💬 Summary

In this episode of Work in Progress, we speak to Solomon Mehta-Slade – creator of Mental Fitness workshops for organisations, coach, and co-founder of The Change:Maker Collective – about building inner stability so you can thrive at work and beyond.

Sol explains how his workshops help people build the mental strength and emotional resilience to perform under pressure, recover quickly from setbacks, and collaborate with more ease. He shares how his own mental health challenges led him to reframe wellbeing as “mental fitness” and why self-worth should never be tied to productivity or job titles. We talk about taming and befriending your inner critic, recognising when your sense of value is coming from output, and how community can make change feel less heavy and lonely. Sol also unpacks what employers often get wrong about wellbeing and offers a vision for workplaces where people can bring their whole selves to work.

💡 Takeaways

• Mental fitness is proactive – it’s about strengthening your mindset, not just reacting when things go wrong
• Self-worth is unconditional – it should never depend on your role, output, or recognition
• You can tame your inner critic by noticing it, naming it, and replacing judgement with discernment
• Befriending yourself is as important as silencing negative self-talk
• Micro-moments of presence can reset your mind – you don’t always need long breaks
• Work can give you meaning, but it’s risky to make it your sole source of identity
• Community helps you realise you’re not alone in your challenges
• Employers need to embed wellbeing into culture, not bolt it on as an afterthought
• The best workplaces create space for people to be human, not just productive
• Clarity often comes from action – treat roles and career moves as experiments

🕒 Chapters

00:00 – Who is Solomon Mehta-Slade and what does he do?

01:28 – From mindfulness to mental fitness

03:47 – How Sol’s own challenges shaped his work

06:26 – Mental health vs mental fitness

09:30 – The self-worth trap at work

11:14 – Taming and befriending your inner critic

15:15 – The role of work in shaping self-worth

19:10 – Signs your self-worth is tied to productivity

22:21 – Finding micro-moments to reset

24:56 – A practical three-step tool to break negative self-talk

27:02 – Why community and connection matter

29:18 – What employers often get wrong about wellbeing

31:28 – Green flags to look for when job hunting

33:47 – Red flags in workplace culture

36:20 – Designing the ideal workplace for mental fitness

39:09 – Quick-fire: book, myth, daily habit, and best advice

43:24 – Advice for finding or transforming your dream role

🔗 Follow Sol

Website: https://www.thealtacademy.co.uk/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/solomon-mehta-slade/

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