Ringing in the New Year typically means setting new goals or resolutions. Personally, I do not make New Year’s resolutions, but I do set goals for the New Year. I find I am more likely to accomplish and stick to goals rather than resolutions. I am sure we all want to get healthier, work on that summer bod, or make an annual bucket list. One of my 2017 goals was to focus on becoming healthier, mind body, and soul. I accomplished a lot with my health goals in 2017 and in turn, tweaked my health goals for 2018. One of the benefits of working for JMARK is being a member of the wellness committee. Participating in the wellness committee allows me to have a say in choosing the wellness speakers, help decide on wellness challenges, and find ways to motivate and challenge our team members to live healthier lifestyles.
Working from a desk 8 hours a day can really take a toll on your body. We strive to come up with ways to move more and encourage our team to be healthier. Our first challenge of the year, which 
started on February 1st, is a step challenge bracket. Now I do not know how your coworkers are, but here at JMARK, we are COMPETI.T.IVE. Since the challenge began, I have heard a lot of smack talking, participated in friendly banter regarding steps, and tried to take more steps throughout the day. Personally, I did not realize how few steps I took until I bought a Fitbit in January. I do not consider myself very competitive, but when it comes to the chance to win a prize and challenge a team member, I tend to become a little more competitive. I am a remote worker, so I really enjoy when my coworkers tell me they are going to get some steps or ask how many I have for the day. As I write this, we are wrapping up week one of the step challenge, and I have to say it has been fun! We have six rounds, which will end on March 6th.
When I came to work at JMARK, I came from a job where I was always on my feet. The shift from standing and moving all day to sitting at a desk for eight hours was challenging. I joined the wellness committee almost three years ago and really enjoy being able to participate and help choose our wellness activities. When I started at JMARK, my focus was not my health. I would try to eat healthy and exercise occasionally, but I would always find an excuse. Working at JMARK has helped me to make my health a priority. I take pride in being on the wellness committee and try to encourage my team to participate in our challenges. We are a company that tries to encourage focusing on your health and finding ways to improve your health. The challenges we choose are always fun, interactive, and competitive—one of the many reasons I love working for JMARK. I think it is so important to focus on living a healthy and active lifestyle. I do not think I would have made the changes in my health that I have if it was not for the constant wellness challenges JMARK puts on.
The wellness challenges encourage our employees to meet other team members as well. I worked in the office for three years before becoming a remote employee. Our wellness challenges help me to stay connected to the office. I am thankful to work for a company that encourages and challenges each individual to improve their health by having fun. Every time we have a challenge, it is fun because so many of our team members are competitive. Our goals for the wellness committee are to notice and recognize employees who are participating in healthy activities, find healthy activities happening around Springfield, and share any team member health-related accomplishments. We also share health-related articles we find interesting or informative. We post the information, pictures, and events we discover in the JMARK Springfield office for our coworkers to see.
One of JMARK’s core values is fun; I think participating in the workplace challenges reminds me one of the many reasons why I work for such a great company. The steps challenge has encouraged my coworkers and me to move more. Whether you have a Fitbit or made a resolution this year, I would encourage everyone to challenge a co-worker to a healthy activity. At the end of the day, we are encouraging each other to become healthier and have fun. We have not decided what our next challenge will be, but I plan to participate regardless. Fingers crossed, I’ll keep gaining more steps each day so I can make it to round six of the step bracket challenge!
Tiffany Routhier
Inside Sales Coordination
