For all flitting and flirting a butterfly does when it lands and stays perfectly still it radiates calm and beauty. Whatever they eat for breakfast I could do with some of that. For all my efforts to keep my stress level low my mind rarely settles and I have perfected that dragged through the hedge backwards look.But for all the huff and puff in my life I was reminded this week what a good life I really lead.
I went to a presentation earlier in the week about wellbeing. Yes, a perfect life defined. Gallup, the polling people, have concluded from all the statistical data they’ve collected there are 5 pillars to wellness – these are aspects of our lives we can do something about and that are important to people in every situation wherever they lived in the world.
- The first element is about how you occupy your time or simply liking what you do every day: your Career Wellbeing.
- The second element is about having strong relationships and love in your life: your Social Wellbeing.
- The third element is about effectively managing your economic life: your Financial Wellbeing.
- The fourth element is about having good health and enough energy to get things done on a daily basis: your Physical Wellbeing.
- The fifth element is about the sense of engagement you have with the area where you live: your Community Wellbeing.
This wheel of life type definition is not new but I found the data that underpins it more robust than I’ve ever seen before and some practical actions anyone can take to improve their sense of wellbeing. There is of course an obligatory book and for Gallup a product to peddle to corporates who are always looking for every better ways to make their workforces more productive.
I’m of course particularly interested in this sort of thing for professional reasons but was curious too as so how life as a domestic executive measured up in this index. I think it’s fair to say I come into the thriving category, rather than struggling or suffering. So when I’m having a “bad” day I can now look and see which of the pillars of my wellbeing needs some underpinning but more importantly it’s a good lesson in humility to remember thriving on a bad day is still much better than many others face.
