewards
- breakdown of community
- absence of fairness
- value conflicts
Sometimes a mismatch exists from the beginning, sometimes it reveals itself over time, as circumstances, values and things change.
I do talk about these things with others. I escalate, flag things up and speak out (whether I am effective, or heard, is a different matter). If anything here can help at least one person to navigate the world of work, I will be happy (for starters, I count as one person, that’s covered).
Because these things (and many others) mean a great deal to me, I am writing a book and I will share more on this one day. But for what it’s worth - do have a look at the books on my shelf mentioned above and see if they’re useful to you.
Last modified on 2023-08-12