What is well-being: Talentor Tips to look after your well-being this summer
What is well-being?
It is rather difficult to define well-being and even harder to come up with a universal solution that would increase everybody’s well-being equally. Scientists - Kahneman, Seligman, and Csikszentmihalyi, have researched the topic of happiness and well-being over the years and published articles with different viewpoints, but they all agree that well-being is much more than just happiness. In addition to feeling content and happy, is also about self-improvement, achievements, and contributing to the community and the society.
Common perception is that good life starts from a person believing that they are living a good life. Such approach is called “subjective well-being” and the term “happiness” can also be used, referring to a person’s perception of their everyday life.
Regarding well-being, scientist are focusing mainly on two approaches - whether to find well-being by trying to focus more on positive life events and less on negative ones or in setting personal goals and self-improvement.
Earlier research found that our well-being consists of such factors as the surrounding environment, good relationships, life goals, and self-acceptance.
However, the newer studies add an additional factor which is how a person perceives their life, their ability to set and achieve life goals and feel happiness and contentment. Every person can improve their skills or tap into resources in order to deal with challenges and increase their well-being.
Well-being is about balance
Rachel Dodge and other scientists define well-being as a state of balance, that is influenced by life events and challenges (The challenge of defining well-being). According to them, the foundation of well-being is the balance between resources (our social background, relationships, social network, family, friends, and our physical and mental abilities), and challenges. Challenges are a new aspect and addition to the theories of defining well-being.
The balance between skills and challenges has been at the center of the concept of flow created by Csikszentmihalyi in 1975. The concept of flow is a state where people are so engaged in what they are doing that nothing else seems to be important, which also creates a feeling of well-being. The original model established that a person feels satisfaction when there are not many challenges and skills as well as when there are a lot of them. The new model of 2002 establishes that you can feel the flow only when challenges and skills are in relatively in balance.
How can we increase our well-being?
There is a saying that well-being is not a beach where you just go and lie down. It is dynamic and can change over time. When scientists say that well-being is rather subjective and based on feelings, we have to be able to change those feelings. The following are the skills which we can control:
- Awareness: the ability to be attentive, self-aware, and focused.
- Engagement/Closeness: feelings that are the foundation of good relationships: kindness, empathy, and a positive attitude.
- Perception/ Insight: healthy self-image, the ability to avoid self-destructive thoughts and narratives and recover from negative life events quickly.
- Purpose of life: clear direction in life and having the sense that life has a meaning.
General well-being consists in:
- Physical well-being and health were the general environment (including our work environment) is the key: In order to increase your physical well-being you can be physically more active, eat healthily, and try to improve the quality of your sleep. This includes taking care of the physical body by balancing the physical activity, healthy eating habits, good sleep, and rest. If you have good Physical well-being, you feel energetic and vital, you have great physical health, you don’t have any discomfort or pain and you feel enough energy and stamina for your everyday activities.
- Mental well-being: The key elements of well-being are mental health, mindfulness, positive thinking, stress management, resilience and self-confidence. Such well-being focuses on mental health, attentiveness, and maintaining positive thinking. This is the state of well-being where you realize your potential, manage everyday stress, work productively, and have the energy to work on your social life. You are mostly relaxed and well-balanced, you can manage stress, and deal with worries and problems in a positive way. You are able to express your feelings in a healthy way and you can build deep and meaningful relationships with others.
- Social well-being: The key elements of Social well-being are relationships, Support from others (the support of a superior), and emotional intelligence. This well-being depends mainly on the quality of relationships including relationships with your colleagues and superiors. You feel you are a part of a community, you have close friends and family who you are able to share your thoughts and feelings with and you feel accepted and appreciated in the society. At work it relates to the quality of work relationships, sense of engagement, and good collaboration with colleagues and managers.
- Financial well-being: The key elements of financial well-being are financial planning, life insurance, budgeting, economising and savings. This well-being depends on your financial situation. You feel material wellness if you are free from stress concerning your financial situation. In order to guarantee, increase, and improve your financial well-being you can learn financing skills including planning for the future, being informed about life insurance opportunities, having and following your personal budgeting routine, and learning about saving.
- Sense of purpose: The key aspects of sense of purpose are motivation, self-awareness, setting goals, achievements, shared values with colleagues and the employer.
The role of employers in increasing the well-being of the employees
The topic of well-being is increasingly important in benefit packages and applying candidates are already interested in it during the process of recruitment. Researches have confirmed that successful employees are approximately seven times more likely to work in a company which prioritises the wellness of employees.
A diverse and personalized benefits package is part of positive employer branding. The contribution of the employer in order to increase the well-being of the employees consists in accepting them individually and personalizing the benefits accordingly. The list of benefits includes meeting-free days, a budget for different trainings (not only related to work), different bonuses and additional holiday days for personal occasions, and health insurance (including specialists’ appointments).
Together, we can create a workplace where everyone feels valued and motivated. Partners from all around the world shared with us personal insights and best practices to put into practice in our professional setting.
