“Are you feeling ok?”

I find this the most powerful question you can ask somebody. 

It’s surprisingly how rarely we actually do.

Maybe there’s something going on at work or with your health which is taking the edge off life.

This was me at the age of 17 when I knew I could live a more enjoyable life.

I had injured my left hand and only by luck narrowly escaped a more serious injury to my arm. I had been taken to hospital by ambulance and had surgery to save two crushed fingers.

It wasn’t until another 24 hours until I was taken into the operating theatre but both the time waiting in bed and recovering had a deep impact on my life.

It’s times like this when the only option is to surrender yourself to your emotions. Your mind starts to race and after days of wanting to feel better you start to feel a sense of calmness. Everything starts to slow down and all the normal superficial wants and needs disappear.

Your only focus is on your own health and future happiness.

My Recovery

Laying in that hospital bed made me appreciate my own physical fitness. I had a great diet and my family looked after me, but I always struggled with anxiety. I was so nervous about what people thought of me and if I would fit in. In fact, that’s where most of my mental energy went, taken upon on pushing these thoughts away. Lying in my hospital bed, I knew this was a big problem in my life.

So I decided to seek help and find the right people to help me with my mental health.

This mission took me on a journey of discovery. What I learned in the months that followed stayed with me ever since.

I found out what being healthy really means. Not just physical health but how healthy I was across all areas of my life, including my early career. What ‘healthy’ looks like in the workplace and what I could do to help others create this at work and for themselves.

Fast-forward 25 years and there is now a potent driving force of people like you and me driving a holistic approach to health.

This approach is called ‘wellness’.

What is Wellness?

It’s a way of living where companies and individuals place a higher value on health and wellbeing. Those who embrace this vision want to sleep well, eat well, have new experiences, feel good, look great and have a positive impact on others. Those people only want to work for companies which embrace this way of living. Moreover, they find others just like them are attracted to the same employers. Highly-enjoyable and productive pockets of business, where employees are happier, more loyal and trusted.

My vision is for more companies to treat their people in this way and for both parties to reap the benefits of wellness together.

BigSmiles has been a dream of mine for many years. My mission is to help you get there quicker and to find the wellness vision that works for you and those around you.

I am really pleased to start working with overwhelmed executives and ambitious employers to make this positive change happen. One person, one department and one organisation at a time we can rediscover the joys of work and to turn happy people into a better bottom-line.

Thanks for reading my story. I’m Alex Burbidge and Big Smiles is my new wellness consultancy, helping companies and their people grow together. If you’ve any questions about your own wellness please do reach out to me in a private message (or the comments if that suits you). I’m here to help.