I have been fortunate enough to have many moments I will always be proud of. Bouncing back from my disappointment at London 2012, becoming world champion and setting a world record, Paralympic silver in Rio 2016, making the plane to Tokyo despite Chrons trying to kill me and of course founding the world’s first ever complete fitness app specifically designed for the disabled community (Accessercise). Being world class, as an athlete, in business and in life centres around 2 keys. Firstly, being the best version of yourself that you can be. Secondly, lifting those around you to be the best versions of themselves.
In sport, business and life, no one can do it alone. Support, help and having people around you is essential. As an athlete, it is my coach, trainer, medical team, operations manager, agent etc. In business at Accessercise, it’s our CEO, our board of directors and key advisors. In life it is my friends, family and fans.
For the disabled community, this support and access to resources is so often limited creating large barriers to both mental and physical wellbeing for people with impairments. Knowing, seeing and believing in the value of not only physical well-being, but also mental well-being and understanding the huge benefits of exercise to all people is a huge driving factor for me.
My aim, ambition and goal is to ensure that the disabled community across the globe have the same access, equality and resources as the able bodied community do, when it comes to exercising and mental health.
This has been a huge driver for me during my career advising national bodies, supporting charities and being an advocate for change. As well as outside of my sporting career, with the development and release of Accessercise, the world’s first ever complete fitness app designed specifically for the disabled community.
I would argue that the key to success in whatever you are trying to do, is learning to enjoy the journey and not being focused on the outcome. This to me, is one of the keys to mental wellbeing. If our mental state is linked to the emotion of success/failure of any given aim, we will always be stressed and either amazingly happy or depressed. If we begin to learn to enjoy the process, the ups and downs, the challenge, celebrating the little wins along the way, and not letting the little losses affect us, that is when we can achieve amazing things and do so with a strong mental well-being.
You can hear more from Ali Jawad on this topic at The Watercooler event which is taking place on 25th and 26th of May at Olympia in Central London. The event is all about helping employers connect to achieve the right joined-up mental, physical, financial, social and environmental wellbeing solutions that deliver the best possible outcomes both for employees and for the business. You can find out more and register to attend free here.
