Breakdown? Breakthrough! - Mental Health Awareness Week
It's always a "something" day, week, or month. National Sausage Day, International Women's Week, UK Walking Month. Right now it's Mental Health Awareness week. It's come just at the right time, while the world is in lockdown during the Covid-19 epidemic.
Millions of us are isolated in our homes with minimal social contact with others. It can be a real strain on our minds. We are adjusting to an unexpected and different way of living, along with an unclear future.
Mental Health Week
Ironically it was yesterday, the first day of Mental Health Awareness week that I struggled. I like to consider myself mentally strong, but yesterday the overwhelm just hit me. I didn't meltdown or crack up. It felt more like I was in an ocean with no land on the horizon to swim towards for safety and rest.
My brain couldn't compute what the future was going to look like for me, my family, for the world. With no income coming in and that not likely to change in the short/medium-term at least, I freaked out. My head didn't like it, it wanted certainty.
From Clear to Foggy
I've been working on loads of things over the last couple of months. Finishing writing my book, learning new skills, and strengthening my network. I had a plan where I would come out the other side stronger than ever and useful to people in times of need and change.
But yesterday my head said, "Maybe that's not a good plan, maybe it won't work, it could be a lot of wasted effort". It could at that moment have been easiest if I just stuck my head in Netflix, hoping those thoughts would just go away. But I like to rise to a challenge, work out what's going on by scratching a few of those itches.
Having Curiosity
I started looking at online job boards. Asking myself, if I worked for somebody else, what would I do. It was a painful experience, looking at all the jobs that I just couldn't see myself doing. They looked either too dull, too stressful, too hard, didn't pay enough, or I didn't have the skills.
I'd sifted through about 200 different types of jobs that had left me feeling cold. Reading job roles that felt too systematic, like you were a cog to be inserted into a system. Just seeing lists of required skills, along with what you would have to do or be expected to achieve.
A Discovery
Then an advert caught my eye. It was from a company called Gear4Music. They sell musical instruments online, and on paper look pretty successful. The post was for a Business Analyst. It's a job that's always fascinated me, as my dad was one, and I've arranged training courses for Business Analysts for the last 25 years. I wasn't experienced enough for the post, but what the advert said was a revelation.
My heart just opened. It felt like a human person wrote it. They understood people. It sounded like a fun and productive place to work. They had written a "Who we really are" section and a "Who we are not section". Here’s what they said….
Who we really are:
Here in our technical hub, we really care about people. We want you to grow and develop with us in a fully open and supportive environment. We want to hear your ideas and for you to be yourself in an atmosphere that encourages people's individual personalities to shine.
We pride ourselves on having a real culture here at Gear4music, we're not an agency, we're in-house and offer something that's more than a token couple of beanbags and a PS4 you don't have time to play. From important things like having a mental health first aider, silly things like our #toast Slack channel, the occasional #movienights to the D&D club we didn't even know we had!
Who we're not:
· We're not the kind of people who'll sell you a job based on gimmicks and recruiter-speak. We know you don't want to hear how disruptive we are, how unique this opportunity is or how many boundaries we're pushing.
· We're also not an agency. You'll have a chance to do your best work here, in a team who recognise that quality matters. You won't be asked to skip writing tests because the client hasn't paid for it.
· There is no need for you to bring your noise cancelling headphones to drown out the sound of the endless sales calls because we have an open plan office where you're only surrounded by like-minded individuals.
· We truly believe in a healthy work/life balance. Here, our flexible hours allow you to start at a time that suits you, and you're more likely to be told to go home than to stay late. That means getting home in time to tuck the kids into bed at night or get to that gig you've been looking forward to for ages.
· We might be a socially active bunch, but if somethings not your bag, there is no forced inclusion. So if those pints down the pub or board game themed socials don't strike the right chord, you've got nothing to worry about.
Some wisdom from Tom Cruise
What did I learn from this little adventure? I discovered that if I ever work for someone else, I'd be looking for a company with the right culture and values. Where you could bring your full authentic self, and be accepted, encouraged, and excited. Experiencing a real productive life.
I can only conclude with the words of Tom Cruise in the film Jerry Maguire…