Rachel Service with her "I want" list. Photo / Happiness Concierge Facebook
Rachel Service with her "I want" list. Photo / Happiness Concierge Facebook
As the New Year creeps ever closer, many of us will be turning our minds to what we want to achieve in 2017, and setting ourselves a few New Year's resolutions.
Often, setting boundaries in the workplace is one of those resolutions many people fail to keep.
Rachel Service, originallyfrom New Zealand and now based in Australia, was a high-flying career woman working with major brands and agencies in her early 20s, when she collapsed from exhaustion and passed out in a bathroom on the way to work, Daily Mail reports.
Ms Service already has many resolutions ready to go this January 1 which can help you: "Do less with more impact. Speak up more," she said. Photo / Happiness Concierge Facebook
Since that point, Service has overhauled her attitude to her career, and become a mental health in the workplace advocate, founding the business, Happiness Concierge.
"Learn to empathise with those I disagree with to open a conversation which shares a different perspective," was another.
"Work less," she added.
On a practical level, Service also advocates writing an "I want" list; something which she has written about on her website in detail.
The "I Want list" is a "list of legit things you want", Service said.
Divided into three sections: I Want To Feel, I Want To Have and I Want To Be/Achieve, Ms Service believes the objective is to get used to saying exactly what you want.
The expert also believes good communication is the key to having a good 2017.
"I think the biggest thing people can do is make small, brave decisions every day about communicating the behaviour they will and won't accept," she said.
Rachel Service sharing her story at CrossFit Collingwood. Photo / Happiness Concierge Facebook
"Learning how to communicate your boundaries or challenge an opinion in a constructive way is not something we're taught."
Service was inspired to start Happiness Concierge in her late 20s after she found "my addiction to work was nearly killing me".
"When I was 22, I passed out in the bathroom on the way to work," she wrote on her blog.
"The ulcers which developed in my mouth immediately afterwards saw me bed ridden and unable to eat for two weeks.
"At 24, I literally couldn't stand up one day after working 24/7 for months, skipping meals and hitting the gym all hours.
Rachel Service works out in her spare time. Photo / Happiness Concierge Facebook
"I was diagnosed with anxiety and depression and adrenal fatigue from over working and was ordered to bed rest for six weeks, unable to work."
Later on, at Beyonce concert at age 27, she realised she had to change; hence, the fact that she founded Happiness Concierge.
"With professional help, the support of my family and friends, I eventually landed on a sustainable life I love, creating a series of tactics to help me cope.
Rachel Service taking a break in Bali. Photo / Happiness Concierge Facebook
"I started to share these tips with my friends and on a blog, which eventually led me to creating workshops around each of these tactics."
