The HR Leader in conversation with positive psychology coach Michelle Falzon

Michelle Falzon is a positive psychology coach and the founder of Positive Wellbeing Education. She recently joined The HR Leader to share her perspective on COVID-19 trauma and the potential effects of hybrid working.

Shandel McAuliffe, editor of HR Leader: “What are the top challenges your clients are currently facing and how can they be overcome, in light of all the changes that we’ve gone through in terms of how we all are working?”

Ms Falzon: “This saddens me greatly, but people are trying to veil the challenges they’re finding with their mental health. We were in this space, pre-COVID-19, where people were talking quite fluently about their struggles with their mental health.”

“Then COVID-19 turned the world upside down and we started working in silos. Now it’s like people are too scared to talk about it again.”

She continued: “People are lacking the language or ability to say, ‘I’m struggling.’ I’m recognising that it’s coming from the inability to have greater levels of self-efficacy. People’s optimism has decreased because of their lack of interconnecting with people, physically and socially.”

“I’m finding that with [my clients], they’re so caught up in that beautiful, chaotic mess [of life] and they get lost in it. They get lost in recognising what they actually have control of as opposed to what they’re sacrificing in trying to keep up with their calendars and to-do lists.”

Editor: “What tips do you give to your clients in overcoming such obstacles?”

Ms Falzon: “I like to refer to life right now as a beautiful, chaotic mess. We are juggling so much: our ability to find an equilibrium between work/life balance, our strengths, our challenges. It’s really important to acknowledge that it’s okay to slow down.”

She added: “It’s okay to disconnect from technology. It’s okay to disconnect from certain areas of your life. It’s okay to find silence and solitude in a space that brings you peace.”

“It’s okay to respectfully and kindly say thank you, but no thank you. We don’t have to say yes to everything, and that’s a struggle that a lot of people are finding right now. We have the ability to choose what we want to control and become the master of, and we don’t have to be the master of everything. It’s just about finding, ‘what makes me happy?’”

The transcript of this podcast episode, when quoted above, was slightly edited for publishing purposes. The full conversation with Michelle Falzon is below.

Note from the editor: if you’re currently experiencing any of the issues we’ve discussed in this podcast and would like to reach out for help, you may wish to contact Lifeline: www.lifeline.org.au