Wellbeing is not just the absence of disease or illness. It is a complex combination of a person’s physical, mental, emotional and social health factors. Wellbeing is strongly linked to happiness and life satisfaction. In short, wellbeing could be described as how you feel about yourself and your life.
Factors that influence wellbeing
Every aspect of your life influences your state of wellbeing. Researchers investigating happiness have found the following factors enhance a person’s wellbeing:
Happy intimate relationship with a partner
Network of close friends
Enjoyable and fulfilling career
Enough money
Regular exercise
Nutritional diet
Sufficient sleep
Spiritual or religious beliefs
Fun hobbies and leisure pursuits
Healthy self-esteem
Optimistic outlook
Well-being goes a long way in describing the extent of public health in variant ways and measures which are at the core of the public’s and at individuals’ perceptions on matters of health. This touches deeply on mental and physical health alike to achieving means of averting diseases and achieving a healthy population. However, although the measure of people’s well-being differs significantly, the measurement of these variations are still within reach, thanks to advanced psychology, neuroscience and measurement theories.
Why is well-being useful for public health?
Well-being integrates mental health (mind) and physical health (body) resulting in more holistic approaches to disease prevention and health promotion.6
Well-being is a valid population outcome measure beyond morbidity, mortality, and economic status that tells us how people perceive their life is going from their own perspective.1, 2, 4, 5
Well-being is an outcome that is meaningful to the public.
Advances in psychology, neuroscience, and measurement theory suggest that well-being can be measured with some degree of accuracy.2, 7
Results from cross-sectional, longitudinal and experimental studies find that well-being is associated with1, 8:
Self-perceived health.
Longevity.
Healthy behaviors.
Mental and physical illness.
Social connectedness.
Productivity.
Factors in the physical and social environment.
Sourced from: http://www.cdc.gov/hrqol/wellbeing.htm
Life is all about making the slightest changes which may seem trivial yet inflict far reaching influence eventually, take your time and make one simple step at a time. The smaller the actions the better the result when they all sum up. Be it an action, food, exercise, relation wise; name them, what counts when it comes to making that change over time is making the least effort to get a significant result at the far end in all aspect of life.
It’s time to take action – micro-action
A micro-action is a small, simple change that is achievable in a normal day. Your life is the sum of the small actions you do every day, and every choice you make is significant. These will empower you to make change happen, one micro-action at a time. Because the small things matter. 1 + 1 + 1 + … = A LOT. Each micro-action comes under one of four categories:
FOOD Small, simple changes can add years to your life. Food micro-actions are not only about what you eat but how, when, how much and with whom. ‘Eliminate refined sugar’ is not a micro-action. ‘Eat a piece of fruit’ is.
MIND The mind determines who you are and how you act. But it isn’t set in stone – it can be trained. Mind micro-actions tackle mindfulness, productivity and organisation. ‘Meditate for 20 minutes’ is not a micro-action. ‘Sit quietly for two minutes’ is.
MOVE micro-actions are about everyday movement – small, easy actions that you can incorporate into your daily routine. ‘Run a marathon’ is not a micro-action. ‘Take the stairs today’ is.
LOVE micro-actions are about your relationship with yourself and others. Treating someone well triggers a positive reaction in that person, which triggers a positive reaction in you, too. ‘Make a new friend’ is not a micro-action. ‘Reach out to someone’ is.
