Be of SOUND mind with this Christmas checklist – Lesley McLeod

Holidays can be a difficult time. When everyone else seems to be ­merry and bright, it’s tough to be alone or facing up to a festive season after bereavement or break up, redundancy or illness.

Lesley McLeod, CEO, Association for Project Safety

At the Association for Project ­Safety (APS) – an organisation founded to improve safety and health in ­construction – we know that mental 
ill-health is not just for Christmas, so we are launching our five-point ­resolution to promote positive ­mental health next year.

Mental health can certainly be a tricky subject to tackle, especially in an industry renowned for its macho approach.

So, perhaps, we need to start with how we can help ourselves with five SOUND steps: Strengthening, Openhearted, Upskilling, Nurturing and Doing things now

‘S’ is for Strengthening – spending time on connections with friends, family and other people

Many people – whether they work for themselves, in small ­organisations or in high pressure multi-nationals – find themselves with ­little free time. But good ­relationships – either at home or in the workplace – can help develop a sense of belonging and self-worth, giving us ­opportunities to share positive experiences.

This can buoy us up and develop the resilience we need when things are not going quite to plan, providing emotional support and giving us the strength to support others.

‘O’ is for Openhearted – being kind to yourself and generous with others.Helping others can be a good way to help ourselves.

Giving your time to help other ­people can be a reward in itself with people often reporting that volunteering promotes positive feelings of purpose and self-worth.

I have friends who help out at food banks and ­old people’s homes but ­generosity of spirit – especially at this festive time of year – can be as simple as ­saying, ‘thank you’ or asking ­someone how they are.

The payback from thanking ­someone who has given you a hand – and actually listening to their answer and engaging with them – can have long-lasting benefits for both parties.

‘U’ is for Upskilling – learning ­something new or sharing your skills and knowledge. It is an old maxim that we live and learn but many ­people also swear by the fact that learning is a good way to boost ­quality of life.

Acquiring new skills can boost ­self-confidence and raise self-esteem. Lifelong learning is invaluable in a professional sense – which is why APS sets such store by providing ­relevant and up to date continuing professional development sessions around our regional network – but other forms of education are good for too.

Just look at the number of clubs and classes on every night in every town, giving people a sense of ­purpose and the friendship of other like-minded people. Even when we feel like we don’t have enough time to turn to the books or for practice leaning a new skill can be a good way to relax. Not that I’m ­finding my Greek lessons easy, but you could try yoga, a book group or dusting off your dancing shoes.

‘N’ is for nurturing –taking care of your physical health. We all know our bodies feel better when we are ­physically fit. Not only can this make us more resilient to injury and illness but being more physically active can raise our ­spirits too.

So, don’t just sit at your desk or be goggle-boxing all day long. You don’t need fancy kit or gym membership – just get out and go for a walk. It only takes ten or 15 minutes to help get in your daily steps.

‘D’ is for Doing things now – ­concentrating on today, not the regrets of yesterday or the worries of tomorrow

As Bob Marley once sang, ‘Don’t worry about a thing – ‘cause every little thing gonna be alright’. I can’t promise you that, but we all need to find ways to stop dwelling on the past.

We can’t change what’s happened, much as we might want to, but we can learn from it. Equally, worrying about the future just gets in the way of living life to the full or tackling the challenges of today.

Don’t put off what you can do today, because things just mount up. Be like Santa and have a list to take on those little tasks.

It’s amazing how good you can feel to have achieved something, no ­matter how small it is. ­Talking about our feelings is no easy option – no matter how many of the great and the good endorse it.

But we can be kinder to ­ourselves and be ready to ­listen.

Lesley McLeod, CEO, Association for Project Safety.