What is well-being and how could it be addressed strategically?
Well-being is a very serious focus for many, and lots of ongoing work to improve general well-being happens every day. But is there another way to look at it?
Generally, well-being is defined by the Oxford English Dictionary as “the state of being comfortable, healthy, or happy”, but the reality is that this topic is much broader.
Academically, it’s described as been a matter of quality of life and the key to achieve one’s best. In order to be productive in everyday life, psychological well-being needs to be tackled in a strategic way, covering all the relevant aspects involved in its development.
Chronic emotional stressors, such as stress, pressure and exhaustion, have immense emotional implications which eventually leads to burnout, preventing the capacity of active participation.
Mental health is another relevant aspect which, unfortunately, is still surrounded by stigma which slow down any process of solving these matters. In order to assure everyone copes with the burdens of every day life and achieve any goals they may have, support needs to be offered to stop negative triggers like stress, anxiety and depression – the worse factors of all.
Meaningful interactions studies show that social interactions with friends and family bring great reward due to a human’s basic need to belong. Furthermore, meaningful interactions are reported to have great results in one’s happiness levels.
The ways in which well-being can be managed are subjected to debate due to the fact that a “one-size-fits-all” cannot be addressed, but a general strategy can be to consider:
- Controlling external factors such as the will to develop and grow, making use of the surrounding opportunities and trying to fulfil personal needs.
- Personal growth and motivation increase the effort into achieving any goals, and keeping in mind examples of where you have previously handled situations successfully can help to spur you on when trying to master a new task.
- Autonomy refers to put one’s self needs in front of anyone else’s – show opinions and preferences and embrace conflictual situations.
- Self-acceptance revolves around setting realistic standards and expectations for performance and welcome any outcome, be it positive or negative.
- Ask for help. Social interactions might be hard and sometimes require extra effort in order to fulfil them, creating difficulties in any successful task delivery.
Whenever you feel concerned regarding personal or somebody else’s well-being, helplines can offer support and expert advice. Contact the Showcase Training Safeguarding Officer, Ellen, for support (hello@showcasetraining.co.uk or call 01329 848714), or explore the links below to external agencies who offer advice: