Why it is important to understand wellbeing (you can have it without happiness)

Wellbeing is more than just physical health... or mental health. These dimensions are important, but they are not alone. Wellbeing is our overall satisfaction with ourselves and the life that surrounds us; from physical well-being, to financial wellbeing, social wellbeing, and emotional wellbeing. Although physical activity plays an important role in your wellness, other dimensions are AS important as this last one.

Wellbeing is a kind of "preventive" health care, leading a long and meaningful life experience. In short, wellbeing could be described as how you feel about yourself and your life. How you feel about yourself affects how you socialize and build your relationships.

Prevent - it is better to stop something bad from happening than to deal with something that has already happened - prevention is better than cure

When we are in a state of wellbeing, we are able to:

• Improve morale

• Build positive relationships

• Better cope with stress

• Higher life satisfaction

• Higher JOB satisfaction

• Emotional stability

• Increased productivity

• More energy and resilience

I could go on for 2 pages.... but just for your sake, I'll stop here... thank me later! :)

Wellbeing is not something you can acquire in one day. You are not going to achieve full wellness in a week, but you could give yourself a nudge to get started... Let me give you a hand in this journey. Remember, stay positive during the journey; optimists tend to live longer :)

Financial wellbeing

• Decoupling costs and benefits - the frequency with which you pay has a dramatic impact on how much you actually consume

You are more likely to exercise more frequently by framing your $600 annual gym membership fee as $50 a month membership.

Hint: buy monthly membership and commit to working out those 30 days

• Pre-commit - social contract using StickK

Getting to pre-commit to doing something for the future and then having a locking mechanism to make sure you follow through

Social contract: pre-commit to doing something using Stickk. Start by finding a judge (this is someone who's going to monitor your progress). You will then place an amount of money (of your choice) you believe is important for you and is going to push you to commit. If you do not meet your target goal, StickK could donate the money to a charity, not of your choice, but a charity that they believe is going to be something that you hate... that doesn't sound good.

StickK uses loss aversion, because, yes, we prefer avoiding losses than acquiring equivalent gains.

• Clear off the saved information of your credit card

The experience of shopping online is quick and easy. You just choose your favorite items and buy them. However, try to make your experience a lit bit more difficult. Eliminate your saved credit card information to slow down the paying stage.

Social wellbeing

• Plan workout sessions with friends over FaceTime, Zoom, Teams....

Working out with a friend is not only more fun, but it is actually going to increase your chances of sticking to your exercise plan. Exercising with friends keeps you motivated. Let's face it, the hardest part is literally getting up and going to the gym. If you schedule your workout with a friend, it looks more a date at the gym... think about it and call your friend ASAP

• Get comfortable with saying "No"

How many times have you avoided saying "no", but instead ended up doing something you didn't want to? How many times have you said "yes" to going out with your friends but inside of you, all you really wanted to do was stay in bed and watch some Netflix?

Learn to look after what you want and what you need. Learn to say "no" when you mean no, and "yes" when you mean yes, and you will enjoy experiences much more. Be true to yourself and say what YOU mean.

• Set weekly reminders for a Friday Night Celebration from home

At 5PM open a bottle of wine, smell it, then pour it in a glass. If you can smell it and taste it, you are good. Celebrate by finishing the bottle. YOU ARE WELCOME!

Physical wellbeing

• The 2-Minute Rule: find a way to get your habit started that simply takes 2 minutes

"When you start a new habit, it should take less than two minutes to do". Any habit can be scaled down into a 2 minute version of it. Instead of running 5 km every 2 days, scale it down to putting my trainers.

"Do a 30 minutes workout" becomes "Take out my workout mat"

"Study for class" becomes "take out my notes"

• Visibility Method

Become your own choice architect and design your environment to nudge yourself into making the right decisions. If you want to make it easier for you, just make it visible at the right time.

You want to start drinking water every day? Place a water bottle in your desk

You want to start running 4 km every morning? Place your running shoes and workout clothes right next to your bed, that way, when you wake up, these are the first things you see

• Focus on lifestyle, not life-changing

Small steps lead to bigger results. Don't just aim at doing 100 push ups every day, instead aim at working out 2/3 times per week

"Running a marathon would be life-changing, running 3 days per week is a new type of lifestyle."

"Publishing your first book would be life–changing, emailing a new book agent each day is a new type of lifestyle"

Emotional wellbeing

• Avoid being glued to the news

Bad news dominates the headlines. Media wants to grab our attention and therefore, it exaggerates negative news. Yes, we are experiencing a difficult and challenging situation, however watching and reading only bad news isn't going to tell us the whole truth.

Factfulness by Hans Rosling has made me realize that the world is better than I thought it was. Social media is disrupting the way we see the world. The world is full of problems, but there MANY, MANY good things that we just don’t pay attention to. This book teaches us how to separate fiction from reality when forming our opinions.

• Ask for help

Taking care of our health, both physically and mentally, can be an difficult and challenging task. Especially if you're new to this, it can see unreachable sometimes. Don't be ashamed to talk about your mental health and to really say what you feel and mean. If you don't feel ready to talk to your loved ones about it, go see someone and open up. Sometimes talking is all you need to release that pressure and frustration.

Remember: ASKING FOR HELP DOESN'T MAKE YOU WEAK

• Get some rest - you deserve it

I'm sure you are going to love this tip. Sleep, take some time off to lay on the couch and simply DO NOTHING... Sleep is as important as eating healthy and balanced. Studies have shown that people who are sleep deprived are more likely to be in a negative mood and often develop a mood disorder such as anxiety.

Taking care of yourself has never been so easy

---

Happiness and wellbeing are not the same. Happiness is included in wellbeing, but you can have wellbeing without being happy all of the time. It is okay not to be okay. Wellbeing is about controlling our emotions, understanding and coping with them. It's about creating meaningful relationships that last. Wellbeing focuses on finding the life that fits best. It is no one-size fits all. Everyone has different ways to achieve overall wellness, and these recommendations might help you get to your destination.

ps: "The best six doctors: sunshine, water, rest, air, exercise and diet"

XoXo

Sofia's Choice

---

References

Clear, J., n.d. How to Stop Procrastinating by Using the "2-Minute Rule". [online] James Clear. Available at: <https://jamesclear.com/how-to-stop-procrastinating> [Accessed 10 May 2021].

Clear, J., n.d. Why is it So Hard to Form Good Habits?. [online] James Clear. Available at: <https://jamesclear.com/why-is-it-so-hard-to-form-good-habits> [Accessed 10 May 2021].