Hi Warriors, it’s time for the second installment of my Value Add Series. You can check out the intro here and last month’s post here. I’m tackling how exercise and movement add to areas of our lives besides just our Physical Health. As Mental Health is coming to the forefront, we are starting to see this, but it is important to draw these connections with other Dimensions of Wellness, too. So this week, let’s chat Occupational Health.
Occupational Health is the Dimension that focuses on your work, school, or vocation. A vocation is sort of like your calling or purpose. For many of us part of that might be our role as parents. Some of us are really lucky and our occupation and vocation overlap at least a bit. Double bonus if you are getting paid for something you feel a deep connection to. For others, our vocation might be experienced as a hobby, past time, volunteerism, or just as a strong pull towards something.
The need to exercise and move takes a bit of time away from our occupations, but what it takes in time, it more than makes up for in other value adds. First and foremost is the need to keep our physical bodies healthy. Obviously, when we aren’t hurt or sick, we aren’t missing work or school. If we aren’t missing those things then we are able to get paid, stay on task with projects, continue learning and growing, and maintain the social relationships we have in those environments (look at that, three Dimensions of Wellness for the price of one).
Especially as it relates to vocations, many of these can have a physical component. Two of my neighbors are self proclaimed “grass guys” and love to be out working in their yards. One of them is a gym goer and has a fairly active job, but when he hurt his leg, he had to pick and choose what got his attention during recovery. His lawn time was hampered quite a bit. But his recovery was fairly quick because he was and is active.
Through the mental and emotional improvements proven with regular exercise, we can also see value adds to Occupational Health. Staying active keeps the mind clear and sharp. There isn’t a boss in the world that doesn’t want their employees to show up focused and ready to go. Regular movement has also been shown to boost creativity, and even if you think your job isn’t particularly creative, I’m sure that your job involves problem solving of some variety or another. Creative problem solving is always a good job skill.
Regular exercise is a proven stress reliever. And let’s be fair, there isn’t much that can cause stress in life like a job. Having a physical outlet for frustration, dissatisfaction, and sometimes the outright anger that comes from our jobs is extremely important. During movement, we can transfer the negative emotions into something positive. Even if we only see the positive as Physical Health related, we are still reaping all the other rewards.
There are other value adds that we can allow exercise to give to Occupational Health. Maybe walking at break time or lunch inspires others to join in. Now you’ve got a reason to look forward to going in (even if it’s a small one) and, hopefully, a group of people to vent with that understand the unique situations of your work culture.
Regular exercise can certainly boost energy levels. This might allow you to get through your work day without the midday slump, or maybe you’ll need one less cup of coffee. Certainly, this has implications for work-life balance. Getting home and not being so exhausted that you can’t spend quality time with family or friends is a big value add.
Funnily enough, my first job personal training was actually at a corporate wellness center. And this place wasn’t huge like Google or even Kelloggs, it was a 200 person operation. But the owner understood that having physically well employees was a benefit to his business. I worked with older employees looking to maintain function, younger ones who wanted to lose weight or otherwise be fitter, and even a few guys who were looking for size gains. Didn’t matter their goal, having the space and making the time for exercise made them all happier and better employees.
Don’t underestimate what regular movement can bring to other areas of your life. Until next time, be well friends!
