Wellness by Design

“We understand that personal and social wellness should be embedded into every aspect of our lives. It’s really the only thing that matters.”

As a follow up to our Humanity by Design post, we are going to dive into the first principle of wellness. What does wellness mean exactly? Is it physical health? Mental health? Spiritual health? What if the answer was all of the above? Wellness can mean different things to different people, or different cultures but there is a common theme across all of these various perspectives, it must be embedded as a core value to not just the people but the society as well. It is a benefit to all of us, no matter our status, belief system, culture or any other factor. Without healthy individuals, there is a small chance that society will be able to make the right choices.

Our Wellness by Design philosophy is based on that approach, that wellness should be viewed as a core value to individuals and society. We’ve developed a simple approach to wellness that anyone can use to fit into their life’s journey.

Vision

Who do you want to be ‘when you grow up?’. Growing up doesn’t mean reaching adulthood, it can be at any stage in life but having a clear view of your greatest self will help guide you through life and when you need to make the tough decisions. Building this vision is arguably one of the most important activities that you can do when designing your life. Define who you are and then work towards it.

“Imagine being on your death bed, and standing around you is the ghost of the dreams, the ideas, the abilities, the talents given to you by life..That you for whatever reason, you never went after that dream. You never acted on those ideas. You never used those talents. You never used those gifts; and there they are standing beside your bed, looking at YOU with large, angry eyes saying we came to you and only you could have given us life!.. And now..we must die with you forever.” - Les Brown

Your Vision is your True Purpose on this earth, to understand, and realize that purpose is the greatest calling for all of us.

Values

What the Vision statement covers is the ‘Who?”, Who do you want to be in life to realize your greatest and truest self.” Now the ‘Why” component, Why do you want to achieve ‘it’? This is addressed by your Values. These core ‘you’ components strongly influence our actions and behaviours like a prioritized list of rules. There is a small chance of your Values changing over the years but there will be changes in terms of the priority. Knowing what your Values are will help you make decisions based on what ‘feels right’ to you or will help you understand why a certain choice or event is causing you to worry or be concerned. Values and the principles that guide our decisions through life and are strongly embedded into our sense of Self.

Goals

Once you have defined your Vision and understand what your Values are, you are ready to create Goals that will help you get there. Setting healthy goals is necessary for our well being because it puts ownership of your Destiny in your hands. Imagine setting and achieving goals that lead you to the life you want. Life isn’t as clean as setting a goal and then everything working out perfectly, however goal setting and working towards a goal has the positive effects of motivation, focus, prioritization, and momentum. Call it the Law of Attraction or as Tony Robbins states ‘Where Focus Goes, Energy Flows” but generally, the ‘Universe’ wants you to succeed, you just have to make your intention and set the direction.

Routines

Lastly, but the most important is building healthy routines that will set you up for personal success. First, you’ll have to discover what activities resonate with you. Looking at it from a Mind, Body, Soul perspective helps. What activities will engage your Mind in a healthy way? Is it reading? Listening to music? Performing Visualization or Mindfulness meditation? Or something more simple such as breathing which actually dis-engages the mind after a stressful activity? Connecting with the Body could include exercise, yoga, eating a healthy meal, ice bath/cold showers, Muay Thai, walking and so much more. Anything that brings out the limitless potential of your Body. What can be done for the Soul, the Spirit, the Heart, the part that makes you… you? Truly anything that brings a person into the present moment provides an opportunity to connect with this third critical part of You. Meditation, writing, breathwork, yoga, pausing in stillness, being in Nature, spending time with loved ones are all Soul-Full activities that just let you be in the moment. Find the activities that you enjoy and instead of letting them happen by default, design them into your life.