Growth is contagious

Firstly, yes this is a bumper newsletter! I was away working in WA last week and over the weekend.

Speaking of WA, I left feeling deeply inspired by someone I heard at the Reimagining Education conference in Fremantle, where I was fortunate to be a keynote speaker. It’s one of those rare events which goes beyond information sharing – it’s focus is provocation and being genuinely challenged to see things differently.

One such provocation came from the brilliant Professor Erica McWilliam from Queensland University of Technology in Brisbane. She posed a powerful critique of the current pressure we put on children and young people to “find their passion” and “fulfil their purpose”, as if these are singular, urgent quests. She argued that this pressure is just as exhausting as the high-stakes testing regimes we’re supposedly moving away from.

Instead, she offered a beautifully simple counterpoint: it’s better to be good at one thing – and then surround yourself with others who are good at other things. This struck me not just from an education lens, but also through the prism of health and wellbeing.

To become good at something isn’t an isolated act. It requires instruction, guidance, and exposure to expertise. And it takes time. Deliberate practice, as psychologist Anders Ericsson showed in his work on skill acquisition, is fundamental to mastery – and that practice is more effective with expert feedback and a supportive environment.

In health and wellness, we see this constantly. At Be Well, people grow not just by showing up, but by learning from others. Watching someone modify a move, tackle a new challenge, or push through a plateau can be as motivating as our own progress.

In fact, research into social learning theory confirms this – observing others can change our beliefs about what’s possible for ourselves.

At Be Well, I often find myself commenting to a member about how much they’ve improved, not because I’m their instructor, but because their achievements are  contagious. Their effort sparks something in me. It’s a reminder that wellness is not a solo pursuit but rather a shared practice.

The truth is, the most profound growth happens at the edge of our comfort zones. This aligns with the concept of optimal challenge in psychology, where tasks are hard enough to stretch us but not so hard that we give up. So perhaps we can let go of the myth that we must be extraordinary at everything.

Maybe it’s enough to keep showing up, keep learning, and surround yourself with people who make us better – at health, at work, at play and at life.

See you all again at Be Well soon!