You've been struggling with feelings of loneliness. What began as a nightly glass of wine turned into consuming a six-pack of beer and a significant amount of whiskey daily. Your responsibilities started slipping past your notice. Your office mates give you side eye as you begin coming in a little more disheveled than usual lately. What are you experiencing?
Addiction/Alcoholism.
Addiction goes beyond drugs and alcohol. If you find yourself engaged in a harmful behavior more and more frequently with it interfering in at least 3 different areas of your life, seek help with a licensed mental health professional. You can also contact SAMHSA's National Helpline at 1-800-662-HELP (4357) for more information and resources.
True or False: Decision fatigue is mental exhaustion from making too many choices, leading to poorer decisions, impulsivity, procrastination, or avoidance as your mental energy depletes.
True. It's caused by the cumulative mental effort of daily decisions, big or small, impacting judgment and willpower, often seen as burnout, irritability, brain fog, or inability to choose, but can be managed by automating choices, prioritizing, and taking breaks.
What are 3 healthy things you can do to unwind and recharge after a stressful week?
Journal
Watch a movie
Spend time with friends
Etc.
What is the world’s largest retailer?
A. Dollar Tree
B. Target
C. Walmart
C. Walmart
Choose a member of your team to whistle a tune of their choice for 10 seconds.
Just whistling while we work
You've been feeling persistently down lately. Not only is your mood low but your energy level is too. You either sleep 12+ hours or toss and turn in your exhaustion. You go from hungry because you're bored and overeating to having no desire to eat at all. Things that used to bring you joy such as gaming or skateboarding just don't anymore. You've been more isolated and withdrawn from loved ones. What are you experiencing?
Depression.
Early intervention is the best prevention, seek out an individual therapist who can help you build skills to combat depression and determine if the need for medication or other potential treatments is right for you.
True or False: It only takes 1 negative to cancel out 3 positives
True. For each negative event that occurs it will counteract the emotional boost we get from positive events.
Identifying strengths is important to learning how to counterbalance our weaknesses (ex: I am a terrible cook but I am great at washing dishes) as well as building a sense of accomplishment and expanding how we utilize these strengths (ex: I am good at puzzles, I can expand that to pick up on patterns and use problem solving skills).
How many elements are in the periodic table?
A. 100
B. 118
C. 120
B. 118
Pick someone on your team to guide us in a 1 and a half minute meditation- don't worry, I'll grab the timer.
Breath in peace,
Breath out chaos.
You are NOT having a heart attack. Yet your chest feels tight and you find you're a little short of breath. It's not COVID either. You have a big deadline coming up and even though you know you have plenty of time, you can feel your heartbeat speed up any time the project gets brought up by someone. What are you experiencing?
Anxiety.
It's that false sense of fight or flight. Don't let your brain keep lying to you, seek help today with a licensed mental health professional.
True or False: A 10 minute walk can boost your mood for up to 2 hours.
True! So if you take a 10 minute walk in the morning, afternoon, and evening then you could boost your mood for up to 6 hours a day!
Many say they would die for their family but the better question to ask is if they would live for their family. What are 3 habits you could engage in to promote health and wellbeing?
Multiple answers are possible- guess you'll just have to trust the host that they count.
Where would you be if you were standing on the Spanish Steps?
A. Rome
B. Paris
C. Barcelona
A. Rome
Model Walk of Confidence:
We want to see your most confident walk, be sure to strike a pose when you hit your mark!
When we are anxious we tend to have our shoulders closer to our ears, subconsciously protecting our vulnerable neck. We can help ourselves feel more confident with a simple deep breath and roll of our shoulders back and down. Others pick up on what we put forth, so put your best foot forward and fake it until you make it- this does help.
You have been feeling exhausted recently. You're getting plenty of sleep, so that's not the problem. You hit the snooze button 3-4 more times than you usually would. You have always liked your job but lately it feels like a chore just to get through the day. Everything you do feels like it doesn't really matter. Every day is the same. You're not depressed and it's not sadness, just an uncomfortable numbness that set in. What are you experiencing?
BURNOUT. Coming back from burnout involves 3 types of recovery- external, internal, and daily.
External changes are things such as social support, enjoyable activities, work adjustments.
Internal work involves self-reflection, boundary setting, mindfulness.
Daily habits focus on daily tasks such as our sleep hygiene, taking short breaks, increasing exercise.
We want to restore physical and mental energy by addressing the root causes of chronic stress- not just the symptoms- through rest, regulation, and re-prioritizing.
True or False: Our brain is on "autopilot" for less than 30% of the day as we engage in automatic habits.
False: Research shows a significant portion of daily life, often cited around 40% or more, runs on autopilot as automatic habits, which saves the brain energy by relying on pre-programmed responses to cues like waking up or getting home.
You have been working overtime- even worse? You're salaried. Your manager gives you another task to add to your already overwhelming to do list. How would you assertively communicate a healthy boundary to seek a better work-life balance?
Different ways- ask for a timeline that is more reasonable for the workload to be completed, set parameters on the time you're able to put in without getting burnt out, request assistance, explain that there are set amount of hours each day and ask the list be prioritized.
What is the only mammal capable of true flight?
Bat
Rock, paper, scissors- GO!
Each member on your team will go up one by one to win their match against players from other teams. If your team wins at least 50 % of their matches you get the points, if not you lose this round.
Luck of the draw
You were recently promoted to a highly sought after role that typically goes to only the most capable employees. While your colleagues view this as a given due to your track record, you interpret your promotion as a fluke, believing you were in the "right place at the right time" or benefited from good timing rather than your own talent. What are you experiencing?
Imposter Syndrome, also termed imposter phenomenon due to the prevalence of it, is experienced by at least 70% of people world wide.
It is a psychological experience where high-achieving individuals doubt their skills, talents, or accomplishments, feeling like frauds who don't deserve their success, despite external evidence proving otherwise, often fearing they'll be "found out" as incompetent. It's characterized by persistent self-doubt, anxiety, and attributing success to luck or external factors rather than ability.
The cure? Work on building up self esteem and placing credit where credit is due. Sounds simple in wording but in action is much harder to do.
True or False: There are 5 aspects of wellness comprised of mental/emotional, physical, social, environmental, and occupational healths.
False: There are 8 aspects of wellness.
1. Emotional/Mental 5. Occupational
2. Environmental 6. Spiritual
3. Physical 7. Financial
4. Social 8. Intellectual
What are 3 ways that you can cope with anxiety?
Deep Breathing
Vagal Nerve Techniques
Tapping
Challenging and Changing Thought Distortions
Etc.
Which is the only body part that is fully grown from birth?
Eyes
Each team makes a paper airplane. If the team who received this challenge can fly their plane the furthest they get the points, if not then you lose the round.
Little bit of competition never hurt anyone...much.