Prince Harry Says Doing the "Inner Work" Is The "Most Fulfilling"

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published 4 February 2022

Prince Harry has been an outspoken mental health advocate for a long time now. That's why his job as chief impact officer at BetterUp is a perfect fit for him.

Appearing during the startup's Inner Work Day on Feb. 3, the Duke of Sussex spoke to tennis champion Serena Williams and BetterUp CEO Alexi Robichaux about how important mental health is to him and generally—and what else is important to him, namely family.

"Serena doesn't have it sorted. None of us have it sorted," the duke said in a clip shared by royal reporter Omid Scobie. "Life is about discovery. In that discovery, you're gonna find things that you don't like, you're gonna find things that make you uncomfortable.

"You're gonna find things that are constantly pushing back on you, but as you work your way around those things, all of a sudden, all of the stresses, the chaos and all the things that were working against you in your life, be it private life, be it work life, whatever it is, that work-life balance, all of the things getting in your way, either fall away or you visualize them and are able to turn a negative into a positive and therefore make those things work for you. And when you get to that point, my perspective, it almost feels like a superpower, but it takes time, it's constant. It's a work in progress."

He continued, "Some days are great. Some days are really hard and no matter what I put into it, I'm always kicking myself going, 'If you've done this, this, this, which you know works for you, then you wouldn't be in this state now.' So again, it's work, but it, out of all the work that we do and all the work that we get pulled towards. it is the most fulfilling work... apart from being a dad." Aww.

In a clip shared to BetterUp's Instagram page, the royal said, "Mental fitness is the pinnacle, is what you're aiming for, and the road towards that is... it can be really bumpy. It's called inner work for a reason, and I think that immediately might put some people off, going, 'more work?' It's like, why?' but the outer work becomes so much easier once you get to grips with the inner work."

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Iris Goldsztajn is a London-based journalist, editor and author. She is the morning editor at Marie Claire, and her work has appeared in the likes of British Vogue, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, Refinery29 and SELF. Iris writes about everything from celebrity news and relationship advice to the pitfalls of diet culture and the joys of exercise. She has many opinions on Harry Styles, and can typically be found eating her body weight in cheap chocolate.