Smarts and Stamina - Latest Comments

Re: I’m About to Pop!

Suzanne Levy — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 23:35:25 -0000

Wonderful that your pregnancy has been such a great lesson in self-care and more wonderful times on the way with baby James - sending lots of positive thoughts to you both!

Re: I’m About to Pop!

Nicole Fallowfield — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 15:21:40 -0000

You're absolutely beautiful--inside and out! Congratulations and best wishes on the delivery!

Re: I’m About to Pop!

Kim Acedo — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 15:13:08 -0000

Beautiful post and pictures!! Love that Baby James likes oranges - he's going to be a healthy boy!

Re: I’m About to Pop!

Louisa Jewell — Wed, 10 Jun 2015 15:07:44 -0000

Amazing Marie Josee!! I wish you all the best with the 'popping' part! You look so happy and vibrant. Cherish every moment! Much love. Louisa

Re: Can The Arts Contribute to Health Promotion?

MJ Shaar — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 08:43:52 -0000

Thanks, John! I'm happy you enjoyed it, and thanks for taking the time to share your thoughts! ;-)

Re: Can The Arts Contribute to Health Promotion?

John Howe — Thu, 23 Apr 2015 08:34:18 -0000

What a beautiful, helpful article! And so thoroughly researched and footnoted. Well done, and thanks!

Re: Business Practices that Undermine Worksite Wellness

MJ Shaar — Thu, 26 Feb 2015 08:43:03 -0000

Hi Dee! Thanks for your comment! I love seeing you here! ;-)

You know that I'll agree: building from strength is much more encouraging and it helps us deploy higher quality energy that dwelling on what's wrong. Absolutely! That's the whole premise of the Smarts and Stamina Health Promotion Model, and the lead principle behind 90% of what we do. However, I do see value in pointing out what's wrong, on occasion. It provides a change of tone, a different perspective and shields us from being perceived as overly happy-happy while ignoring the harsher realities (note that women are accused of it more easily than men, too). So I'm trying to hit a balance.

I also agree with not only highlighting what's wrong, but quickly following it up with constructive suggestions. This post was originally supposed to be structured that way, but since it became too long and we feared that readers wouldn't make it to the end (where solutions were), we decided to break it down in 2. If you saw the end of this post, then you saw that we're already announcing that the solution part will be posted in the next article - and then each of the solution mentioned will be explored more deeply in a series of follow-up posts. ;-)

Love having you here! Thanks for your contribution!

Re: Business Practices that Undermine Worksite Wellness

Dee Edington — Wed, 25 Feb 2015 21:24:34 -0000

This is may or may not be a good list of what's wrong, but I much prefer to start with what's right about what we are doing and build on our strengths. We have too many strengths to divert our attention onto thinking about the negatives; let's think about the positives and we can be the breeding ground for Next Practices to lead the profession. I believe that would be our major gift to the profession.

I believe in disruptive innovation and have been doing this for some time now: I did the disruption and then followed during the same talk with the needed innovation. However at this point in time we have too many individuals doing the disruption without the innovation. Fortunately, the members in this forum are experienced and understand your intention.

If the group feels we need a list then let's do it; I am sure we can build one. I used a different type disruptive innovation list in Orlando, which we (EA) used to build out our current recommendations.

dee

Re: Incredibly Inspiring But Totally Odious Worksite Wellness Idea

MJ Shaar — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 10:30:15 -0000

You bring up an interesting perspective, Brian, and thanks for chipping in! I agree that everyone would benefit if we could eliminate our vendor-centric tendencies. You also allude to marketing schemes when you say we are overselling wellness - and that too is very cheesy. It goes against the authenticity our services need to come from and foster.

There might be a follow-up post in this conversation - all the ways in which we are shooting ourselves in the foot while trying to figure out how to get people engaged in wellness! To the extent that traditional business practices are part of the problem, then imitating them to solve the problem might not be the best area for us to explore - LOL!

Re: Incredibly Inspiring But Totally Odious Worksite Wellness Idea

Brian Passon — Thu, 12 Feb 2015 08:54:42 -0000

Great points! If employees were willing to pay then we would be one step closer to success.

Our industry would be so much more exciting and relevant if we considered the employees, the actual end user, as a consumer. This would force organizations to treat their wellness programs like mini "start-ups". The wellness program would need figure out creative and innovative ways to create a healthier workplace that was meaningful for employees. This would make everything so much more culture centric rather than vendor and/or risk centric. While requiring patience to develop and some failures along the way, in the long run, wellness would be able to help people and organizations flourish because they would developed and marketed with people as the focus. We've reached a point where we are "overselling" wellness, and that means we aren't telling a very compelling story to inspire and affect people or organizations.

Re: Incredibly Inspiring But Totally Odious Worksite Wellness Idea

Judy Burgess Krings — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 18:44:01 -0000

Thanks, MJ. Wonder what it will take to wake us up in the good ole USA. Our belief system needs to wake up and open its /our mind to the science of well-being. Thanks for being on the front lines of change.

Re: Incredibly Inspiring But Totally Odious Worksite Wellness Idea

MJ Shaar — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 17:45:04 -0000

Thanks for your comment and for sharing the article, Judy! I totally agree that we are working too many hours, yet we are less productive than the French, who enjoy long vacations and shorter workweeks. Reminds me that we are the #1 highest spenders of all industrialized countries on health care (as % of GDP), yet we rank #52 in longevity. What's wrong with that picture? As you said, time for a values check, because the way we are working isn't working! Let's keep up the good work as we lead that change! ;-)
MJ

Re: Incredibly Inspiring But Totally Odious Worksite Wellness Idea

Judy Burgess Krings — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 17:25:41 -0000

Great article I have shared. I agree with you that companies need to shake, rattle and roll more exciting ideas. Most of us pay for part of our health care insurance at least in the USA. Wouldn't it be great to get a discount (yeah, haha, I know!) to all those who pay a bit for their company program and get some it returned for continuing their wellness regimen. I also think we have lost the ability to PLAY in the USA. Sharing our time with other people and sensing that feeling of connection and belongingness we used to have. We Americans are working ourselves into the grave, taking LESS vacation, enjoying life less, and feeling more pressure to perform with more work loads. Time for a social rebellion! And a values check, too.

Re: Incredibly Inspiring But Totally Odious Worksite Wellness Idea

MJ Shaar — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 14:37:53 -0000

Hey Jon! Glad you enjoyed the post, and that it resonated with you.

You bring up good points in your items 1 through 4. Items 1 and 2 in particular are very aligned with what we do here at SaS, and the whole reason why we build a model around sleep, food, mood and exercise. The wording may be overly simplistic because we want to make it memorable for all, but really it's about rest, nutrition, positive psychology (including all of PERMA if you are familiar) and all forms of movement.

#3 - point well taken, absolutely!

#4 - Not sure why you think I'm addressing traditional wellness exclusively. In fact, I am trying to stir some debate and hopefully some change too! Thanks for the book recommendations. I am a big fan of purpose at work and in general, and have blogged about it as well. Your book also seems very interesting, and I agree that culture is a big element that can make or break any wellness initiative (as I mention in the post above). Both books look very valuable and I have added them to my "to read" list.

Cheers! ;-)

Re: Incredibly Inspiring But Totally Odious Worksite Wellness Idea

Jon — Wed, 11 Feb 2015 11:09:48 -0000

So glad to hear someone else speaking out against another insane idea from the wellness industry - these are by the way the same folks who claimed in a popular wellness book some years ago that the the biggest health problem in the country was I-Don't-Care-Itis - referring to the supposed multitudes of people who don't care about their health. So it is not surprising that they would come up with something else so completely out of touch with reality.

Certainly agree that we don't want to make wellness anymore discriminatory than it already is - especially when the industry are like lemmings are rushing to the latest trend in the industry "wellness or else."

I would argue however, that this post is missing a numb er of very important items:

1) the kinds of programs we continue to offer must change - weight loss programs for example have been consistently shown to help very few people long-term and they engender considerable iatrogenesis for many -

2) the use of carrots and sticks has never been shown to support sustainable change - and also engender significant iatrogenesis - we need to get off the Skinner - Safeway bandwagon and re-focus on doing things for rather than 2 employees

3) we need to stop confusing participation and engagement - having people pay or rewrding or punishing them to participate may increase participation - but that is NOT THE same as engagement and finally

4) If you like the idea that "the distinctions between CxOs and entry level employees blur" and you support "alleviating some of the undesirable consequences of a traditional corporate culture" you are barking up the wrong tree with traditional wellness - especially "wellness or else" approaches. - suggest you read Firms of Endearment to find out how companies are already doing this and prospering and/or our new book How To Build A Thriving Culture at Work for a blueprint of how to get there - Jon

Re: How to Stop Eating When You’re Not Hungry

Barclay Schraff — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 12:38:51 -0000

Great question, Robert. The "slow down and think" process is another way of describing mindfulness. In other words, taking your brain off of auto pilot and instead inhabiting the moment. By slowing down, you're allowing yourself the opportunity to check in and see what's driving this desire to eat.

The best prep I can recommend for mindfulness is meditation. With a regular meditation practice -- even if it's just five minutes a day! -- you will train your mind to slow down and be present. You'll build that "muscle memory" and so doing this in the moment won't be so hard.

Re: How to Stop Eating When You’re Not Hungry

Robert — Fri, 30 Jan 2015 09:41:06 -0000

Interesting article, love the idea of thinking about it first, I know that with many people finding the time to stop and think about it is tough in the moment, is there any exercise that can be done prior to prep the "slow down and think process" so it is easier to actually slow down and think about it?
I find that if you commit to a good workout schedule and remind yourself about the end goal it helps me considerably, especially when the workouts are rigid.

Re: Health Promotion: Two Ways to Elevate Your Game

Kim Acedo — Tue, 02 Dec 2014 17:57:44 -0000

Great post, MJ! I love the example you gave. You're so right - just as people are protective of their financial information, they are also protective of their lifestyles. As a licensed SaS coach, my program has really bridged that gap and has given my participants the autonomy to discover their own answers and find what will work for THEM based on the variety of activities they have to choose from. They're loving it! :)

Re: How to Be Healthy: Online Wellness Program for Real People

Kim Acedo — Wed, 27 Aug 2014 14:32:39 -0000

Thanks MJ! I'm looking forward to coaching my female boomers to a well-deserved happier and healthier life!

Re: The Surprising Solution to Improve Your Health

Paul Terry — Tue, 12 Aug 2014 15:28:56 -0000

Frankl's purpose in the face of a deadly environment seems like an apt, albeit extreme, metaphor to employees trying to preserve their health in a work site culture that doesn't value health. It's surely the case that offering wellness programs is preferable in an environment that makes healthy choices the easy choice but the Frankly example also seems to suggest that in the absence of a healthy culture, individual self change is still quite possible.

Re: The Surprising Solution to Improve Your Health

Kim Acedo — Mon, 11 Aug 2014 19:47:14 -0000

Great article! I agree that purpose and a strong WHY motivates us to achieve our goals!

Re: What’s Mood Got to Do With It?

Elemental Wellness Coaching — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 21:07:31 -0000

Excellent post, MJ -- thanks for your insights. I couldn't agree more.

Re: What’s Mood Got to Do With It?

Elizabeth Schenk — Wed, 16 Jul 2014 12:53:39 -0000

Well said, MJ!

Re: Health Promotion or Make-Believe: Which Are YOU Working On?

MJ Shaar — Sun, 29 Jun 2014 13:00:57 -0000

You bring up very good points, Paul. Certainly this company's owner was sincere in his desire to instill cultures of wellness and I felt good about his why. However, I wasn't sure he was using means that would get him there. He was very set on the marketing strategies he wanted to employ, entirely focused on ROI. So I'm questioning the whys of the clients he'll attract, and consequently, the results he'll generate (as explained above). Also, if you sell entirely based on ROI, then you have to deliver entirely based on ROI, and I'm not sure we can guarantee that before year 3, if not later. So I was seeing a future of short-term vision clients (the kind that asks you where's my return every quarter), short lived engagements and little impact. That's why I said no thanks.

Re: Health Promotion or Make-Believe: Which Are YOU Working On?

Paul Terry — Fri, 27 Jun 2014 10:59:36 -0000

I'm sure I'm reacting with incomplete information but I think you're being a tad bit hard on this company's owner and you should reconsider his offer (unless, of course, he wasn't ready to pay you a ton for your expertise!) That is, he named two goals that are both worthy and not at all mutually exclusive. If wellness can accrue even a 1:1 ROI, that's a free program aimed at improving health, who wouldn't want to buy more of that? And, if the owner is sincere in his goal of "instilling a culture that fully embraces well-being at work" isn't that another of his why's? A culture of well-being and an ROI to boot, sounds like a pretty good value proposition to me.