Photo By Kelly Haertjens | The newest U.S. Army Sustainment Command Transformation Tuesday series will cover...... read more read more
By Kelly Haertjens, ASC Public Affairs
ROCK ISLAND, Ill. – It’s the season of New Year’s resolutions, health goals and more – and the newest Transformation Tuesday series “Your Guide to Lifestyle Change,” aims to assist in making those goals a reality.
According to a 2024 New Year's resolution Forbes Health poll, nearly half of people making resolutions focus on improving fitness levels. Better finances, mental health, and weight loss also rank high, but most resolutions last just under four months before people give up. The lifestyle change series hopes to make that number increase among the U.S. Army Sustainment Command workforce.
"A quote from Martin Luther King Jr. sums it up," explained G1 (Human Resources) Resilience and Readiness (R2) division Wellness Branch chief, certified master resilience trainer and health and life coach Linda Ottman. "'You don't need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.' This series provides best practices and processes to help anyone reach their personal goal, whatever the goal may be. The goal could be weight loss, a healthier diet, better sleep, or handling stress."
The series is broken down into six virtual classes each Tuesday, starting January 23. Each session will be recorded for ASC Soldiers and Civilians who can't attend live.
"It's designed to empower employees to reach their personal goals and maintain optimal wellness by implementing lifestyle changes," Ottman said. "We will guide participants with tools and strategies to help create lifestyle changes that can work best for them. Everyone can benefit from the topics covered in this series since we all have something in our life we would like to change or improve. Sometimes we just need to be reminded of basic steps to take when life becomes frustrating or overwhelming."
Having the resources to be happy and healthy helps the workforce stay motivated to support ASC’s mission in keeping our Soldiers prepared on the ground. ASC’s global workforce is dedicated to get Soldiers what they need, when and where they need it. In order to reach more ASC employees and to expand on topics, the R2 team created the Transformation Tuesday classes both to help the workforce and the mission.
"The idea of this series came from a question of how to reach a large group of people all at once," G1 R2 Resilience Branch chief and fellow master resilience trainer and lifestyle coach Nick Osterhaus said. "Usually, our health coaching classes are limited to ten people per series. Talking with our team, we set out to make this series more of a 'how to' series."
"The lifestyle changes will be up to the participant. Linda and I will just be giving the footprint of how to change the habit in their lives,” Osterhaus said. “The classes we give will walk attendees through the process and they will be able to insert the lifestyle change they wish into our handouts."
'Your Guide to Lifestyle Change' is part of the R2 team's goal in sustaining a ready and resilient workforce within ASC.
"The R2 programs directly enhance the readiness of ASC's global workforce, supporting the continuous improvement and development of the command's resilience programs," Ottman said. "We support several lines of effort including workforce engagement, health, safety, and well-being. We provide a variety of classes and initiatives to drive personal readiness and to build connections on teams and within the community. We stress the importance of taking care of yourself and practicing work-life balance."
With a happier, healthier workforce, the mission is able to be in the forefront of the mind of both Soldiers and Civilians rather than extra stressors impacting mental and physical health.
"We are in the fourth year of Transformation Tuesday," Osterhaus said. "The feedback that we have received has been great. When we hear that these presentations we are providing to the workforce show an impact in changing people's lives, benefiting the workplace environment, and hearing the gratitude for what we give makes our division work harder to provide these types of classes."
"Participants will often share the positive impact the series has had for them personally," Ottman echoed. "Those comments validate what we do is making a difference not only for the participants, but it also has a ripple effect on our families, coworkers, units and teams within our global command."
In fact, the topics for the lifestyle change series were selected based on feedback from the ASC workforce.
"When planning these six-week series, we take feedback from the attendees so we are presenting what our workforce wants to see and what they can benefit from," Osterhaus said.
"We analyze the data collected from the workforce, including the community strengths and themes assessment, defense organizational climate survey, federal employee viewpoint survey and various R2 program and individual class surveys," Ottman said, adding that they also focus on workforce trends and requests when developing a new class series. Focus is always on wellness education and prevention topics.
While the lifestyle change series may be new, some of the topics may seem familiar.
"This lifestyle change series marries up with most of the resilience classes we give," Osterhaus explained "Being able to adjust to change makes you a more resilient person. We are helping you with the tools so when an adversity happens in your life, you already have the tools to help combat it."
Ottman agreed, and said she is looking forward to seeing the impact the series will continue to have.
"I enjoy sharing education and prevention topics with the workforce. It's rewarding when participants have "a-ha" moments during class, and you know that person has connected with the information presented and will move forward and initiate a meaningful change in their life."
Here are the weekly topics in the series:
• 23 JAN 2024, The Motivation
Are you are thinking about making a change? How do you get motivated and get started? Learn how to identify your big motivating factor and discover the pros and cons of changing your habits.
• 30 JAN 2024, The Purpose
Purpose and preparation will help you act. Learn how to create a personalized plan and put it into action. Set yourself up for success!
• 06 FEB 2024, The Choices
You are making real changes to your lifestyle but, how do you stick with your new habits? Discussion will include reviewing your plan, how to keep moving forward and rewarding yourself.
• 13 FEB 2024, The Setbacks
Not sure how you will overcome the roadblocks on your journey to lifestyle change? Join us as we discuss common setbacks including self-sabotage.
• 20 FEB 2024, The Stressors
Change can be stressful because changes require us to adjust and to adapt. Experiencing too many changes within a brief time can create the impression that we aren't in control. Learn why this happens and how to use coping strategies.
• 27 FEB 2024, The New Normal
It’s time to check the rear-view mirror! Acknowledge where you are, focus on where you want to be, and learn to practice gratitude.
To join these sessions, the workforce can follow the Teams link that was emailed to ASC Civilians and Soldiers. For further information, contact the ASC G1 R2 team.
| Date Taken: | 01.22.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 01.22.2024 22:36 |
| Story ID: | 462233 |
| Location: | ROCK ISLAND ARSENAL, ILLINOIS, US |
| Web Views: | 60 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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