Today is World Mental Health Day, a global moment to raise awareness and mobilise support for mental health. I want to share something personal about how I support mine. For many years, I felt separate from others. I wanted to keep myself separate to protect myself, but I also felt profoundly lonely. COVID amplified that part in me that wants to stay separate. Technology makes it even easier to stay separate. I often default to texting, messaging, and scrolling instead of having a real conversation.

But here’s what I’ve learned: togetherness starts within. When I tend to my inner world, I can show up for others. When I check in with myself regularly, I can check in with others more authentically.

As a leader driving a vision, your mental clarity and emotional presence have a direct impact on your team’s performance. When you’re disconnected from yourself, you’re disconnected from them. That separation breeds the very things you fear: loneliness, misunderstandings, depression, project delays, conflict and unhealthiness in relationships and physical wellbeing.

Your team can only be as together as you are within yourself.

Application Tips: Here’s what helps me maintain togetherness:
☞ Daily Journaling – Connects me with what’s alive within me and helps me process my experiences. It creates mental space to focus on the present moment.
☞ Weekly Date Nights – Regular check-ins with my partner to stay connected and aligned.
☞ Weekly Community Dinners – Time with the people I live with to share, listen, and belong.

The benefit? These practices clear up assumptions and misunderstandings before they fester. They create genuine connection and togetherness—first within me, then with others.

#WorldMentalHealthDay #Leadership #MentalHealthAwareness #Togetherness

How are you checking in with yourself today?