Sumit Panjwani | Choosing Wellness

For the last 15 years, Sumit has worked with at-risk and migrant communities through coordinating engagement and wellbeing programs. He now runs Reframe Wellbeing – a practice delivering evidence-based wellbeing workshops at an organisational level. The QUT Alumni team sat down with Sumit to chat about his career, his approach to wellness, and one of the biggest trends in wellbeing at present.

Tell us more about Reframe Wellbeing and what inspired you to establish the business

Reframe Wellbeing is based in Brisbane and delivers wellbeing group workshops, co-develops wellbeing strategies with organisations, and facilitates one-on-one coaching with individuals.

Having previously held frontline and operational roles in the statutory and justice environments, I witnessed first-hand the challenges and stressors experienced by my colleagues and other stakeholders in the workplace. This often led to them experiencing empathy fatigue, adopting poor coping habits and ultimately succumbing to burnout. The impact on staff ultimately undermined the quality of service delivery and compromised the duty of care to the clients.

My inspiration to launch Reframe Wellbeing comes from aspects of health and positive psychology, emphasising a shift away from the focus on illness towards promoting wellbeing. My mission is to reframe the way we think and how we approach the science and wisdom of wellbeing. A crucial message is to embrace, rather than avoid, life’s inherent challenges, acknowledging the need to cultivate skills, capacity, resilience, and self-awareness to overcome them with courage.

What are some of your career highlights?

There are many, but the opportunity to work with genuine, kind and passionate people from various backgrounds and cultures, and form meaningful connections and friendships, has been an overwhelmingly positive and rewarding experience. It’s a highlight each time I’m able to make a difference to someone’s life through my actions or advocacy. The 15 years I’ve spent serving communities in youth justice and immigration, seeing people display immense resilience despite adversity, have been some of the most rewarding years of my career.

Prior to founding Reframe Wellbeing you worked extensively with at-risk and migrant communities. Do you have any tips for how to connect effectively across cultures?

It has been humbling and a constant learning experience.

Connection is fostered by being authentic, imbibing the values of compassion and empathy. Being vulnerable, fully present without judgement, and really listening is key. When you’re connecting with people from various cultures it is vital to not assume prior knowledge, or rely on stereotypes, and to stay inquisitive and explore common ground. Our humanity is what connects us first and foremost. We have more in common than we know or acknowledge.

One of the biggest trends in wellbeing at present are micro habits. Can you break down what micro habits are and how we can apply them to productivity?

Micro habits are like building blocks, incremental changes you make to form a new ‘larger’ habit. By the same token, bad habits are hard to change; once formed, habits become encoded in the brain.

It is challenging to form and maintain new and positive habits: that’s where micro-habits come in. Habits are usually triggered by a cue, followed by a routine to get the desired reward. The important part is the repetition so that this process becomes automatic. New habits take between 45 and 66 days to form.

There is a wide range of evidence and good literature about the best approaches. One of my go-tos is the Pomodoro technique. This technique, typically used for time management, is a useful tool to create intervals within tasks. For example, you may usually have your lunch break sitting down while scrolling through your phone. A micro-habit could be to instead take a 10-15 minute walk as part of your lunch break. Leaving the phone behind would encourage you to immerse yourself and allow for creative thinking which boosts productivity. The urge to check the phone constantly or get drawn into social media is hard to resist. The cue in this case is to finish your lunch at the 15-minute mark, which is when you create this new micro-habit of going for a walk. The reward is a feeling of freshness and creative energy.

Like all new habits, the challenge is to consistently do it. Be compassionate with yourself when you falter – just start again the next day. Showing up is the first (and hardest) step.

How do you stay updated on industry trends to strengthen your workshops and coaching?

There is a wide range of health and wellbeing information available. I am a lifelong learner, and my approach is to pursue professional development through tertiary educational courses and micro-credentials. I stay up do date on the latest health and wellbeing literature and evidence-based research from credible sources. I also enjoy reading new books and listening to podcasts about psychology, human behaviour, and social entrepreneurship.

As someone who works passionately to help others foster wellness, it is important that I practice what I preach. I constantly reflect, work on myself to change long-standing habits, and implement mindfulness practices such as meditation and nature walks to ensure my message of wellbeing is authentic and resonates with those I aim to help.

QUT degree - Master of Creative Industries (2011)

Do you have a question for Sumit? Connect with him on LinkedIn.