10 Tips to help you navigate this new reality safely

1. Continue to practice good personal hygiene, social distancing, wear a mask and still limit movement where possible.
2. Ensure that you support, encourage and educate those around you in your value chain to continue to do the same.
3. Pay attention to your mental health: notice what is happening to your anxiety levels, your sense of stress, trauma, feeling depressed and feeling overwhelmed. Keep track of your feelings, as you would of your temperature.
4. Speak to trusted support about your feelings. This may be a family member, a business partner, a colleague or a mentor. Have regular check-ins.
5. Seek professional help in the form of your GP as soon as you feel physically unwell.
6. If you are struggling with mental state, reach out to a psychologist or psychiatrist as early as is possible. It helps to know you have a mental health practitioner in our corner.
7. Model good self-care behaviour for your employees and also all members of your business value chain. We all will require more authentic human connection to help us through this challenging time of physical distancing.
8. Befriend your vulnerability. It is ok to feel uncertain and uncomfortable. Your psychologist is a great member of your team to support you with that.
9. Normalise for yourself that it is often ok not to feel ok.
10. Know that once we can be authentic with how we feel; we can often make better decisions which serve us better in the longer term of our lives and livelihoods.

My wish is that you and your business may continue to stay safe, stay sane and economically viable and sustainable into the future. It has been an honour to be able to hold the space for you during this time through Nedbank’s SimplyBiz platform. As this campaign may conclude at this time, I am definitely still available to support you on your quest for biopsychosocial wellness in your personal and professional life during this challenging time and other that may arise into the future.

Bradley R. Daniels
MA CMHW (New York University) BA Hons (Applied Psychology) BA (Law)- Wits University
Clinical PsychologistHuman Performance & Employee Wellness Coach

I am a HPCSA (Health Professions Council of South Africa) registered Clinical Psychologist in private practice. I have many years of corporate wellness experience in my role as a Human Resources Practitioner in FMCG environment in my younger career; and over the last 10 years as a psychologist, working in the employee wellness space. My experience for working with crisis situations was deepened by working with MSF (Médecin Sans Frontières/ Doctors Without Borders) during the Ebola outbreak. I supported returning field workers during their time of quarantine. I also worked for the Department of Correctional Services where I provided mental health care to those incarcerated. Here, I worked with other dangerous diseases such as TB patients, cancer and AIDS in conditions of confinement. My specialist training at New York University (NYU) in mental health counselling and wellness lends itself perfectly to supporting clients with holistic wellness at times of crisis or negative health incidents. I am passionate to work in the fields of Cross-Cultural Psychology and with diverse populations-as mastered working at The Institute for Human Identity(ihi) in NYC and International House-NYC. My skills for working precisely and efficiently under pressure has been sharpened working at the African continent’s biggest academic hospital Chris Hani Baragwanath (Adult Psychiatry Unit).

All these joint experiences AND my own reality as a Small Business, have enhanced my competency to be able to support Your Small Business at this difficult time in the clutches of COVID-19.