At work yesterday, I was reminded of something cool that is happening among my coworkers. Support and peer pressure. I know, peer pressure is supposed to be a dirty concept, but in this case it's good.
When I started working there in June 2015, myself and one other person (2/18 people) were the only ones exercising and eating healthier food. They had heard that I was into healthy stuff, so at my welcome potluck, most food was healthy. Then the teen librarian joined a gym and got a trainer (3/18). She was quiet about her journey, but vocal about how much stronger she felt. She pulled me aside and said she wouldn't have done it if she didn't hear me talking about health with the other coworker.
A clerk quit and another was hired. The new clerk had been dabbling in healthiness for awhile, but was t quite ready to start in full force. Three temporary pages quit and 3 permanent pages were hired. One is a body builder (4/18), the other 2 just naturally skinny. The body builder and I would routinely talk about food and fitness at lunch. The others would listen in and ask questions. First the clerk joined a gym (5/18), then one of our longtime pages (6/18) joined a gym and got a trainer, one of the new pages started Pilates and running (7/18), and the other started playing basketball and lifting weights with his dad again (8/18). I've also noticed that one of our temporary clerks has quietly started bringing healthier food to work and has taken fewer cigarette breaks. She's not vocal, so I'm not counting her... Yet.
So, what made me really see this change in the staff were donuts and partnerships. The staff was stoked that a local gym wants to partner with my library (can you talk them into discounted memberships? Nutrition classes?) - we're in negotiations now. Yesterday, as happens every Saturday, someone brought donuts to work. Only 4 out of the dozen were eaten thanks to peer pressure. Typically, the whole dozen would be gone by noon, even with only 9 people working the whole day.
The healthy crew (for lack of better term) asked each other "what's your food plan for today?" In the morning. During breaks taken next to that box of donuts they talked about healthy recipes. At lunch they asked each other where they were in meeting their goals. And they helped each other calculate calories and macros when someone finally decided that they just had to have a donut. Then they looked for recipes that are "better than donuts but still get that craving out of the way."
I don't know if peer pressure is the right term, or if it's just modeling healthy behavior. What I do know is that this is a positive change for the staff. They all have more energy and they're more vibrant. One has reduced her diabetes medication and wore jeans for the first time in 4 years. Another is better able to keep up with her toddler. Someone else has decided that her legs are cute enough now to wear skirts. The body builder is doing a cut.
It's great to see something so positive happening among the staff at my library.