Remember, You Took Your First Step and Overcame!

How Are You Keeping?

Let me begin this article by asking, how have you been keeping during this pandemic? If your immediate answer in your head is “not so well”, then you are not alone.

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought with it much uncertainties. While we might have been hopeful at one time that this all will be over soon, the realities soon sets in that this may not seem to be the case. Days are blurred, as we tackle our ever piling work tasks as we work from home, managing our homes on the sidelines and trying to keep everything together for ourselves.

Pandemic Stress in Singapore

I am not sure what you are facing but then I have faced my own challenges recently and have been also experienced the effects of pandemic stress. Pandemic stress is real and in a recent Nikkei Asia article, a Employment Hero survey found that “on an index measuring perceptions of health and well-being based on social activity, family life and work, Singapore fell below the global benchmark of 61.3 with a score of 59.2.”. With burnout and even “death by overwork” being major issues even before COVID-19, the pandemic has served to only exacerbate the situation. And there is a greater recognition of the effect of mental health on our personal health and well-being, with the survey reporting 72% of the respondents globally rated mental health as a very important influence compared to physical health (70%).

Singapore Business Review also cited the Resilience of the Singapore Workforce report by EngageRocket as saying that that those aged between 30-50 found it more difficult to cope, compared to other age groups and those who worked for 50 hours or more a week are more susceptible to burnout. More workers are also experiencing burnout with only 44% saying that they can avoid it completely.

The Road Ahead

With Singapore celebrating our 56th National Day in a couple of weeks’ time, the recent NDP theme song “The Road Ahead” was a good reminder of how “Come whatever on the road ahead, we did it before, and we’ll do it again”. Yes, even with the recent setback of the recent KTV COVID-19 clusters, which seemed to have undone all that we have so painstakingly achieved so far, we are reminded that we have been able to keep infection numbers down and we can do it again.

For the pandemic stress I am experiencing, I thank God that I am able to put to good use all the insights and strategies I have gained from many years of battling depression and burnout. And I believe you would be able to overcome your situation too, just like how you overcame your first step as a baby.

Growing Resilience in the Road Ahead

To celebrate National Day and also do our little part in helping to further grow mental resilience for our community, we are glad to run a “Pay-What-You-Wish” edition of the From Stress to Zest (Christ-Follower Edition) webinar on 3 Aug, 7.30pm-9.00pm.

It’s free to join the session. Come and join us as we learn the telltale signs of burnout, why fighting burnout is crucial to us living a thriving life and the 5S strategies to beating burnout in its game. Then decide how much you would like to donate, if you chooses to do so after the event, to us to help us sustain our work in helping people to grow mental resilience.

We only have 20 seats to give away, so do signup today here or at https://emmaus.peatix.com.
Registration closes on 29 Jul 2021.

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James Lim

James is the Lead Thrive-Synergist & Founder of Emmaus Strategies; a social enterprise that “fuels good”. It does this through Mental Well-Being programmes for individuals and organizations, as well as Strategic Volunteer Partnerships consultancy and training for non-profits.