The Importance of Wellbeing
Wellbeing is often mentioned in fitness and health circles. However, it is not often explained or discussed more meaningfully, and you may be wondering what it is, why it matters, and how you can improve yours.
Let’s discuss the meaning and importance of wellbeing.
What Is Wellbeing?
There are numerous definitions of wellbeing, and they don’t necessarily correlate. The simplest way to define it is feeling comfortable and healthy in your own skin. It’s a feeling of enjoyment and excitement about life.
Wellbeing is not necessarily impacted by outward signs of success. You can earn a lot of money, have a job that is perceived as great, hold a powerful office and still be unwell.
Your personal wellbeing is directly tied to your values and aspirations in life. If you care about family, you will feel better if you can spend a lot of time with your kids. If you are career-driven, you will feel well when you do good at work.
Why Is Wellbeing Important?
Wellbeing is important because it determines how satisfied you are with your life. The higher the satisfaction, the better you will feel and the more you will enjoy each day. You will be able to do more good in the world and positively impact the lives of others too.
Wellbeing is not to be confused with happiness. You can’t feel happy all the time; it’s simply not physically and mentally possible. You can, however, feel content and well.
How to Improve Your Wellbeing
In order to feel better about life in general, be able to overcome obstacles, and get more enjoyment out of every day, you can work on improving your overall wellbeing. Here are some tactics you can try:
Find What Makes You Content
The first thing you need to do to improve your wellbeing is to figure out what makes you well.
You need to get to know yourself and what drives and motivates you. A lot of people go through life ticking the most obvious boxes, like education, career, and family, without pausing to think if their choices will make them happy and content. They get lost in the daily effort of surviving and forget to live.
Pause to think about how you feel in every aspect of your life. What makes you feel good? What makes you feel anxious? Your emotional responses are a good guide for discovering what you want out of life and what you are only doing because you think you should.
Improve Your Sleep
How well you sleep will directly impact your overall wellbeing. Modern society has taught us that it’s okay to lose sleep for any reason: work, social engagements, a new Netflix show.
However, sleep is vital for keeping our minds and bodies healthy. The more sleep we lose, the less we will be able to enjoy life, and chronic sleep deprivation can lead to serious health complications.
In order to improve your sleep, get a mattress without harmful materials that will be kinder to your skin and help you breathe easier during the night. Treat yourself to some great bedding in your favorite material, and sleep better night after night.
Move Every Day
Movement is another critical component of wellbeing. The modern sedentary lifestyle is incredibly harmful, and we often don’t even realize how much it affects us. It makes us sluggish and robs us of a lot of beneficial endorphins.
Make it a goal to move your body for at least 20 minutes of moderate exercise every day. Add to that a daily goal of 10.000 steps, and you’ll notice how much better you start to feel.
Nourish Your Body
You are, very literally, what you eat. The food you put in your body determines how well you will feel for the rest of the day and for the rest of your life. If you eat too much sugar, you will become lethargic and irritable. If you eat lots of fruits and veggies, you will be stronger and more clear-headed.
Nourish Your Mind
You also need to find routines and hobbies that keep your brain sharp and healthy. You can do puzzles, play memory games, and learn new skills.
Try meditating, writing a journal, or practicing gratitude. All of these practices will help you improve your mental health, which will help you improve your wellbeing and your zest for life.
Wrapping Up
By focusing on improving your wellbeing instead of doing what society expects you to do, you will start living a more fulfilled life. You will wake up feeling more content, the negative things that happen to you won’t be as difficult to deal with, and you will be able to help others become better versions of themselves too.
Start today and take small steps. You can’t change your life overnight, but if you stay consistent, you will be amazed at where you’ll find yourself next year.
Written by Sarah Kaminski