Breakfast with FIKA’s Gareth Fryer
Healthy, happy teams do better work – that’s the CF mantra – and we’re always on the lookout for organisations or individuals to support us. As we embark on our journey with mental fitness platform FIKA, we invited Gareth Fryer for breakfast to tell us more, so we can keep our own mental health on top form and help you do the same for your teams. Sometimes it takes a truly inspirational person to set you up for the day ahead and Gareth, without a doubt, was that person today.
Gareth rendered us speechless from the outset (no mean feat - we’re a chatty bunch) as he opened with his poignant story of surviving cancer twice and fearing that he may not live to see his baby daughter grow up. He left a successful corporate career due to burnout and decided to explore the 'problem behind the problem' of mental health decline. He founded FIKA to offer mental health training for the mind in the way that athletes train their bodies to improve wellbeing, performance and life satisfaction. We’re on board!
We asked Gareth to explain what mental fitness is exactly.
He told us to imagine that life is like trekking through the Andes; a journey you would never undertake without training. So how can we be expected to navigate life without training?
Why does the world need FIKA?
FIKA fills a huge education gap in a world that’s not literate about mental health. As with physical fitness our mental health has different muscles that need to be exercised and we must learn how. Literacy is about the ability to identify, understand and interpret our mental muscles.
How can FIKA work for your teams?
Simple 5-minute exercises through an app can help reframe our thinking. It’s hard work changing habits. Look at teeth brushing - the most successful public health initiative ever. We were trained from a young age and we all do it. But 60% of Brits are still overweight because habits don’t stick. You can change habits with a 5-minute FIKA break every day. The Swedes have got it right - they take time out every day for fika. 5 minutes over coffee, sweet buns and a chat makes them happy and they perform better.
Stress is a natural response
To get started on our journey with FIKA we must understand that stress is a human response. It’s natural, and can even be useful to us, if we are aware of it and have tools to manage and respond to it. We have to learn how to exercise our brain muscles by embedding these precious 5 minutes into our day.
Gareth’s deep and personal understanding of the importance of mental training truly inspired us. We’re partnering with FIKA not just for the lovely fluffy bits, but for its tangible compassionate, creative and commercial benefits. We will look after our clients better by looking after ourselves first. Watch this space!
If you’d like to find out more about FIKA’s amazing work and how it could help your teams be healthier, happier and more productive, contact us to find out more.