Mitch Wallis (main photo) recently spoke at Changing The Ratio about how our mental health is more important than our work performance.
Sure, maybe on paper, that sounds obvious! But after the last few years of lockdowns, work has been a huge focus for so many of us. Our social and family lives were stripped away, and for plenty of us, that meant leaning into our jobs, which has likely created some unhealthy habits going forward.
Wallis is the founder of the mental health initiative Heart On My Sleeve and an incredible advocate for mental health. He generously spoke about mental health as part of Microsoft Advertising’s panel at Changing The Ratio, and his words really hit a nerve.
Wallis, who has been very open about his own mental health journey, discussed the importance of valuing yourself outside of your work, he said: “If there’s a high collocation between your job being threatened and your self-worth being threatened, take a big pause you are in dangerous territory.
“You have to define yourself more than your job.”
Instead, Wallis advised you to value yourself, based on who you are, not what you do. He said: “Character-based worth, am I a good person? Way more important than work. We really need to think about what we are prioritising and make changes.”
Wallis also advised it’s always important to “challenge your thoughts always and often. The brain will tell you something familiar, not necessarily something that is true. Pause and think is this really true? or is my body forcing me into a situation?”
Eg, instead of listening to your brain, take a second and try and work out is it true? Wallis’ very honest hot-takes on mental health were refreshing and needed.
His words are critical to remember in our fast-paced industry, and we must always take care of ourselves first.
If you want to hear more, you can view the videos here.
Also, click here to view Honeycomb’s research on Belonging: Understanding Diversity and Inclusion in Adland.
