The 7 Building Blocks of our Wheel of Wellbeing
We expanded the 5 Ways of Wellbeing developed by Action for Happiness, and created the Wheel of Wellbeing with 7 activities. We invite you to pay attention to each phase of the Wheel of Wellbeing regularly, every day or every week, to guarantee your own emotional, mental and physical wellbeing. Over the years working on wellbeing sessions and webinars, wellbeing days and wellbeing consultancy, we have accumulated a wide range of resources and substantial knowledge on - guess what? - wellbeing! Some resources we keep using as they are, such as the Stress Bucket, which for us is one of the fundamental activities to learn about stress management. Other resources we have tweaked, redesigned and made our own, based on our experience and knowledge. This is the case of the 5 Ways of Wellbeing, which we made evolve into the Wheel of Wellbeing.
We expanded the 5 Ways of Wellbeing developed by Action for Happiness, and created the Wheel of Wellbeing with 7 activities. We invite you to pay attention to each phase of the Wheel of Wellbeing regularly, every day or every week, to guarantee your own emotional, mental and physical wellbeing. Yes, we know that usually less is more, yet the more options we have to manage our wellbeing, the better!
Let’s go around the Wheel of Wellbeing:
1. TAKE NOTICE
We rush from one thing to the next and we never stop, yet slowing down is very beneficial to our productivity and overall wellbeing. When is the last time you did nothing, even for just 2 minutes? Try it out, even if it sounds scary! Lately, I have been forcing myself to do nothing while I drink my morning coffee. If I am working from home, I would usually pour myself a coffee, finish up some housing chores, check my social media, start working… and when I remember about the coffee, it is all cold and worthless. Now, I force myself to. Drink. My. Coffee. And believe it or not, I feel much more productive doing all the other stuff once I have done nothing for 5 to 10 minutes. It enables my brain to pause, think about the next step, figure out stuff, and plan the next move, which I cannot do when I am rushing.
2. DISCONNECT
Screens are very much part of our lives now, and tech is taking more and more space. We can't deny it, and we can't live without it either (there is Leeds Digital Festival now, after all!). However, using screens a lot can affect our emotional and mental wellbeing sometimes. Not even talking about social media and how it can harm our self-esteem, simply thinking about the blue light that stimulates our brains. I share in my wellbeing sessions in Leeds and Yorkshire that I have decided to not look at my phone whenever I am on the bus around Leeds, and it has been amazing: I discover things, buildings, places in Leeds that I had never noticed before, I get creative and have amazing ideas, and most importantly, I connect with people and have great conversations. So here is a simple question: when would you disconnect from your screens, even for 5 minutes a day?
3. BE ACTIVE
No need to run the next Leeds Marathon or practice weight lifting everyday (unless it works for you!). Simple moves go a long way: walking your dog in one of Leeds beautiful parks, stretching at your desk at home, going for a walk with your colleagues around the office over lunchtime, taking the stairwell instead of the elevator to burn calories and not carbon, … There are many ways for us to get active that do not require us to have more time or energy.
4. CONNECT WITH PEOPLE
Connecting with others is key for our wellbeing. We are social beings, but we often forget the power of great conversations and how having a quality chat with a friend is a big source of joy. You might want to connect or re-connect with people around you, just by asking “how are you?”. Trust me, it can go a long way! If you are not sure about this, think about connections as a building block of great long-lasting relationships, which are the key to a long life and happiness. An 80-year long Harvard study has indeed proven that embracing community and deep connections helps us live longer and be happier. Good genes are nice, but joy is better.
5. GIVE
I do not mean giving money here, but rather time, care and attention. Complimenting someone’s outfit, bringing coffee in the office in the morning, actively listening to someone rather than giving advice straightaway, ... are the types of random and simple acts of kindness that support others, make them feel great, and make you feel great simultaneously! If Kindness is something you would like to explore more, check out Kinder Leeds, a festival of kindness in the North.
6. KEEP LEARNING
Trying new things is a way to keep learning: take a different class at the gym, choose a new path when walking the dog in the morning, cook a new meal at home, … It is about exploring our stretch zones instead of always staying in our comfort zone here. What is the worst that can happen? An hilarious memory! A friend and I decided to start Thai boxing a couple of years ago and tried our first class in Leeds. Oh boy, it was painful! And we spent the whole hour looking into each other’s eyes whispering ‘never again’. That was the first and last class for us! But to this day, this experience makes us laugh whenever we remember it!
7. REST
Rest is at the centre of our Wheel of Wellbeing on purpose. It is the most underrated health habit. We push back bedtime and try to wake up early to fit more in. Yet, when we are sleep deprived, we are not as productive, not as empathetic and more likely to have abusive behaviour at work. Do you get enough sleep? Try to work out how many hours sleep you need, at what time you need to wake up, and work backward to know at what time you need to be asleep. One hour before this time is when you should start ‘unwinding’. This means no screen, getting everything ready for the next day and preparing for bed. And if sleep is too overwhelming or challenging, think about resting: find some pockets of time during the day when you can sit down and close your eyes for a few minutes. Remember that professional athletes are not always on the field. Like athletes, we need to recover in order to perform!
And remember to BREATHE too: We don’t notice when we breathe, yet it is necessary for our survival. Whenever you feel overwhelmed or under stress, try to step back and take 3 deep breaths. Next time you receive an annoying email or text, try to take a few deep breaths before answering. It will help you to respond the way you really want to. And it only takes 10 seconds!
I hope our Wheel of Wellbeing helped you to identify ways of wellbeing you might have been doing in the past and would like to re-do, or might want to give a try! We have many other tips that we share in our wellbeing sessions and webinars. We are a Leeds-based company and deliver wellbeing sessions and training mostly in North England via our network of Yorkshire-based experts. However, our online resources are meant to support everybody, so please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any question or want to discuss any topic further: info@mind-it.co.uk
