Public Sector Consultants is about to begin a 16-week worksite wellness challenge with the Michigan Fitness Foundation (MFF) and the Small Business Association of Michigan (SBAM) based on a “healthy habits” game developed by PSC. The challenge aims to help employees reach their health goals within a supportive environment. Individuals start wherever they are, at their own starting line, with the support of the organizational team behind them. Just as a runner strives for his or her “personal best” with each race they run, participating employees will do the same. Each employee’s personal best is different: one will incorporate physical activity into their routine, such as committing to walk 30 minutes every day, while another will eat more fruits and vegetables by incorporating them into meals and snacks.

Now, I have to admit, as the wellness coordinator at PSC, I get pretty pumped up each time PSC plays a healthy habits game, and our challenge with MFF and SBAM is no exception. As a participant, I am excited for another opportunity to make improvements to my health and try new ways to reach my personal, healthy best. I always learn such great tips from the experiences of my colleagues, and this time the pool of knowledge and experience is even larger.

As a coordinator, I am excited about the group activities we are planning for our challenge participants and am looking forward to getting other organizations in on the fun that is the healthy habits game. What will motivate each person enough to bring them closer to their personal best? This is the challenge that a wellness coordinator faces. I can only hope that the challenge activities not only ignite employee participation, but get individuals excited about their own health so they sustain healthy behaviors, promising benefits for them, their families, and their employer.

This picture keeps coming into my mind of the employees at each organization (in their team t-shirts, of course) getting ready to take their marks at the challenge starting line. “Eye of the Tiger” is blaring in the background, and hearts are pounding in anticipation of the starting gun going off.

How will we make it to our finish line? Stay tuned to learn just how we did it.

By Jacqueline LaFay