Wellness through Self-Awareness
THE PURSUIT OF POSITIVE ENERGY WITH MAGGIE O’NEILL AND BOB MORGAN
In an exciting episode of We Are Everyone, CEO of Gravitas Lisa Sun and Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Rider University Geoff Arnold joined our host Jenn Sherman to discuss what it means to have a healthy ego, to always be practicing, and more.
Click here to view the episode or continue reading for a recap!
Maggie O’Neill is an artist, designer, and entrepreneur. SWATCHROOM is a creative agency that focuses on enhancing hospitality and restaurant experiences, through art and design, creating unique spaces of community.
Bob Morgan, a former CEO of a consulting firm, has found himself working in a creative industry as well. Through Pivotal Moments, Bob is creating inspiring content, uplifting people, and creating positive change.
In 2020, mental health issues are more prominent than ever. In any given year, everybody is going through some sort of struggle or knows somebody else dealing with something. More people are dealing with mental health challenges than most people tend to believe. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, nearly 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. live with some sort of mental health challenge.
Maggie explains that there is a connection in a way that depression and anxiety, among other mental health challenges, manifest in creative and artistic brains. As Maggie touches on, many people in the creative industry, including many people she knows, suffer from mental health issues and are “not just suffering, but living with and managing anxiety and depression.”
Creating art and consuming art helps with mental wellness, or at least Bob and Maggie agree it does. Bob and Maggie also agreed that a person’s self-awareness is key to bettering their mental wellness. Knowing where you stand is the start of getting to where you want to be. Be confident in understanding and knowing your current position. Although it may be difficult to do, swallowing your pride and accepting the fact that you need help is sometimes necessary. Self-awareness also means knowing how vital the different aspects of your life are and then balancing them.
Self-awareness creates a pathway towards a positive mindset.
Ego and Practice: Being Part of a Team
In an exciting episode of We Are Everyone, CEO of Gravitas Lisa Sun and Assistant Men’s Basketball Coach at Rider University Geoff Arnold joined our host Jenn Sherman to discuss what it means to work with a team and more.
Click here to view the episode or continue reading for a recap!
Geoff Arnold was a basketball player at Saint Joseph’s University before graduating and working as a systems analyst and a technical sales rep. He received a call one day from an old friend offering him a position coaching basketball. 29 years later, Geoff is still a coach and leader.
Lisa Sun is the CEO and Founder of GRAVITAS, a fashion company with a mission to catalyze confidence. Lisa worked for 11 years as a consultant before starting GRAVITAS after her boss told her that she has no gravitas.
45 Million Americans are experiencing mental health issues in 2020 and almost everyone deals with some sort of struggle, even if it seems small or occasional. Everyone is part of a team in some way or another, and it is helpful. Lisa and Geoff explained how.
Lisa’s experience comes from her career as an entrepreneur and CEO. Lisa explains, “out of every entrepreneur that’s celebrated in the media or press, you dig down one layer and there is a decade of pain, because entrepreneurs have no safety net.” Lisa’s position as CEO puts her in difficult situations. She admits she, as everyone does, struggles. Her responsibility for her team weighs on her, but as Lisa explains “part of that mental health struggle is actually being vulnerable” and saying your fears out loud. When Lisa has struggled, she has been open with her team and her team has supported her.
Geoff understands what it means to be a part of a team, as much as anybody. He and other coaches feel a sense of responsibility for their players, similar to that of a parent, he explains. Players learn from their coaches on more aspects of life than just the game they play. Geoff considers himself a “teacher” of more than basketball. He is a role model and leader. Coaches benefit from their position as well. Geoff has had over 300 players that have been like sons to him, supporting him along the way as he supported them.
Being a part of a team has been an amazing experience for both Lisa and Geoff, as they’ve learned to be vulnerable, to support others, and to have a support system. One of the best things about being part of a team is having people close to you let you know that “everything is solvable, nothing is that bad” and “even through tough times, you don’t have to know everything.”
“Let that fear or struggle, live outside the body” – Lisa Sun
“Looking in the mirror and smiling. That’s what mental wellness means to me” – Geoff Arnold
Beyond the Algorithm with Bethanne Patrick
Freelance writer and author, Bethanne Patrick, appeared on We Are Everyone to discuss mental wellness and what it means to be resilient with our host, Jenn Sherman.
Click here to view the episode or continue reading for a recap of what was discussed!
Several mental health topics were covered in this episode, but the most notable is Bethanne’s experience with double depression.
Bethanne first experienced depression when she was in junior high and had her first major incident of depression while in high school, but truly did not understand what was happening until later on in life. Bethanne spoke about living in various places around Germany with her husband, who was serving as a military officer, following her college graduation. Bethanne faced challenges while adapting to a new life. All the change, constantly relocating, and other sources of stress were weighing on her. As Bethanne put it, “We made all these moves and it was just breaking my brain.”
Bethanne later returned to the United States and continued to experience challenges. In 2006, her father passed, and she reached one of her darkest points, thinking she would never be okay.
After years of trouble, Bethanne was diagnosed with double depression and her life began to change. Her mental wellness improved. “My relationships are better and richer, that’s mental wellness.” Bethanne learned she would not cure her depression, but instead would learn to manage it. Her advice was clear, a correct diagnosis is absolutely necessary for someone trying to improve their mental wellness.
After showing tremendous resiliency and strength, Bethanne is happier. “I don’t have everything. I have what I want. I have what makes me content.”
Mental Wellness Basics Expand to Canada
I am so excited to see the Mental Wellness Basics platform continue to grow. Through our partnership with EVERFI we are making tremendous strides to give youth the mental wellness skills and knowledge. Excited to share news of some new partners.
Canadian Partners
Since the start of the year, EVERFI has welcomed 3 new Mental Wellness Basics partners - all in Canada!
United Way of Calgary & United Way of Vancouver are sponsoring the course locally in their respective communities.
Shaw Communications - a Canadian telecommunications company - is sponsoring MWB across the rest of Canada through the end of the 2019-2020 academic year. We're excited to see our work in Canada grow!
Seeking sponsors and supporters
Sponsors are need to help ensure we can offer this program for FREE to schools and kids. If you are interested in learning more about partner with Pivotal Moments and EVERFI through the Mental Wellness Coalition send me an email: bob.morgan@pivotalmoments.org.
Mental Wellness Basic Reaches 340K students
So happy to share this update.
In our second year Mental Wellness Basics has already reached 280,000 students, and 2500 schools in the US. Last year, our total activation reached over 60,000, which means we have seen over 350% growth on activation.
This brings our total impact, since 2018, to over 340,000 students! I’m thrilled we’ve made such an impact.
Mental Wellness Basics is a mental wellness digital learning platform for kids in 8th - 10th grade. In 2018 we partnered with EVERFI, Inc. to build the platform. Our goal - give more kids the knowledge and skills to build, maintain and promote positive mental health.
It’s be a journey getting Mental Wellness Basics into school systems. EVERFI is doing great work. But to hit our goal of millions of students reached we need the help help of sponsors. Donations allow us to implement it for FREE to schools.
Florida progress in 2020
We are seeing incredible activation on Mental Wellness Basics thanks to a state-wide mental health education mandate. In the summer of 2019, the FL State Board of Education voted to require a minimum of 5 hours of mental health education to students in grades 6 or above. With the help of EvERFI we have been able to formally incorporate Mental Wellness Basics into the plans of some of the top districts in the state. This is very exciting news for the Mental Wellness Basics program.
New partners
Mental Wellness Basics is a key component of EVERFI’s Mental Wellness Coalition. Thrilled to see new statewide partners in EVERFI’s Mental Wellness Coalition: Blue Cross and Blue Shield of New Mexico, and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Montana. We continue to look for support from organizations who can help fund the FREE deployment to schools across the country.
Learn more about the Mental Wellness Coalition and our founding sponsorship HERE.
The Story Behind Pivotal Moments
My passion and inspiration to launch Pivotal Moments comes from my personal experience being diagnosed as a young adult with cancer and spending three of my college years undergoing numerous surgeries and procedures, and six rounds of intense chemotherapy. While I received incredible treatment that saved my life, and tremendous courage and inspiration from my family and future wife, I realized years later that once my hospital care ended, I had no avenues for healing my mind, body, and spirit.
The inspiration and knowledge to push through my illness, to reintegrate back into my college and social life, to physically rebuild my body and to mentally cope with battling cancer, and the fears of its return were left primarily to me.
I want young people dealing with major health issues to not only receive the best treatments but also the support and inspiration needed to heal physically and mentally, to improve their overall wellness.
Today, children and young adults face health issues such as cancer, obesity, diabetes and many others. A the same time they are living in an environment where negativity, bullying, divisiveness and constant bombardment of uninspiring content through traditional media and social media is unrelenting. And the pressure for a young adult to excel in academics, sports, community and social functions seems to be at an all-time high. One in four young adults are now dealing with mental health issues, and the onset of depression by the age of 12 is increasing at an alarming rate. There are many mental health organizations researching, studying and providing treatments for mental wellness.
Pivotal Moments mission is to educate, inspire and support young adults as they learn behaviors to cope and receive medical treatment for mental health challenges. We want to fill the void in the mental wellness space through education technology and sharing inspiring and beneficial content.
Our children, parents, friends, teachers, coaches, and bosses all need more education and information on mental health. We’ve launched the Pathways to a Healthy Mind Campaign to raise awareness of the mental health challenges we face, to educate and inform and to raise funds for the implementation of two educational programs starting with students in grades 9-12. Funds will be raised through community-based campaigns for implementation of programs in local schools. The facts are, either you, a close friend or a co-worker are impacted by a mental health issue. We all have a role to play and can contribute time, talent and treasure to support our youth’s mental wellness.
