PERSONAL ANXIETY POST – MHFC AND ME

It’s been 15 months since my last personal anxiety post, and it’s been quite the 15 months!!

16 months ago I started a new non-profit project to help people mainly improve their mental health but also fitness and combat loneliness all through football.

MHFC has grown and developed more than I could ever have imagined and more importantly helping 100s of people along the way.

There are big plans for MHFC which include trying to start sessions all around the UK so it can help and support people all around the UK.

As well as helping other people it’s also been helping me in two ways, one of which is by playing football regularly (twice a week), so I can play a sport I love, socialise and exercise to help both my mental and physical health.

The other is that MHFC has given me so many different changes that I’ve had to face and work through, for example….
– Sessions with 40 people attending
– Launching new sessions
– Managing multiple sessions
– Overseeing multiple areas
– Talking on camera
– Going to events
– Talking on stage in front of people
– Talking in front of people at sessions
– Having hard conversations with people
– Having meetings in new places with new people
– Managing very occasional difficult sessions
– Managing volunteers
– Managing different situations with volunteers (illness, bereavements, work, family life)
– Managing a project with 400 members
– Managing a project that currently has outgoings of £1,160 a month
– Attend more networking events

I do think it has then helped in my personal life as I’ve been increasingly able to do more things with my family, stay places longer, stay calmer and more relaxed and suffer from headaches less.

Usually, I would put more in-depth posts about the above challenges (like I usually do and describe the ups and downs and my anxiety throughout it) that have gone on in the last 15 months but so much has gone off.

I’ve met some fantastic people through MHFC, some that are completely new and some that I already knew but through MHFC we’ve got a stronger friendship.
I now know just how powerful it is to have good people around you, supporting you and believing in what you’re doing, it’s helps me/you achieve more.

I’ve had some very stressful moments that in the past would’ve really knocked me a lot, but recently they’ve only knocked me a little and I’ve still been able to carry on with life and do things.

At the start of MHFC, I didn’t want to be the ‘face’ of it due to my anxiety, but because of managing it and being the main contact for it, there was no choice but I’ve learnt as I’ve been on the journey.

I hate being photographed, videoed, speaking and watching myself on camera but for the benefit of MHFC, I’ve done it.

Hearing how MHFC has helped people has helped my drive even more.

I’m looking forward to the future of watching it develop further, seeing it help more people and it help myself at the same time.

I want to have a positive impact on as many people as possible through MHFC and give people as many experiences and surprises as possible to give them a mental boost.
Seeing and hearing the positive impact helps me and also being able to give people experiences and surprises and see they enjoy them, again helps me.