The perfect mix to "Be well, work well"

28/10/20


janet inspirational colleagues

Janet leads the launch of the Digital Lab platform across Europe, located in Zurich. We asked her what's her best advice to improve well-being. Read on to discover:

How do you “Be well, work well”? How do you strike a good balance?

It’s the combination of different things: physical fitness, nutrition and being surrounded by good and influential people give me the balance for well-being. When we think about physical, emotional and mental well-being, I think all three of those give me that balance. Adapted to my daily life, there are four main reasons for my personal well-being balance.

The first is going to the gym several times a week, and on the days that I’m not at the gym I am usually doing some yoga, hiking, snowboarding, stand-up paddle boarding or some kind of surfing. The second thing is keeping a pretty healthy diet, I eat healthily about 80% of the time. That means no junk food, lots of vegetables and lots of proteins. I’m starting to get away from meat. I do incorporate the reversing of global warming as much as possible and I noticed that the reduction of meat also gives me a lot of energy. However, I still love meat, I love a good steak and I love a juicy burger. But about 80% of the time, I ensure a pretty good nutrition. The third thing is, that I have a core group of strong girlfriends who keep me grounded, who challenge my thinking often and inspire me in their own way. The core of who they are two things: they all have really big hearts, so they are very selfless, and they’re very highly motivated. The fourth thing is actually investing time in my personal projects. One is that I have a non-profit organisation, which is called Thriving Elements. It is a mentoring programme for underprivileged girls who are pursuing a career in science, technology, engineering or maths. Another, that I’m in the middle of writing a book that will be released mid-2020.

What is your best advice to improve well-being?

The next generation is going to shift away from working “nine to five” and I think that allows us for a more flexible schedule that adapts to each person’s and their family’s lifestyle. Well-being is non-negotiable and needs to be embedded into your life. It’s important how I set the expectations with my partners or my working team. If we all agree, that well-being is a necessary thing that you should care about, why are you allowing yourself to let it slip? It’s all related – if your body is not functioning, your mind isn’t going to function either, so I think caring for my well-being is one of the things I really embed in my daily life. For me, going to the gym and getting some sort of exercise and staying active is like sleeping, it is like eating and like needing to go to the toilet – they’re all existential parts of my life.

What’s your favourite PwC offering from “Be well, work well” and why?

I really like all the aspects of “Be well, work well” and I think it’s such a great campaign. It’s a part of our DNA and I wish that more partners and directors but also the folks that are more into the traditional way of thinking can begin to embrace it and bring it to their teams. Especially the global fitness challenge was really fun! It really pushed me to integrate a lot more activity into my daily routines and to break with some lazy habits. It made me realise that instead of taking the bus, I could just walk. It’s really easy and even if it might take a bit longer, I can plan ahead to walk to my destination. It also gave great inputs on how we can really get people energised and what you yourself can do to bring that energy into your daily life.

What's your favorite PwC value and why?

My favourite value is “Act with integrity”. Everything that I do and the people I surround myself with are a reflection of who I am. I need to trust the people that are around me, which is why I look to be with people that have integrity. I also need to make sure they are having the integrity to challenge themselves but also challenge me. This is very important to me, I need people around me that challenge my way of thinking.


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