How I’m hypnotizing a whole company
Travel Within — Helping managers become leaders at work and life by teaching them mindfulness
(if you prefer to listen to this episode, click HERE)
I stopped asking for permission and just started on my own
Joey Joyful
It’s been 1 year now since I started knocking on doors at my company to get someone to listen to my idea.
It’s a great idea.
Inspired by Google’s ‘Search Inside Yourself Leadership Institute’, I aim to bring mindfulness to the workplace to help mitigate work stress.
I am a corporate employee in the airline industry, and I have been sharing mindfulness for the past 6 weeks now in the head office in Montreal, located in between the landing strips.
I attended a conference last year on Diversity and Inclusion delivered at work, it was speaking about our unconscious biases. I was studying to become a certified mindfulness meditation teacher and was keen on bringing mindfulness to the workplace within the walls of the company.
I have high hopes.
Not realizing that my own biases were holding me back.
You see, I’m a habit and mind coach outside of work. I use the latest research in neuroscience to help my clients overcome blocks in their life. Go from unsatisfied to productive and healthy.
My main tools are hypnosis, meditation and gratitude journaling.
I had been repeating to myself for years that I was in a golden prison at work. Great place to be. Travel privileges, great insurance benefits, possibilities to move within the company in different roles, opportunities, competitive salary.
And yet, I still felt I was in a prison, golden, but prison nonetheless.
I felt as if I was not allowed to bring to work what I was offering clients in my private practice, change work using cutting edge modalities to help people better themselves.
And sure, sometimes a manager or a colleague would question or not approve of the methods I was using with my clients. Hypnosis is still widely misunderstood and meditation sounds woowoo to many still.
But mostly the limiting beliefs came from me. Came from inside myself.
So I continued my dual life of openness and coaching and liberation with my hypnosis and meditation and gratitude outside of work, and inside the corporate world of climbing the ladder, following orders and creating SOPs (Standards of operation for the uninitiated). Colouring inside the lines.
So there I was, knocking on doors and many were answering so I was hopeful. I was talking and meeting with Directors, Senior Directors, General Managers. Sending emails to VPs, and even getting answers. Being redirected to one and then the other.
I thought I had momentum.
I figured this was the way.
Eventually I would find the right person who would help me get started on this wonderful project I have.
Bringing mindfulness into the corporate world.
“This is a big ship Joey. I hope you know it might take some time to move in that direction.” M.O.
I got this message from a Senior Director who believes in my project. Wants to see it happen. I have his ear and yet…..nothing happens.
I was hopeful still, but starting to get tired of the same answer.
“There is no budget for this type of thing”
“We are currently working on another project, submit a slide deck and we’ll see” (I had to figure out what a slide deck was first, lol)
“That would require a culture change”
EXACTLY !!! Culture change.
That is my goal. And I have finally figured out how to do it.
As stated at the beginning of this article, I stopped asking for permission and started on my own.
All the people I have spoken to are well intentioned. My misconception was that the right person was going to hear my thoughts on mental health in the workplace and my project to help mitigate this, and would right away help me focus all my efforts on this.
My dream actually was to be promptly hired on as the new Chief Happiness Officer in the company and redirect all of my time and energy towards helping employees be happier and healthier, thus more present and productive at work.
I had even started signing my emails as the CHO and changed my name to Joey Joyful on my company communications.
Well that didn’t go down as well as I had imagined.
My manager asked me to:
- stop emailing executives
- change my signature in my corporate communications
- get in line with my tasks and responsibilities in my current position
- oh, and stop with all this hypnotism stuff at work
ouch!
I fell from high I can tell ya!
I don’t want to say I was living in a dream-world, but I was living in a dream world.
And I think it’s important to dream big in order to accomplish big things. What I learned from this though is to stop counting on others to get things done and focus on the things I can do.
So that’s what I did.
I cleaned up.
I changed my signature back to what was expected of my current role.
I focused on accomplishing my tasks and responsibilities.
I did send out one last email though. This time to the CMO (Chief Medical Officer) of the company.
In one of my latest coffee meetings with the general manager of linguistic affairs and diversity of the company (love these colourful titles), she had mentioned that our CMO was very concerned about mental health issues on the rise within our ranks.
Insurance claims towards mental health issues were now surpassing the physical issues and this was very concerning as he was unsure of how to better help the employees.
DING DING DING !!!
My mind was racing.
I urged her to get me in contact with the CMO. She promised she would share my ideas and project with him and I was yet again very hopeful.
I am so grateful for that conversation, as it gave me the push I needed.
He didn’t get back to me. The CMO.
I waited a week. Then two. Then a month.
Then I stopped waiting.
I stopped asking and sent one last email. To the CMO.
Exposing my concern about growing mental health issues within our walls. How I have overcome mental health issues myself. Battling addiction, anxiety, depressive bouts, chronic pain with hypnosis, gratitude journaling and mindfulness meditation.
All the while remaining an active and productive employee.
We are invisible you see. We show up at work smiling, working, helping. And yet we are slowly cumulating pressure, fatigue, illness inside.
We work in the cubicle right next to you.
Heck, I am you.
We are all fighting a fight no one has any idea about.
So I detailed my project to bring about a culture change to the CMO. Sharing mindfulness to all employees. Or at the very least to those willing to learn and share and practice within the company.
Making sure it’s an option and letting them know we are here to help.
And you know what, he answered me back. Same day.
I learned that day how perseverance pays off.
I learned how staying focussed on the outcome pays off.
I learned being of service, offering your best self and thinking of the welfare of others pays off.
I met with the CMO and wellness manager (yup, that’ a thing) the following week and gave more insight on what I was ready to offer for the benefit of the employees.
I have a lot to offer. And I decided to step up as a Wellness Champion (that’s how he dubbed me during the meeting).
We connected all three of us.
Turns out we are aligned in the same direction. Helping employees turn the tide on mental health.
Help offer a healthy workplace where employees can get support from an ever more complicated system and society in which being human is getting more and more difficult.
At least a healthy human.
And I have also decided to start what I call Joyful Leadership Meetups at work in the ‘Lunch and Learn’ style.
Every Fridays (soon to be Wednesdays) I open up a space where I share some teachings on mindfulness. I detail how my mindfulness practice has helped me navigate the world, my addictions, my anxiety, and even help me advance in my career.
Then I guide the participants in a mindfulness meditation practice. Either focussing on the breath, on the bodily sensations with a body scan or mindfulness of sound.
All of this recorded and shared via the company platform for future reference and, hopefully, encourage a daily practice.
It’s been 6 weeks now (WoW!) and participants are coming back.
They are inviting others to join as well.
During one of my weekly chats with the CMO and wellness manager we were talking about how to help the call center that is going through a software change and is causing much stress among the operators.
I, of course, offered to host some meditation workshops.
We reached out to the managers there and they agreed.
Yesterday I hosted my first all day workshop. I had a rotating 30 minute workshop window going, every hour on the hour from 10 am to 4 pm.
I had 20 participants roll through the quiet space that was offered me throughout the day.
All of this supported by the wellness group and the CMO at the company.
I am inviting the participants to come and join us during the Joyful Leadership meetups every week. And I will be showing up again the following week with another meditation workshop as I did.
Things are moving since I stopped asking permission and just started giving what I felt was needed.
And the turnout is telling me the need is there.
Is mindfulness THE solution. Maybe not.
But it is A solution. And I am able to deliver this solution pretty quickly. Very simply. And with honesty and authenticity.
And I’m going to continue giving without permission, because there are people needing without asking.
And I want to be there for those people.
Listen to my podcast HERE where I will be sharing some meditations and interviews with key leaders that have a growth mindset.
Follow this page as I publish more about the journey towards becoming Chief Happiness Officer.
Thank you for being here with me on the path to wellness.
