MONDAY MEMO

 Announcements
 Authorized
    Absences
 Calendar
 Classifieds
 Employment
 Meetings
 News
 Personnel Briefs
 Wellness
 Feedback

MORE INFORMATION
Publication Dates
Publication Deadlines
Monday Memo Policy

FORMS
Submit Absences
Submit Announcement
Submit Classified Ad

Although many of us know what we need to do to increase our well-being, knowledge is not always enough to accomplish a behavior change. Information is necessary but not sufficient for creating lasting change. Changing a behavior involves learning new behavior, and almost everyone has attempted a change but not been able to stick with it long enough to "learn" that new behavior. There are many reasons for the difficulty in making lasting change, but one barrier is a lack of support from people around us. While most people do not actively work against us achieving our behavior change goals, they may not know how to provide us with the kind of support that we need at that times that we need it. In addition, people may not feel comfortable asking for behavior change support.

Last week we mentioned that we would like to establish a wellness mentor program here at Eastern. Our hope is that this program will develop a type of social support that will enable people to make lasting changes that they choose to make to enhance their well-being. Social support is defined as "any behavior that assists another person in addressing a specific need." There are several types of social support, but two types - informational support and emotional support - are the focus of a wellness mentor program.

In order to get a wellness mentor program started here at Eastern, we need volunteers who are interested in attending workshops designed to provide a little background in wellness and some techniques for wellness mentoring. We will also talk about developing a network of mentors so that we can exchange ideas and learn how to connect people with the type of informational support that they need.

The first workshop will be held on Friday, February 15, from 1-5 PM, in --. If you are interested in participating in this workshop call Mary Drabbs at 562.4344 (leave a message with your name and contact information if she's not there) or e-mail her at mary.drabbs@enmu.edu. If you would like to become a member but can not attend this workshop, call Mary Drabbs anyway and indicate your interest.

Helpful Mentoring Qualities

• Friendly
• Supportive
• Understanding
• Helpful
• Trustworthy
• Curious
• Enthusiastic
• Sympathetic
• Honest
• Positive