Health and wellbeing are something that everyone should strive for. They lay the platform for you to live and enjoy your life less impacted by inevitable fears and worries – although these are part and parcel of living. But many people think of health and wellbeing from a singular perspective when in reality, wellbeing should be thought of in many different regards.
There are standard areas of mental and physical wellbeing, but working towards financial, social, environmental and purpose wellbeing is just as important. All these areas can influence others, so it’s important to consider them all and work towards making yourself a more healthy human being in general.
Mental
Mental health is, rightly, becoming a topic discussed more and more. It refers to the health of your thinking, and emotional and psychological state, but it’s a complicated subject. Someone with poor mental health and wellbeing may suffer from anxiety, behavioural and stress disorders, as well as be more likely to engage with and rely on self-destructive behaviours. Mental health is closely linked to physical health but also with the other wellbeing factors.
Physical
Physical wellbeing includes the health and condition of your body, from cardiovascular fitness and organ health to the things you put in your body such as diet, nutrition and different substances. Physical health encompasses wider elements such as sleep too, which helps the body in rest and recovery and optimises neurotransmitters in the brain. Someone with poor physical health is at a much higher risk of poor mental health, which is why exercise is seen as such a valuable tool to help boost your mental health.
Financial
A type of wellbeing rarely talked about in this wider conversation is financial wellbeing. It’s something many people don’t fully understand or appreciate the impact it has on their lives and wider livelihood. Financial health is all about how you manage your money and your relationship with money. Instant gratification is widely linked with poor financial wellness, whereas delayed gratification through budgeting and saving is a great way to achieve financial stability and potentially prosperity down the line. Financial stability is an element that has significant impacts on your wider wellbeing – from the food you eat to money stress and your living arrangement.
Social
Humans have a fundamental and instinctive need to be social and spend time around other people. With this in mind, social wellbeing considers your sense of belonging to a certain community and the people immediately around you or what is sometimes referred to as your “tribe”. This also ties closely into environmental wellbeing which includes your family dynamic and home environment which influences your day-to-day life. If you aren’t managing your social wellbeing, you could feel isolated and lack a sense of belonging with any group.
Purpose
Perhaps more indirectly linked to health and wellbeing is purpose. This closely ties into a sense of belonging, because a sense of purpose allows you to feel like you have a place in the world. Finding a purpose can be one of the keys to improving mental health – this could be exercise, work, side hustles, helping others or anything else that gives you a reason to get out of bed every morning.