At the PM/One conference, health educator and journalist Casey Beros took to the stage not with a time-blocking hack or a high-performance routine, but with something far more personal and powerful: a reminder that in an industry built on caring for others, the most important thing you can do is start taking better care of yourself.
Casey has spent the past 20 years interviewing some of the world’s leading experts on health and wellbeing. Despite all the information now available, from programs, practitioners, apps, podcasts, she’s observed a frustrating disconnect.
“We’ve got more tools at our fingertips than ever before to live happier, healthier lives,” she said. “But if you look at the data, we’re not actually more well. And that tells me there’s a gap between knowledge and action.”
Her goal was to help close that gap, not by overhauling your whole life, but by helping people make small, achievable adjustments. She started by asking the audience to clap, and then improve it by 10 per cent. It was a deliberately simple metaphor for change.
“You had the knowledge, you’ve clapped before. You just needed to do one small thing to make it better. That’s the gap between knowing and doing. That’s the work.”
Casey explained that high performers aren’t necessarily the busiest or most disciplined. They’re the clearest. Drawing on research by author/life coach Brendon Burchard, she said the number one habit of high achievers globally is that they continually seek clarity. They ask themselves simple questions: Do I want to be doing this? Is this meeting necessary? How is my health today?
“They’re not doing this monthly or annually. They’re asking themselves these questions daily, even hourly. And they pivot constantly.”
In the real estate industry, where back-to-back meetings, unpredictable clients and the pressure to always be “on” are common, this was a timely challenge.
Most of us, she said, respond to dissatisfaction by planning an overhaul. A diet starts Monday. A new routine kicks off on January 1. But those plans often fail, because “humans are driven by emotion, not logic.”
“We order dessert after two full courses not because we’re still hungry, but because we feel like it. It’s been a big week, we want a reward, we want to celebrate. We do what feels good in the moment, not what’s rational.”
Instead of trying to follow someone else’s rigid system, Casey advocates for something she calls The Life Edit, a four-question compass that helps you find direction in any area of life, whether it’s your body, your relationships, your career, or your home.
The four questions are:
- What’s working?
- What’s not working?
- How do I want to feel?
- What’s one small thing I can do today to feel that way?
“There is always something working … The real power is in making the next action so small you can’t fail.”
From there, Casey introduced the biopsychosocial model, a decades-old framework used in medicine to understand the causes of illness, which she reimagined as a tool for wellbeing. She offered one evidence-backed, practical action for each of its three pillars: biological, psychological and social health.
For physical health, her message was direct: “Exercise is the most powerful medicine we’ve got.” While it may sound obvious, Casey pointed out that if we could bottle the benefits of exercise, it would “blow Ozempic out of the water.” And you don’t need a gym or a 6 a.m. alarm to do it.
“Adopt the mindset of moving as much as possible. Walk around the block. Do squats while your toast cooks. If you can’t go to the gym, run to the letterbox and back. Harvard says 45 seconds of movement is enough to trigger physiological benefits. Do that several times a day and you’re winning.”
When it came to mental health, Casey offered a refreshingly honest take: “I can’t bloody stand meditation. I hate it. I’m not good at it.” But mindfulness, she argued, doesn’t have to involve sitting cross-legged and clearing your mind.
“Your brain is like Bondi on a busy day. Meditation doesn’t stop the waves. It just helps you get beneath them for a second or two.” She suggested singing a song, dancing with your kids, pulling weeds, or taking three deep breaths—whatever gets you back into the moment.
The final pillar was social wellbeing. Casey referenced the long-running Harvard Study of Adult Development, which found that close relationships are the biggest predictor of long-term health and happiness.
“You need one person, just one, with whom you can be completely yourself,” she said. “Someone who, when you stuff up, won’t say ‘you’re such an idiot,’ but instead says ‘come over, I’ll put the kettle on.’”
She then asked the audience to send a “daymaker” text to someone they care about. No questions, no pressure, just a small moment of connection.
In her final moments on stage, Casey introduced what many scientists now believe is a fourth pillar of wellbeing: purpose. She showed a visual representation of how many weeks we have in a typical lifespan, and how few remain as we age.
“You will never have more time than you do right now.”
She asked the audience to close their eyes and think about the most important thing in their lives. “Was it money? Social media followers? Shoes? Or was it people?
“Our people are our purpose,” she said. “And time with them is a melting ice cube.”
Casey closed by sharing the story of her father Jack, who passed away in 2023. “He said to me, ‘I love my life. It’s a shame it’s going to end soon.’ I asked why. He said, ‘Because I feel so much love flowing to me and from me, and it’s all I have ever wanted.’”
With Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody playing, she invited the audience to stand. “Because Dad’s not here to have this dance with me, I’d like to have it with you.”
For a room full of property professionals who spend their lives solving other people’s problems, Casey’s message was clear: stop waiting. Don’t wait for the next quarter, next year, or next perfect version of yourself. Start now, with whatever small action you can take today.
