It's R U OK day today - Thursday 8th September 2022. R U OK is a charity that aims to give people the tools and confidence to spot mental health issues in people around them and encourages everyone to start a conversation that could save a life.
Is your workplace acknowledging R U OK Day and encouraging you to check on your workmates? We had a breakfast BBQ and spoke in groups using R U OK Day materials from the R U OK website and then shared personal stories and experiences. There were some pretty harrowing statistics that we were told such as 1 in 6 Australians have experienced suicidal thoughts and 50% of Australians have had mental health issues at some point in their lives. In the construction industry alone, there are on average, 190 deaths by suicide each year (fact checked on R U OK website, Mates in Construction website and Australian Institute of Health and Welfare website). It was a pretty heavy way to start the day but people were genuinely checking in with their mates and asking if each other were OK, even if in a bit of a jokey way a lot of the time. However, everyone took the group discussions seriously and it was interesting to hear some of your workmates experiences as I feel like it helps people connect more to find out more about people on a deeper level that what you see on the daily at work from an individual.
My own experiences with mental health
I know this is more of a money blog but I am also a human and am very interested in psychology and that's why I like to touch on mindset and personal development as well as just the basics in money management. When I talk about mindset and personal development it's coming from a more content peace of mind than I have otherwise felt at other times in my life. Like 50% of Australians, I have suffered from mental health issues;- mostly when the life I was living wasn't aligned with what I ultimately wanted and expected from my life. I truly believe I was experiencing a lot of the depression and anxiety as a result of living a life that was not for me and the symptoms were a clear sign telling me I was on the wrong path (it's a lot easier to see that clearly now looking back from a hindsight perspective, of course, it's not so easy when you're in the middle of those deep, dark feelings).
Now I'm not living life as society expects or what my perceived perception was... If anything I would have never expected or wanted my life to go in this direction of working in construction if I had planned it out this way. But somehow it's been my happiest years yet, if not the physically hardest and challenging. And I think a lot of that is because I have continued to learn; achieved so much more than I thought was possible back in my dark days and have clear goals which make getting out of bed in the morning easier than when I was just showing up to a job I hated simply because that's what I thought I was supposed to do (and of course needed money). But it was more about achieving some sort of status or perceived success.
I consider myself more successful now than I could have imagined in terms of what I have achieved personally and financially... But if you looked at my daily life (or especially if the people I used to work with in my stuck up marketing jobs back home in the UK looked at my life), you'd think I wasn't doing great. And that's the opportunities That FIFO Money can bring us! Without compromising on who we are to fit the mould of what other people want.
Money and Mental Health
Money is unfortunately one of life's biggest stressors and causes of mental health issues and suicide. Savvy.com.au state on their website that 20% of Aussie families are concerned about their current financial situation. That's why I strongly believe that getting into good money habits and talking about money freely and openly breaks the taboo and also helps avoid these life shattering situations. Of course there's more to life than money but it's not all about flashing the cash and greed. It's about helping you out in all aspects of your life and anything we can do to alleviate negative feelings in life is well worth taking seriously in my opinion. Money can't buy you happiness but it sure can fuck your life up pretty quickly! Emergency funds could really be life savers if you think about it... A huge, unexpected life event or emergency calls for an unexpected expense. It could be the difference between having an ongoing financial burden on top of whatever other kind of hell that you're dealing with and being able to just deal with the emotional stress of the issue while being able to comfortably pay the unexpected bill without being a detriment to other aspects of your life and your financial future. Who wants to have double the stress? Having good money management systems in place is a simple way of helping ourselves minimise the impact of what life throws at us. Let's use That FIFO Money wisely and it could save us a lot of stress one day!!
That FIFO Money talk with your workmates
I believe that we need to open up discussions about finances to normalise the conversations and encourage others around us to excel as much as we all can collectively. However, when you're talking to your friends, watch the language you use when talking about money. You may all earn the same at your FIFO job but your financial situations could be completely different and you never know what's going on in someone's life outside of work. If you notice someone you work with seems a bit off, the R U OK website has some useful tips on how to start the conversation and help a friend who is struggling.
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