S5: EP 005: Movember: Small Steps, Big Change: Building Better Habits for Men’s Health

Speaker A: Foreign. Health tech listeners. I'm your host this week, Jacob Mystery, and this is the podcast where we cover all the trending topics, ideas and best practices across health and social care. But today's episode is, uh, a special one in support of Movember, the global movement spotlight in men's health. Uh, from mental well being to promoting physical health and prostate testicular cancer awareness, uh, these issues affect us all, but conversations around them are still pretty rare. So today we're going to have one of them conversations. So joining me are, uh, two of my colleagues, Harry Hayes and Craig Rainford. We'll be keeping things relaxed and conversational, talking about health, fitness and well being, sharing our own perspectives, and hopefully sparking a few conversations along the way. So, both of you, welcome to the podcast.

Speaker B: Thank you.

Speaker C: Thank you.

Speaker A: Um, so just before we get going, um, a little bit of an intro to you both, just to give a bit of context before we get going, um, if you want to tell us a bit about your role, um, at Radar, Craig, we'll start with you.

Speaker C: Yeah. Um, so, yeah, my name is Craig Rainford. Uh, I'm one of the project managers at Radar. I've probably been at Radar for three years. Um, probably a little bit unique to most people because, uh, I used to be a customer of Radar. Uh, so I've been on the receiving end of using the product as a customer, uh, and now I get to handle, uh, kind of like the implementation side of delivering the product to new customers.

Speaker B: Uh, yeah, yeah. I'm Harry Hayes. I'm our partnership retention specialist. Which sounds like a LinkedIn special job title, but effectively my job is just to ensure that Radar is delivering value to everybody, to all of our partners. Ah, so that they want to stay with us effectively.

Speaker A: Sounds perfect. So, yeah, that's who we are at work, I suppose. Um, and like I said, at the top. So today is sort of everything aside from that M and the things that I suppose help, um, make you the best when you are at work. What recharges you? What refreshes you? What energizes you? So you've told us what you do at work. First question, um, is what do you do outside of work to sort of recharge your batteries and ensure you've got that work life, uh, balance. Harry, if you want to start.

Speaker B: Yeah, there's loads that I do. I think variation is really important for me, but one that I can always go to is walking.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Which I think is great. Can drive. We're in Yorkshire. Right. So you can drive 20 minutes and just be somewhere fantastic, uh, and get walking around. You can cycle there too. There's loads of sport in this country that's just so easy to access as well. So I play like field hockey and whatnot. Um, but in terms of relaxing I think it's the simplest stuff. Um, so walking is a really, really good one for me and seeing friends no matter what we do, if that's playing some paddle again, going out hiking or something like that. Um, but for recharging it tends to be something a bit more relaxed.

Speaker A: Yeah, perfect Craig.

Speaker C: Yeah. And for me, I don't even know whether you would call this relaxing, but it is relaxing for me. I'm yeah, a self confessed sort of like gym addict. Um, so yeah, anything to do with sort of like fitness, uh, I'm all in on. So I used to play a lot of football when I was younger but uh, getting on a bit now, knees just don't allow me to do that anymore. So yeah, um, just simple gym stuff. Uh, running, biking, um, and even just like downtime sometimes can be quite nice. After having a heavy day at work sometimes it's nice to just sort of like switch off and stuff.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Um, but yeah, although I'm, I'm a fan of walking, I can't say I do it something like that often. It's mainly doing it at speed or trying to do it at speed if I can.

Speaker A: I was going to say walking for me sounds more a bit of a bar than, than a bit of a recharge.

Speaker B: But how do your knees hold up doing a hyrox but not playing football?

Speaker C: Well, weirdly enough, like they're absolutely fine. Which yeah, obviously I'll probably talk about a little bit hyrox sort of like throughout this and stuff because that's something that I found in, in the last like year to 18 months. But yeah, I don't know what it is. I had uh, like knee reconstruction surgery probably like 12, 13 years ago and yeah, I was never the same really from a football perspective. And I think I played at a fairly decent level at sort of like semi pro and when I came back, yeah, I just couldn't do that anymore. Um, and yeah, I wouldn't be able to walk for like two or three days after playing football. I think it's just a twisting and turning things like that.

Speaker A: Same old story, isn't it? I could have gone pro. Yeah, knee surgery, I've heard that.

Speaker C: Don't think I could have got to that level.

Speaker B: But yeah, he's got the receipts though.

Speaker A: Yeah, he's got the receipts. Now, to be fair, um, I had my ACL and knee done as well, reconstructed. Got back into to playing recently. Um, so I was going to bring up sort of hobbies, uh, aside from, from what we've touched on there, if there's anything else. And for me it's getting back into to football but easing my way in with a sort of seven aside dads group. And I might be the youngest one there, but it makes me look better. So, so that's what I do. So, you know, you've got your, you've got your gym, you walk and stuff. Is there anything else sort of, um, that might be a hobby or passion? Obviously some people find their work their passion which is, you know, that's, that's what everyone wants us. That's amazing. But, um, anything else outside that you do, I mean, for me, we're on a podcast today and I love listening to podcasts. You know, that's one really where you can sit down, recharge, just put the podcast and you can do whatever you want and you can, you can chill. Is there anything else aside from the sort of. I think you've both, both touched on the fitness there. Is there anything else? It might be cinema trips, shopping, it might be anything else that recharges you.

Speaker B: Yeah, I've got an enormous one which is motorbikes. Uh, I'm an addict, I suppose, to just getting out on a motorbike. It's so much fun. I actually got run over by a lorry last week, which was not me personally. Like the bike did, I had to ju. Jump off. Ah. So I'm without, without my bike at the moment and I've got like an insurance standing which is just not, um, much fun. But I've only had my license for just over a year, about year and a quarter. But when I was traveling around Asia, Mexico, places like that, it was always on motorbikes and now I've got my own and I did a tour earlier this year around the top of Scotland for, uh, just over a week. It's amazing. It's just such a, such an amazing thing to be able to do. Just walk out your door, get on two wheels, uh, and break plenty of laws within the space of like five minutes. No, I don't do that obviously, but the, the sense of freedom and excitement from a motorbike is just. Yeah, amazing.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: Big hobby of mine.

Speaker A: That's good, Craig.

Speaker C: Uh, so, yeah, I think I've got a few as well. Um, so aside from sort of like the sporting side of Things, Um, I'm a massive foodie, so getting out for a good meal, um, where you don't have to cook it or clean it afterwards. Um, yeah, I'm always up for that. Um, and also I'm kind of like a bit of a DIY enthusiast as well. Now I can't say I'm particularly like a man that can do absolutely everything, but I am quite fortunate that I've got a lot of mates that pretty much cover the vast majority of industries, including my dad who's an electrician. So, uh, I can call him in from time to time. So yeah, I've gone through a few like, house renovation projects. Um, I bought a house in May, um, this year. Uh, and I said to myself when I, when I buy this house, it's not going to be a house that I need to rip to shreds and spend a year, two years like doing it all. Because I just want to spend all my time doing fitness because that's pretty much what I've been doing. But lo and behold that is what I've done. Um, so it's uh, it's had all sort of like the, the structure side of things done. It's had like extensions and things like that, but it's just a little bit old and tired. It was an old couple that had been living in it for sort of like 50 years and I don't think he's had a lick of paint or new wallpaper since. So yeah, weekends are typically taken up by that now. Um, but it's got this huge uh, sort of like garage and utility, uh, outside. And bizarrely that's been the first thing because I'm turning that uh, garage into a gym. And my girlfriend's um, a physio, so she's got a bit of a private business that she started up like recently. So the utility is actually going to become ah, a treatment room for her. So yeah, it's good to sort of like build that out. So it's taking a bit of time but I don't mind that if like the end goal, sort of like seeing that before and after.

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker C: So I quite like that really. Again, it's a good kind of like escape from like the work side of things and just allowing yourself to switch off from the day to day.

Speaker A: Yeah. So like we said, we started with work. We've touched on there all the things that we like to do to keep a work life balance and it's, it's interesting that there's only three of us in here, but we've all come up with so many different, different things. Um, so the next thing we'll, we'll come back to you the fitness stuff a little bit. Because, you know, a big part of Movember is, um, men's physical health as well, and keeping yourself, um, feeling healthy and happy. Uh, but also I think it intertwines with, with the mental well being. You might better both talk a little bit more on that because, um, you know, although I do like the idea of the, the result of going to the gym and keeping myself fit, and I do think about that and you know, I think probably the same as a lot of men. Yeah, sometimes you do, you do look at you in the mirror and you think, you know, I wish it, I could be like this or something like that. Just to feel a bit happier in, uh, like mentally. But the physical side of it is where I struggle. And I've got the gym or I bought a spin bike recently, I find it boring. So I can't, I want the results, but I can't do how to get there. Um, but I know for some people like you, uh, it's a passion. So yeah, Movember is a big thing with physical health as well. Um, from your experiences, how does physical health sort of, um, help with the mental side of it as well? Harry?

Speaker B: Yeah, a little bit different to Craig, I suppose. I'm not like going to the gym is not extremely exciting for me. I don't wake up and think, oh yeah, it's gym time. But I think the physical, like building yourself physically and building yourself mentally, one, they tend to go hand in hand anyway. But two, the way to do it for me is one and the same. And it's a war of attrition. It's small habits that build on top of each other to become a daily routine habit. A way of life effectively that benefits you and suits you. So an example of that would be actually going to the gym. I think a lot of people, when they go, yeah, I'm gonna go to the gym, they think, I want to be someone who goes to the gym. You know, I want to look good, I want to feel good, be fit. Like I want to be able to flip a car over or whatever. But actually you can't do that within a short amount of time. Yeah, but people think, well, if I go and I work really, really hard in these huge blocks in a short amount of time, I'll see progress quickly. But progress is slow. Slower than it's so slow. I mean, it can take years to get even to a good level of. Of fitness, let alone, you know, an extremely good level of fitness. So to get there, that doesn't mean going to the gym for six hours a day for three weeks and hoping to see something. It means just turning up. You know, that's the first habit. Just go to the gym. And when we say go to the gym, walk in the door, maybe do one exercise if you don't feel like it or you don't feel like it's for you, and just keep doing that one thing, that small habit that you've built in, and, and over time, the results will come. You'll probably end up doing more. You'll probably put more habits on top of that one that you've started. But to have that one good habit of just going to the gym, literally walking through the door, um, it's the first step, I think, to building yourself physically and mentally.

Speaker A: Yeah, Craig?

Speaker C: Yeah, I couldn't agree more with that. Um, and, yeah, uh, I wouldn't say. I tend to sort of wake up in the morning, Harry, and think, yes, it's gym time. Uh, although my girlfriend would probably say otherwise. But, um, yeah, no, I, I absolutely agree with that. I think it's that whole, like, you know, 0.1%, like, every day, uh, so basically putting in habits, uh, like Harry said, and things that are kind of, like, achievable. So don't do something that says, yeah, I'm going to train like, three hours a day, when that's just not sustainable at all. Uh, so if It's. If it's 20 minutes a day, if it's 30 minutes a day, whatever that is. But if you compound that sort of, like, over time, then that that's what builds fitness. And I think that goes for a lot of things that, you know, I see being in the sort of, like, space that I am in terms of, like, the. The fitness groups and stuff like that and the things that I participate in, you know, I see personal trainers, I see coaches, I see. It's littered, like, all over sort of like Instagram and things like that.

Speaker B: Yeah.

Speaker C: Um, and the bit that you touched on there about sort of like, you know, physical health and, like, looking good and stuff like that. So sometimes I think that, like, social media, ah, as great as it can be, it can also be like, a big impact of sort of like, mental health as well, because you're constantly, like, comparing yourself either with how somebody else looks or what somebody else is doing. Uh, and as good as that can be, like, all you're ever seeing on there is highlights. They're not gonna show you like the days where they don't wanna train. They're not gonna show you the days where they're not eating well or they've had a bad training session. They're going to show you all the times that they're doing something good. Uh, and sometimes that can be like a big impact on sort of like mental health. So sometimes it's not always like what you see, it's just thinking about you, uh, and you're the only person that you should be thinking about. So just putting in them daily habits, whether it's to the gym, whether it's going for a walk, uh, whether it's just having downtime, you know, putting down your phone and speaking to people in the room and just being present. I think they're the really important things. And diet as well. So you see like people go on these like 8 week or 10 week sort of like diet plans and things like that. And at the end of it they look great and they've got like great results, but then they'll just go back to where they were because what they've been doing is just not sustainable. So why, I just don't get it personally. Like why do it? Like just do something that you can maintain, so bring it, bring it down, like change something like 20% or something like that and see that impact. And if you can sustain that for a year quite easily or just for the rest of your life, then that's so much better than just, you know, your weight going up or your weight going down and fluctuating depending, uh, on whether you're buying uh, some sort of diet plan off some online fitness coach.

Speaker A: I think what I've picked up there from both your answers is like everyone's goals, you know, for mental wellbeing or physical wellbeing might not be, you know, to go to the gym or to do that. You know, some people might be totally happy with where they're at, but there might be something they want to achieve or they might have a goal or they might want to improve, uh, some part of their life. It might even be. I know some people find it uh, hard to switch off. You know, that's what they find out and they're always going and they find it hard to relax. But I think the one thing that both of you touched on there was, it's this, the starting point is really important is that doing the first step to that goal and also taking in, in small steps. So it's achievable. So whatever it is, you know, like the listeners are or whoever if they've got a goal. I think you two are both saying the most important thing is smaller steps achievable. And just, just taking the first step is probably the biggest one. Uh, so that's, that's really interesting. Like I said, for both physical and mental, well being is really important.

Speaker B: Is that, uh, I'd add something to that actually. You know, we've talked about, um, habits there and a lot of people make a change in their life on motivation, which is a great way to get started with something. If you just feel motivated to join the gym, meditate, to chill out maybe and switch off or read a book to improve knowledge in a certain area, whatever it might be, a motivation will get you started and will get you so far, but there will always be a point where that motivation will runs out. Yeah, habits can last a lifetime. You know, they're hard to break. And if that's waking up and going straight to the gym, which is what I do, if that's um, 20 minutes before work, you always meditate. If that's having a reading time set so that you do it straight after dinner, for example, then that's something that will sustain itself for months, years potentially. Motivation won't do that. So it's just such a bad idea to rely on motivation for any positive change.

Speaker A: That's a really good point. And I think we're talking a lot about sort of intrinsically us going out and doing it and doing them steps, um, to make a difference. Uh, I wanted to touch on like what organizations can do. So it might be workplace, it might be different organizations in the community, um, it might even be just, you know, within a friendship group. So, you know, we've talked a lot about what, what we can do, but what can, um, those around us sort of do to help us achieve them. Sorts of things. So for example, um, you know, there was a group of friends that I said mentioned earlier who set up this dad's group and, and we do go to that. And it's the football is sort of the side part of it is men getting together, uh, aside from their, their daily life and, and spending an hour just switching off from everything and, and that's really good for them and you know, it might go for a drink after and that sort of stuff. Um, is there anything that you've come across in your lives, um, either at work or away from work, where, you know, even if it's just something small that that's put on, um, just to maybe Take you away from work or just get people together, get people talking, uh, and socializing. Craig, have you, have you come across something like that?

Speaker C: Yeah, a few different things really. Obviously you can get like, I suppose the big things that are pulling people together might like it might be some sort of like charity event or something like that. So at ah, my old company, I stupidly signed up to do um, this bike ride that was basically put together for children in need. Um, it was a care home organization. Um, I think at the time they had about 300 care homes. So they took the one that was most north in Inverness and the idea was to basically cycle all the way to the bottom. Now it wasn't a group of people doing all of that. It was basically go from one care home to the next. And it was like a relay, right? Yeah. I ended up doing a leg that was from Manchester to Birmingham. So I really got the short straw. I did like no, no training. Not really done any sort of like bike riding before. And it absolutely murdered me, I'm not gonna lie. Um, but it was good just to get people to get like a, you know, a group of us like all together, all got out, all got out on the bikes. We had a great, you know, great time doing it. It was great before, it was great after. So things like that, you can get like big things but also just like the little things as well of just like teams getting together. So, so again, you know, from a, from a work perspective and you know, from an organizational perspective, I've seen things work where it might just be sort of like 50, you know, a 15 minute sort of like drop in meeting for like a brew break. Just to sort of like step away from sort of like work and just connect with like, you know, team members and stuff like that about, you know, what, what's going on, what they're doing after work, uh, what they've done at weekend, um, or even meeting m up after work, you know, if that's in your team, um, you know, like you said, going for a drink, um, we've done loads of things like little activities and stuff like that. You know, simple things just like bowling or darts or, or whatever. Doesn't even necessarily need to be a sporting thing. But little things like that, they unknowingly they can make a sort of like big impact of just maybe having conversations with people that you typically wouldn't have sort of like social conversations with you typically you would just speak to those people from a work capacity and that's it. But you actually get to know people a little bit more, which, you know, it benefits in two ways. Like uh, from a mental health perspective, unknowingly it's going to benefit you, but also from a team building perspective internally as well. So yeah, it's win, win all around.

Speaker A: Yeah, really good points, Harry.

Speaker B: Yeah, you remind me of um, I used to live in Italy and in Milan they're big on aperitivo, which is basically just you order a drink and there's food that you can have at the same time for free. That's the whole principle really. But people get together then to do that because I will go for a drink, we'll eat a little bit, we'll sit outside. And so after hours from the office, it's common that uh, you'll just walk around the corner and you'll join one of these bars that I've got a parativo on. And in that sense you start to connect with the people that you work with a little bit more. It's ultra relaxed. And you do get that sense of community within the office because you know people better. You, you've got that one thing in common. And I think having something in common, having community is, is really, really important. And my boss Rhian, she was uh, trying to get our whole team to read this book called Tribes for absolutely ages. Eventually I think we all gave in and read it. Um, and the premise behind the book, which probably could have been put down into a few paragraphs but, you know, elaborated all the way through to say that people have a sense of purpose when they're with people who have that commonality, that same sense of pride, of interest, of commitment, whatever it is, but that thing in common that they really believe in. Um, and you talk about like football for example, if you really enjoy playing football and you get that group of dads together that go and do that, you've got that community, then something in common and that, that's quite a hard bond to break. You know, it's something that, that sort of glues you together. And I think that's what companies can do better, is create those mini tribes within there, uh, find out what those interests are and just put something in place that allows those people to come together and bond over that. Yeah. And I know that the at uh, radar, there's the fantasy football group and there's been the seven side was it. I think it was just before my time. But there have been little bits like that I think are really helpful.

Speaker A: Yeah, I think I've um, I'm sure you two have as well, but I've worked at a place where um, you know, it's a great workplace and all that, but like these sorts of things and these little initiatives that like I say might be small, but it might be where one of these get togethers, someone has a conversation with someone and it might change loads. It might, it might be really impactful. But I've worked at a place where sort of it was work and there wasn't anything extra and obviously, you know, that is what work is there for. But you can almost feel a bit like a robot if you go in and there isn't that, that aspect. I think we're, we're looking like there is a good sense of community where we are. But I think that's really important for sort of organizations to, to make sure that there is just them little bits, just them little bits for people to get together. Because I think as well, some people, like, you're comfortable where you might talk to your friends at home, but there might be stuff you don't want to share with friends, but someone new, you might want to open up a little bit more because actually they might not be in your life as much. So it's just like, well, I'll just mention it. So I think it's really important that the stuff you both mentioned there organizations just, just make sure that there is something um, to do, uh, within the workplace. So coming back to sort of Movember and um, when it started and when it's, and how it's been around, I think like, personally I think if it's felt like the last five, 10 years maybe where I've seen Movember and I've seen um, particularly a few years ago, like the mustaches and everyone just growing these big mustaches and you're like, what is that about? It's Movember and that's where it starts. That's really good awareness from them. I think you see other things like with mental health campaigns and initiatives, you see a lot of it now, which is great. My first question was when, when did you first start to see sort of an uptick in these conversations or these um, like content online and, and seeing it more, making it more visible. When did you start to see that, that change, Harry?

Speaker B: I think it must be about 10 years ago at school when we were all like 16 and couldn't quite grow a mustache, but gave it a go anyway. And I would say uh, at that point we didn't even really know what Movember was about, to be honest. But uh, because it was just such a Widespread, I think viral was probably the term back in, like, 2015, wasn't it? Yeah, it was like a viral thing that just happened across this country. And I suppose the conversation started there, didn't it? And I know that Movember was founded in Australia, which I think is quite poignant, because I've known quite a lot of Australians through, like, traveling and things like that. And, um, they are, like, ultra masculine, always, like, fit, playing loads of sport in competition, so competitive with. With everything, and probably find it really hard to talk about this kind of thing. So for it to start there, I think is probably like the most central point it could have originated out from. But we're not that much different here compared to the Australians culturally in that regard, I think. So I think that's why it's just been so important and taken off so well is because, um, historically we have been really bad about talking about these things, even just understanding and being aware of them as well. So, yeah, about 10 years ago that started, and now I feel like we all know what Movember is about and we all do talk about these things more.

Speaker A: Yeah. Yeah, great.

Speaker C: Yeah, I think it was probably a little bit before then, so I think my first awareness of it was, yeah, like, mates deciding to grow absolutely tragic attempts at mustaches and just embarrassing, really. But, yeah, it. That sort of thing just sort of like, it forms conversation, doesn't it? Somebody starts doing it, start having a conversation, and before you know it, you're actually talking about, like, mental health. So that's. I think that's like one of the big impacts of sort of like, you know, uh, Movember, um, and other organizations doing such impactful things. But, yeah, it's obviously a really important, really important point. It's good to sort of like, get awareness out there and, uh, it's good just to get people talking and just making it sort of like, socially acceptable. Obviously, you know, we know that there's a big thing that from where we were to where we are now, I think it's becoming more acceptable and men especially are, uh, finding it still not easy enough. But, uh, you know, there's not enough men that are sort of, like, talking about, like, struggles or opening up. Uh, but I think it's a lot better than it was many, many years ago. And we've just got to keep it out there and we've just got to keep moving forward and just making it socially acceptable as much as possible.

Speaker A: It's definitely going upwards. Um, like I said how visible it is now, it's amazing. And movember do a really good job. Obviously, like, mental health is a huge part of it, physical health, general well being. But you know, like, there is the, the testicular cancer, prostate cancer is big part of Movember as well. Um, and like we were saying there how it is becoming more normal of the conversations and it is becoming more normal for a lot of it. Um, I think like that, that side of it, you know, sort of checking in on your physical health is something like that. I probably don't do as much as I should, as much as like Movember and these campaigns want you to do or what we should do. Um, and it's strange because, you know, women, for women, it's, it is part of their sort of day to day routine. It is just a normal thing that they won't even think about. It's not a conversation to have because they're already there, um, you know, physically checking on yourself for that sort of stuff. So I don't know about you, but over the next sort of year, um, sort of improving on your health, happiness. One thing for me is definitely doing that because like I said, we're having these conversations, we're here today having one, uh, raising awareness for Movember. And a big part of that is, um, physically checking on your health because I'm sure there's so many stories out there where someone's listened to a podcast. They've gone, right, well, I'll just check. And then they've found something that, you know, I'm sure that's happened so many times. So for me, that's my takeaway is check more over the next year. You know, you never know. Have more conversations, just checking on, on your mates. And it doesn't have to be again, don't have to be anything more than just making sure. How are you doing? Are you all right? Is everything okay? Picking up on little, little cues. Um, but for you two, what's something you want to take away maybe over the next year to, to do a little bit more over the, over the next year? Craig?

Speaker C: Yeah, well, I don't know that you're one of those people like I am that I try to sort of like, set myself sort of like goals in sort of like January for sort like the rest of the year of things that I, like, maybe want to do or want to achieve. Um, I don't know, it might be reading, reading books because I'm terrible for that. I can read like pages and pages and pages of book and then I'm like, right, what have I just read? And I have no idea. It's just like I'm just reading words on a page and they're just not going into my brain at all. Um, but yeah, I think for, I think for me it's just being more like socially present more than anything. And like you say checking in on mates, that was, that was one of the things for me. So I'm uh, fortunate that like all of my mates from, from school, the group, like we're still like all mates like today. Um, so yeah, there's a big group of us. Um, but I can be terrible just for sort of like picking up the phone and just, you know, I can go weeks without sort of like speaking to them. Um, it's more them sort of like contacting me. Do you want to go out for a beer? And usually it'll be no because I'm going to be doing a Hyrucs class or something like that. Um, so yeah, so I definitely need to improve on that. Definitely need to be better than that. Um, and yeah, just pick up the phone and just be a little bit more present. Um, and yeah, having downtime as well I think is going to be a big thing for me as well. So I can always be. And I think a lot of people are always the same. Like you're always at 100 mile an hour. So you, you're at work, you're doing things after work, you're doing things before work, your weekends are taken up with this. But sometimes it's about giving yourself time just to actually switch off and just like recharge. Um, um, and giving yourself that time to do that. Um, so yeah, that's going to be a big one for me as well. Just allowing time to sort of like have actual downtime.

Speaker A: Yeah, just picking up on that is we talk about having conscious efforts to go and do your health and m. Go and do your fitness. But um, I think you mentioned there like socially meeting up with your friends. I mean as I've got older, as the years I've gone in, it's like you do naturally sort of distance from friends. But I think in my head I'm always like, I know they're my friends, I don't need to message them or I don't need to do that. They will meet up sometime, it'll happen and you just sort of let it, it just sort of drifts on it and time moves on. But I think actually with your health you make a conscious effort to go into the gym. But socially, mentally, like, you've still got to make a conscious Effort. Right. I need to put time in to see my friends or uh, I need to send a message just to check they're all right. So you, you have got to. Things don't just happen or improve. You have got to make a contrast that. I think that's really a good goal for you over the next year. Be more socially present, I suppose is was the word Harry, for you.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: How many people do you speak to where their goal is to have less goals? Yeah, exactly. That's Craig. Um, yeah, I think that's the key one for me as well. Definitely the time you spend with your friends is extremely important. I do spend time with my friends and I value that time. So do do a reasonable job of it. But um, a goal for me is going to be to remove that like digital interaction as much as possible. I don't do it that much right now, but it's open to misinterpretation. Like you miss messages. Yeah, I just think it's a terrible way to communicate personally unless, uh, unless it's a needs must situation. So just getting in front of your friends more physically, uh, being there and just taking that digital aspect away. I've um, removed like Instagram, deleted profiles, whatever from Instagram, all sorts of social media. Really?

Speaker A: Yeah.

Speaker B: And uh, that was years ago now and it's just, it's had no negative impact on my life. Occasionally someone was saying, oh, did you see this? I think no. But I also don't care, you know, oh, this person's done this. And I thought, doesn't matter. You know, it's someone that I haven't even seen in years. I just don't care.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker B: So the people that I want to hear from and hear updates, I'll go see them and I'll get those updates from the horse's mouth. So yeah, I suppose that is a goal just to do more of that, um, and see more of uh, those friends. Because I have friends all over the place from living away and traveling and things like that. It can be hard to see them. But yeah, my, my goal would be to make more effort to get out and away and see them.

Speaker A: I think we've got some really good uh, goals there. And like I said, you know, listeners, um, who are listening, I think it's just, just having them, the small steps to whatever them goals are, get doing them and it all will contribute to all aspects of men's health. Like it's mental, well, being physical, um, social, uh, I think, I think we've had a really good conversation there. But I have got to ask one more question, which is the what the health tech moment. So, you know, we always ask our guests on here, and it's normally a standout moment from health and social care, like within our sector. It might be like something that is an emotional thing that's happened or an event. It might be something that's really funny that's just stuck with you. Just anything that stuck with you. Standout moment, again, can be health and social care sector, or it can be from more the topic we've spoke about today. Um, whatever you want it to be, it's just a takeaway moment. Craig.

Speaker C: Uh, yeah, so I guess mine would probably be something that I touched on a little bit earlier. So it was at my old place, um, and it was that, um, uh, event that we did for children in need, that bike ride. Because it was. That was. You can have these little groups sort of like coming together and you can do little things in your teams. Uh, but this was the whole organization coming together, you know, all the way from Inverness all the way down to London. Uh, so it's a huge effort and it was great to see, like, all the companies sort of like, come together. Um, and just the camaraderie that. That sort of like, brought sort of like throughout all the different teams from one care home to the next. You know, you're looking at like 25, 30,000 people across the entire organization not involved in that. But they had awareness of it and, you know, they were raising awareness of it. They were supporting, like, the people that were taking part. Uh, so I think, yeah, from a magnitude perspective, that was probably one of the big ones, because it's probably the biggest thing that I've sort of, like, from an organizational perspective have taken part in and seen the big impact that that had across the organization, as well as obviously raising a huge amount of money for children in need, which is great.

Speaker A: Yeah. Brilliant, Harry.

Speaker B: Yeah, I think mine's probably Barclays Awards that I went to. So they're a partner that we work with. They're a great organization. And, uh, their awards day was just such a phenomenal atmosphere, like the celebration of the work that they do, which, again is great work. Um, and I've just never seen such a large group of people come together with such a sense of, uh, community as such good people as well within the organization. So the whole day was just fantastic to see. And, uh, yeah, I suppose it's quite like a proud moment to say we support them in what they do and allow them to do more of it. So, yeah, that was probably my best moment.

Speaker A: Brilliant. Really good moment. So, both of you, thanks for, for joining us, sharing your thoughts. Being a really good chat, I think it'll resonate with a lot of people. I think there's a lot of takeaways there from, from all aspects. And it's been great to chat about Movember. Bring something a little bit different to the podcast and for people, uh, listening, it'd be great if you can get involved. So the website is uk.movember.com um, find ways you can get involved on there, um, and learn more. So join us next time for what the Health Tech Podcast. Don't forget to like and subscribe. If you've got any questions for our guests or any ideas, please email us at, uh, what the healthtechadarhealthcare.com.