first day at work (1)

This is a message from Dave Connor, Programs Director at Red Friday. He provides advice for first responders and new employees. He emphasizes the importance of being reliable and maintaining a positive presence. He also discusses the significance of exercise, mental health awareness, and following protocols. Dave reminds listeners not to take incidents personally and to focus on their own actions. He concludes with a breathing exercise and encourages listeners to make a difference in someone's life. Well, hello. This is Dave Connor, Programs Director at Red Friday. I'm a retired Career Command Fire Chief with an OSI. We developed this piece to include some of the stuff that I would have really liked to know when I was a rookie. The content will work for everyone, as does all the training that we have on offer at the Red Friday Academy. But you'll find this particularly useful if it's your first day at a job or a location. And if you're a first responder, this is particularly aimed at you. So try some of this while you're sitting in the car and ready to go inside at the beginning of that shift. Did you hear that sound your tires make when you arrive at work? It's kind of a quiet little chunk-chunk sort of sound as the surface changed. This reminds you that you're at work, so be thinking about work. It makes that same sound when you're leaving the property, so listen for it on the way out. Think of your expectations of yourself. Are you setting your sights too high or are any of your expectations distorted in any way? While we're made to believe that our employers and coworkers place a really high value on skills and training and performance, etc., the truth is reputation, which is really all that you own of your own, it comes from being reliable. And someone who is reliable is simply more valued than somebody who is stronger or smarter. So work towards being reliable. Think about your mentors and the people who have believed in you on your way through. Was it their skills or their approach that impacted on you? There's a really good chance that you saw those people as reliable. Remember this piece, too. People will not remember what you say, but they always remember how you made them feel. So if there's a chance to get some exercise today, take it. Exercise releases endorphins and helps you manage stress and gets you a better night's sleep. Break a sweat every day if you can. Try to get outside if you can. Sun and wind on our face is good for the soul. I know some people who pretend to be smokers just to get outside during their work day. Think about your state of mind. Know that about 40% of the people you're going to interact with today are having mental health concerns. And that includes your peers. And if you don't find yourself in that group today, know that you could find yourself in that very same group tomorrow. So be grateful for the good days and know that the bad days are normal. They're kind of expected. Everybody's on their own journey here. And don't take things people say or their actions personally. This is especially true if you're wearing a uniform. Think about your role in this group. You probably aren't going to be the most experienced or skilled person in the place. But you have a choice to be a positive, healthy presence. So what does that look like? And beyond holding door for someone, it's things like being patient with people who are struggling to communicate with you. It's remembering that you're just a very small part in a very big machine. But to the person that you're talking to, you may be their entire soul connection to society. And it also means being supportive of the senior members of your group who may have seen too much or felt too hard. When you're out in the field, it's small things like picking up the packaging from your medical supplies so someone else doesn't have to do it after you've left. If you're helping somebody who lives alone, take a second before you leave to turn off the stovetop and make sure there's some water in a dog's bowl. Small stuff. It matters. It's following your training, and it's learning the protocols and the rules, and especially the unwritten rules. It also helps you, again, to be known as reliable. So I want to caution you against something. It's really easy to make our experiences become our story. But the reality is you're responding to an event in someone else's life. These things are their stories, not yours, and it's their outcome, not yours. We often personalize incidents as if we had some kind of control over them and made some sort of error or omission. And this is really unhealthy, magical thinking because, you know, the truth is your experiences are accidents of time and space. They happen while you're at work and in the area you serve. And almost all of them would have happened whether you were at work or not. So how could you be responsible for that? And when the whole thing goes sideways, which it sometimes will, rather than blame yourself for a minor role not having a desired effect, ask yourself this. Did I follow my training? Did I work inside my team? Was I a positive presence? Was I reliable? And if so, you've done your bit. So before you go in, do a quick box breathe. Add a little hum on the exhale. It helps stimulate your vagus nerve. Drink water through the day to stimulate your vagus nerve as well. And throughout the day, if you're getting anxious or unsettled, hold your head straight and move your eyes to the 3 o'clock position and hold that position. And you hold them there until you either swallow or cough. And, again, that resets the vagus nerve, and it helps you stay on top form and ready to perform. So let's just do a quick box breathe before you go in, okay? We're going to exhale, and then we're going to inhale for a 4 count. We're going to hold that 4 count. And we're going to exhale and hum. And empty lungs for a 4 count. And inhale for a 4 count. Hold for a 4 count. Exhale. Hold. Do that another time. So that's awesome. So now, we want you to go get them. We want you to be a reliable, positive presence and make a difference in somebody's life. When you finish this shift, listen for that chunk, chunk sound as you leave the property. It's reminding you that work's behind you and your life's in front. Thanks for listening. Tune in. Redfridayacademy.com