Fortitude at Work

This is the final episode of Season 2 (sob!). We thought it timely to sum up some of the fantastic mental health support and resources available to all of us.
Ever wondered what it might be like to call Lifeline? In this episode we go through a sample call and talk about what it’s like to call them for some support. Did you know you can call them and put them on speaker to help you talk to a friend who might need some support? This is a terrific idea if you are unsure of how to help them otherwise. We talk about how this works in this episode.
We also talk about resources you can tap into if you’d like to do some training to
learn how to help others in need.

Check out: SafeTalk https://www.livingworks.com.au/programs/safetalk/ 
Assist https://www.livingworks.com.au/programs/asist/ 
Mental Health First Aid https://mhfa.com.au/ 
We talk about mental health resource specifically for the small business sector.

Check out: New Access: https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/newaccess-mental-health-coaching/newaccess-for-small-business-owners

Heads Up (now modified): https://www.beyondblue.org.au/mental-health/work 
Ahead for Business: https://aheadforbusiness.org.au/ 
Finally, we talk about free resources aimed at helping small business owners to feel powerful at work. They are: Business Victoria Business Planning Tool: https://business.vic.gov.au/tools-and-templates/business-planning-tool   

Business Australia: https://business.gov.au/ 

Remember, this podcast is not a medical or psychological service. If you need urgent support please contact any of the services listed below:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 65 94 67

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we’re talking about power at work. Not the Dr Evil kind of power but role
that personal power plays in working well. Leanne talks about what happens to help
employees to enjoy work and then looks at how that might work for micro-business
owners.
“The more equal I feel I am with others the less stress and anxiety I will feel”, Leanne
says.
We talk about identifying the key indicators in your business that make you feel
powerful and not dependent on others. This is a very new and innovative way to look
at stress management in a micro-business or sole-trader workplace.
Remember, this podcast is not a medical or psychological service. If you need urgent
support please contact any of the services listed below:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 65 94 67

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Probably the best episode we have produced all season. This one is not to be
missed because we talk about a very powerful way to reduce stress, reduce
impulsive responses when we feel hurt and become mindful of our triggers in life.
This is a great discussion about gap-hunting. Recognising when we feel triggered,
taking a moment to tell ourselves why it is happening and then use our inner-wisdom
to choose the most appropriate response at the time. Gap-hunting is a process we
can all learn and it’s a self-loving tool that gets easier to do with practice.
John shares some wonderful tips on how you can become a gap-hunter, and the
importance of being kind to yourself through the process.
Leanne talked about the work of Viktor Frankl and his book – ‘Man’s Search for
Meaning’, you can order it from www.constantreader.com.au . She also talked about
the work of Dr Libby Weaver – www.drlibby.com

Remember, this podcast is not a medical or psychological service. If you need urgent
support please contact any of the services listed below:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 65 94 67

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

“Be the energy you want to bring into the room.” Jill Bolte-Taylor.
Okay…this week we ramble a bit… we’re chatting about positivity. We talk about
what it might be and why we often miss it in a day. We look at breaking old habitual
thinking and overcoming negativity bias. We can often miss the positive when we
become so used to facing the negative. Worse still – we can externalize the blame
for being negative when we’re only one thought away from change.
We discuss how to increase positivity in your day (without going overboard and
having it become a toxic trait!). Of course, we find the time to have a bit of a laugh
along the way too.

Remember, this podcast is not a medical or psychological service. If you need urgent
support please contact any of the services listed below:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 65 94 67

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week is HUGE! We cover the secret to reducing stress when you are a small
business owner and it’s got nothing to do with yoga, fruit bowls, lavender or walks.
The week we’re talking about the ultimate method to bust stress at work. It’s all
about the practical and applied elements of running and owning a small business.
We’re not afraid to go there. We get down and dirty and honest.
Forget mission statements. Forget developing products. Forget hiring staff. They are all the easy bits of business ownership. Roll up your sleeves and join us as we talk about how selling your most profitable product to your most profitable customer is the best way to reduce stress at work.
If you can do that you’ll sleep better at night.

Once again, we also talk about the FREE resources out there to help you run your
business or get support when you need it. This includes:

New Access For Small Business Owners:
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/newaccess-mental-health-
coaching/newaccess-for-small-business-owners

Small Business Debt Help Line:
https://sbdh.org.au/

Remember, this podcast is not a medical or psychological service. If you need urgent
support please contact any of the services listed below:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 65 94 67

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We start the week continuing our conversation from Episode 6 – the importance of
value alignment at work.
We’re also talking about ‘wisdom’ this week. What makes us wise? Why is it
important to remember your wisdom at work? It’s important use what we’ve learned
as we move forward. Sometimes this is forgotten if we’re stuck in old habits or ways
of thinking that are so familiar from years gone by.
John talks about how confidence, self-belief or stress can affect our memory of being
wise and feeling able to make new, informed choices. Leanne plods on with a
galloping story about her horse days.
Finally, we discuss the advantages we have in micro-business when it comes to
corporate memory. Remembering how we have dealt with challenges in the past can
help us be more resilient for future situations.

Remember, this podcast is not a medical or psychological service. If you need urgent
support please contact any of the services listed below:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 65 94 67

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we’re talking about why small business owners hate writing down plans.
We all know they are important but when it comes to actually committing to plans on
paper, many of us hate the process. Why? Research shows that business owners
who plan their growth are less stressed and more successful. But we still hate doing
it! This week we talk about why that might be the case.
We talk about how important it is to align personal values to business values. We
share how planning helps to articulate your intentions but this doesn’t have to be
public, you can keep plans private and change them at any time. John shares his
experience of keeping things private…
We refer back to our goal setting episode in Season 1. If you want to check it out, it
was Episode 22.

Remember, this podcast is not a medical or psychological service. If you need urgent
support please contact any of the services listed below:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 65 94 67

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we’re talking about relationships. We’re also talking about pineapples and
why they can be so important in relationships. Often it’s partners or family who are
the closest people to a micro-business owner and they’re the ones supporting that
person in their micro-business. This makes personal relationships an important part
of micro-business success.
John talks about relationship counselling and what that might look like when seeing a
counsellor. We also talk about how relationship counselling can be an excellent
business investment.
If you’d like to know more about counselling and the relationship process, follow
John on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok. The links to all platforms are on his
website listed below.

John Dimond Counselling
https://johndimond.com.au/

Remember, this podcast is not a medical or psychological service. If you need urgent
support please contact any of the services listed below:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 65 94 67

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we’re talking about how important connections are to the mental health of
small business owners. Meeting other business owners, connecting with others and
learning from one another all help to reduce stress that is inevitable when you own a
small business.
Importantly, Leanne and John talk about the different type of networking groups,
from unstructured meet-ups to more formal breakfast or membership groups. There’s
often something for everyone and to suit your networking style.
This week, stick around for a bit of a laugh after the credits stop!

Remember, this podcast is not a medical or psychological service. If you need urgent
support please contact any of the services listed below:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 65 94 67

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This week we’re following on from our talk about honesty and looking at how we can make honest conversations easier using a client management process.
Client management covers all the things we need to do to work with a customer, and the time frames needed to get the job done. This might sound a long way away from mental health at work but in fact, the research showed that business owners who have a shared client process are likely to be less stressed than those who do not. We talk about having a transparent system and learning how to communicate well with the client. Putting a process in place can be a powerful business tool for micro-business owners.

Here are some of the resources referenced in this episode:

Past Podcast Episodes (Season 1)
Episode 11 Mindfulness (Finding the Gap)
Client Management Platforms
https://basecamp.com/
https://trello.com/
Accounting Software
https://www.xero.com/au/
Templates
https://www.canva.com/
https://business.gov.au/

Remember, this podcast is not a medical or psychological service. If you need urgent
support please contact any of the services listed below:
Lifeline: 13 11 14
Beyond Blue: 1300 22 46 36
Suicide Call Back Service: 1300 65 94 67

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.