With the end of summer approaching, it is a good time to reflect on your own state of health and well-being. Fall tends to bring its own busyness and the end of summer can be a time to take a little reflection time to check in with your mind, body and soul to determine what is the state of my wellbeing?
Much research and print these days is dedicated to your happiness and health. Wellbeing isn’t just about being happy, or wealthy or physically fit. In the research that Gallup has done, they have researched people across 150 countries and found five interconnected elements that shape our lives: Career Wellbeing, Sociall Wellbeing, Financial Wellbeing, Physical Wellbeing, and Community Wellbeing. In the book, Wellbeing, The Five Essential Elements, Tom Rath and Jim Harter give you insights behind the research and ways to incorporate the research into your daily life. As a life coach focused on self-care, I am intensely interested in your wellbeing. How can we work together to identify your own thriving wellbeing?
Career Wellbeing – Do you like what you do each day?
In thinking about your work or career, the basic question is, Do you like what you do each day? We spend the majority of our waking hours at what we consider our job, work or career. In Jeff Goins, The Art of Work, he envisions work as more of a “passion-fueled calling that makes each day an exciting adventure.” How are using your strengths on a daily basis? Where are you on a scale of 1-10 with ten being madly in love with what you do? Your career greatly impacts your health, your thinking, your emotions and your outlook on life.
Social Wellbeing- Who do you spend time with?
Research shows that our social networks matter. Family, friends, community associations and co-workers have a big impact on whether we have a good day or a bad day. Positive social interaction increases our positive emotions of love, peace, joy and interests. Data suggests we need six hours of positive interaction a day! This can be on the phone, with co-workers, emailing and other communications. Even three hours of positive interaction reduces the odds of a bad day to 10%. How do you choose your social network, finding friends and time with family? Rate your social network on a scale of 1-10. Think about ways you can strengthen your social network, such as people around your friendship table.
Financial Wellbeing- How do you spend your money?
Interestingly enough, money doesn’t buy wellbeing although it is needed to have enough for basics of food, shelter, transportation, etc. After basics are met, the positives of money came from being able to spend it on others as well as being able to spend it on experiences and creating memories, rather than on things. What about you? Where are you on the financial scale – 1-10 of spending money on others? What about on experiences? Take some time to ponder these ideas. What differences might they make in your financial wellbeing?
Physical Wellbeing- What choices do you make every day?
Regardless of your physical health, each day you make a choice. You are either getting healthier by the choices you make, or less healthy. For example, I need to be exercising outdoors on a daily basis as it would help my mood. Am I? No, for some reason, getting out the door is challenging. The day gets away from me before I know it. I know what I need to be doing to be thriving, I haven’t got it in my daily habits yet. The list goes on – eating, exercising, rest,…(I do well with rest.) What about you? How would you rate your physical wellbeing and self-care? What do you need to do to get more things involved as habits?
Community Wellbeing-How well do you like and are involved in your community?
This area has a lot to do with where you live and play. Do you feel safe in your community? How active are you in your community? What about your church, your volunteer organizations, your civic groups? Security is the top attachment to a community, then people report attachments according to their personality, family, interests and personal pursuits. I know for me and my family, we chose where we live because of the proximity to a university, the beauty of the area, the change of seasons (ha! – we live in WI) and the culture of the Midwest. What about you? How are you feeling connected to your community?
How did you score on your wellbeing (rate each area on a scale of 1-10)? Top score would be 50 if you are off the charts in every area. You will probably find you are lower in some scales than others. How surprising was this to you? You can make changes in your wellbeing. What will be your next steps? For me, it was working with a coach because I was very low in physical wellbeing and career wellbeing. Another client I worked with changed communities.
I would love to work with you. Your wellbeing depends on having the support you need to make changes. Contact me for your introductory session and join me for comments at NancyBoothCoaching Facebook. I would love us to have a discussion there!
Nancy Booth is a certified life coach and certified brain-based coach. She loves creating safe spaces for women going through life’s transitions to discover and support their visions for health and well-being in an overwhelming world, explore possibilities for next steps and find hope. She writes about taming the overwhelm and reducing stress, looking for ways to motivate, energize and inspire you! You can sign up to receive her weekly blog or contact her to find out ways you can begin to shed overwhelm and stress. It’s time to explore possibilities of new relationships, better life pacing and gain hope and peace.