During this entertaining episode, our guest Mike Rosen talks us thru mental health on the business side – his tips on how to reduce social media addiction, how to establish company wellness and what hockey great Wayne Gretzky can teach us about mental illness. Mike and Stephen walk through how to develop sustainable life tools that will identify issues sooner and which lead to a happier workplace.

EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS

• [1:45] The need for connection and the need for support is actually our most primal instinct. One of the things that continues to baffle me is that in an era where we are without question, more connected than ever that reports of depression, suicide, chronic feelings of isolation are all way, way higher than they've ever been. 

• [10:57] Social media addiction is because it’s about that instant hit.  That notification that affirms our existence.  It hits the same nerve as cocaine does. 

• [13:21] Mike’s recommendation to have “some discipline” to social media.  Why he removes social media and dating apps from his phone.

• [16:01] A discussion of the value of mindful consumption with the example of alcohol.  Building a sense of skillfulness,  Applies to anything you do, video games, socializing so that we’re not doing them compulsively is a great way to start thinking about healthier habits.

• [24:42] What’s wrong with the business culture right now?  How the focus is on meditation workshops and not attacking the core issues that happen at the top.

• [28:29] Competitiveness in offices and how the corporate color-wars work. How can people in offices support each other better?  Developing tools for self care in the office and how businesses can develop community care tools. 

• [31:14] The basis for healthy relationships, in and out of the office. 

  “You know that at the end of the day, you guys are butting heads in a productive manner because you trust that this person has your best interests at heart. there needs to be trust even thru the debate to have that discussion. “

• [33:40] It’s not just about money prioritizing wellness or that anything is wrong with making money.  

• [38:44] Finding a window of space to have real conversations and instill trust to identify issues should they be happening.  Being proactive about areas related to mental health. 

• [40:42] “you can’t hit what you can’t see."Why Mental health is like hockey great Wayne Gretzky who was an elusive hall-of-game goal scorer. Mental illness is just as smart as wayne gretzky.   You need to draw it out into the light.  

  The first step to a clean bill o mental health is to talk about and think about it - whether it’s someone experienced who you trust or even a stranger. 

• [43:20] Creativity allowed me to grab my own story and rewrite it the way I wanted to. 

  you can bake a lot of different recipes with the same ingredients. Creativity allows you to see everything from different perspectives and fits into how modern digital marketing and eCommerce works. 

• [44:20] There’s surprising less academic knowledge of mental health than one would think.  Physical medicine has been around for 1000s of years.  mental health and psychology has only been around for 220 years.  by all expense, we are in the dark ages of psychology of mental health. 

• [46:37] How trying new things is important to positive mental health. Whether it’s sports, or yoga or hobbies of interest. Picking the things that you’re most excited about.  And shifting to what interests you most. 

• [51:15] Mike discusses his love of meditation though cautions why it’s not automatically “going to save ya”. Why we shouldn’t look to one thing to save us. 

  That people should be mindful of the collection of habits that people have – sleeping habits, drinking, your diet - and how people can improve that. 

• [54:00] Digital marketing functions in a similar way too in how different platforms such as Google and Facebook are presented as an elixir.

• [56:00] Mike believes that it’s not exactly the one thing you do.  It’s your process. It’s the grit you pursue it and your process. 

• [58:12] Mike discusses his future plans with school and his next steps including a research project on human relationships and language metaphors and the next musical project with Mike Rosen & Hundreds Thousands which will include spoken word soundscapes.

Mike Rosen’s Website

Ten Percent Happier – Meditation with Dan Harris

Wayne Gretzky