MHL’s NEW DIRECTION | Making Mental Health A Team Sport

To anyone reading this, thank you for all the support you’ve given to the MHL so far. It’s been the biggest thing keeping me going in trying to get this off the ground.

Since our launch, I’ve spent a ton of time thinking about what I want the MHL to be, and how it could have the biggest impact. While stigma-changing and fundraising is a crucial component, I keep thinking that it’s only the first part of the problem.

To really have an impact, we need to actually make mental health a team sport.

Earlier this year to manage my own mental health, I started keeping a scorecard where I’d log if I won or lost each day and why along with what “plays” I ran (routines and other self-care habits). This scorecard taught me so much about myself and got me to a much better place. But once I got there, I’d find myself falling off my routines, stop tracking, and back to the fog I’d go.

I needed accountability.

Digging into the psychology of accountability, I found that people who workout with friends can often achieve similar results as they would with a trainer because they hold each other accountable and keep one another motivated.

So in August, we ran a pilot to see if it’d work. Could keeping a daily scorecard help people gain a better understanding of themselves and stay accountable to doing it?

Fifty men from the MHL community stepped up and volunteered to participate in the MHL Men’s Challenge where they’d join a team within a Facebook group and each day they would…

1. Fill out a scorecard stating whether they won or lost the day and why, and post it within the group. The definition of a win wasn’t about being happy or productive, it’s just how they felt about their day; and actually the real focus wasn’t winning, it was just tracking every day (process, not result) and learning.
2. Read through other’s scorecards and offer support however they could.

And at the end of the 28 days, we found that…it worked!

• 92% said it gave them a better understanding of their mental health and triggers
• ​96% said sharing their progress with the team held them accountable to tracking
• ​100% said participating with a team was beneficial to their mental health
• ​​77% said it helped them make better decisions throughout the day

Some Testimonials…

• “The MHL really made me realize what made me tick. It helped me determine what is healthy for me and what is not. I got to find out what really causes my losses on a daily basis.”
• “The MHL helped me realize just how bad my mental health was and how exactly I can better it. I can’t say that I’m cured, but I’m on a better path and don’t have to feel alone anymore.”
• “I consider everyone on my team my brothers and they have helped me become accountable for my actions and feel safe in sharing my struggle.”

Was it perfect? Far from it.

Is it for everyone? Definitely not.

But it was good enough that I knew I had to explore it further.

So we built an app.

With the help of Paul Guelpa, I’ve spent the past few months building a mobile app so we could facilitate, scale, and improve upon the pilot…in a much healthier environment than Facebook.

The goal is to build a product that not only overcomes the stigma, but helps people…

• Understand their triggers and formulate a winning game plan faster
• Get the accountability and motivation they need to compete every day
• Know they aren’t alone

Want to join?

Go to mentalhealthleague.com to signup for the waitlist.