Stay up to date with notifications from TheĀ Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Harry: We all have greatness within us, and mental fitness helps unlock it

The duke recorded a video on mental health in his role as chief impact officer of BetterUp.

Laura Elston
Tuesday 12 July 2022 16:09 BST
The Duke of Sussex (Henry Nicholls/PA)
The Duke of Sussex (Henry Nicholls/PA) (PA Wire)

The Duke of Sussex has told how ā€œwe all have greatness within usā€ and mental fitness helps unlock it.

Harry, in his role as chief impact officer of BetterUp, has carried out a series of interviews with Olympic gold medal-winning snowboarder Chloe Kim, psychologist Adam Grant and BetterUp member Blu Mendoza.

The duke said: ā€œWe all have greatness within us. Mental fitness helps us unlock it.

ā€œIt’s an ongoing practice. One where you approach your mind as something to flex not fix.

ā€œI want to introduce you to a few people whose stories can inspire us in our own growth through mental fitness.ā€

Harry, who stepped down as a working royal two years ago, has been open about his own mental health challenges in the past.

ā€œThroughout the years of travelling around the world, what I saw was the similarities of experiences of trauma, of loss, of grief, of being human,ā€ he said in the video posted on BetterUp’s website on Tuesday.

ā€œThat building up of resilience is absolutely critical.ā€

Harry dubbed Kim the ā€œQueen of Snowboardingā€ and asked her: ā€œIs there a day-to-day thing that you do for your mental fitness? What is your secret?ā€

Kim replied she used little reminders, such as telling herself she was doing her best.

The duke asked Grant: ā€œWhat goes into your own proactive practices?ā€

Grant replied that he did non-negotiable exercise six days a week, with Harry remarking: ā€œSix days a week you work out?ā€ and joked: ā€œI can tell.ā€

A chuckling Harry told Mendoza they might have the same mental health coach when she spoke of the need to ā€œthriveā€ through the day, rather than ā€œsurviveā€.

It echoed remarks made by the Duchess of Sussex during the couple’s Africa tour shortly before the Megxit crisis.

Meghan said in 2019: ā€œIt’s not enough to just survive something, that’s not the point of life. You have got to thrive.ā€

The duke, who has experienced a troubled relationship with the Prince of Wales and a rift with the Duke of Cambridge, also asked: ā€œHow can we create more resilience for people, not just a better version of themselves at work, but also a better version for their partners, for their family and their whole community?ā€

Harry’s tell-all memoir is due to be released later this year – although a publication date is yet to be confirmed.

Pagesix.com reported on Tuesday that a NY publishing source said the book would be ā€œjuicyā€ with ā€œsome content in there that should make his family nervousā€.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in