Learn to hack your wellbeing
We found that engineers don’t access support services for wellbeing or mental health until they are in crisis (Jo-Anne Tait, 2024). We also know that men don’t ask for help and suffer in silence. A double whammy for engineering.
Curious, we wanted to understand why. While reviewing services on offer and chatting with those who train and educate engineers, the mists cleared, revealing a multi-faceted problem.
Our mission: to help engineers hack their wellbeing.
The problem:
- Engineers are innate problem solvers and wellbeing or ‘not feeling right’ is just another problem. They also perceive that others are worse off than they are.
- The support services can feel ‘fluffy’, ‘not for me’, or like giving in, or failing.
- The training and education of engineers gives little space or credence to people skills.
The people skills and opportunties to practice them are core to UKSPEC.
As future managers and leaders, being adept at hacking your own wellbeing, and supporting your team to do so, is, I would like to think an essential professional credential.
At Katalytik we’ve been working with engineering doctoral researchers for over 10 years and noticed common patterns of stress and frustration. We observed the same challenges and pressures in early-career researchers and in high-performing teams in R&D environments and manufacturing.
Imagine our surprise when we realised the tools we use to improve communication that rest on a solid bedrock of self-awareness could be applied to a process to hack your wellbeing.
We use a common language of CliftonStrengths. But it also works with other positive psychology tools.
Gallup wellbeing research
The Gallup Net Thriving Index asks participants to rate their overall wellbeing from 0 – 10. Where 10 is living your best life. The indicators of these states is summarised:
SUFFERING (1-3)
Respondents who rated their elements of wellbeing from 1-3 were more likely to report:
- Feeling miserable
- Negative views of the next 5 years
- Lacking the basics of food and shelter
- Physical pain
- More stress, worry, or anger
STRIVING (4-6)
Respondents who rated their elements of wellbeing from 4-6 were more likely to report:
- Struggling in their present situation
- Uncertain or negative views of the future
- Daily stress
- Money worries
THRIVING (7-10)
Respondents who rated their elements of wellbeing from 7-10 were more likely to report:
- Positive views of their present situation
- Positive views of the next 5 years
- Fewer health problems
- More hope, happiness, energy, or interest
Workshops are offered to the public once a year.
Katalytik Hack Your Wellbeing workshop
If you can't persuade your organization to host a session, come yourself. Find the next date
Contact usNext public date
The Katalytik Resilience Navigator
Anticipating how you can meet stresses and pressures head-on lowers the effort to be able to bounce back from suffering to surviving to thriving. Using research-based approaches, makes it easier still.
- Establishing the times you are at your best
- Identifying your unique talents
- Being able to identify when your strengths have been stretched in the past
- Exploring five facets of wellbeing
- Strategies to help you ease back and recover.
Wellbeing and CliftonStrengths
Gallup’s research names five universal elements of wellbeing:
- Career – You like what you do (almost) every day
- Social – You have meaningful friendships in your life
- Financial – You effectively manage your economic life
- Physical – You have the energy to get things done
- Community – You like where you live and work
Oftentimes, when experiencing stress, we think of it as all-encompassing (“I’m SO stressed!”). Drilling down into which area(s) of wellbeing are impacted (and which ones are not!) helps pinpoint where the stress actually lies. This will help you target ways to manage the stress more effectively, while also reminding you of areas you may be thriving in.
