Increase your sense of well-being by focusing on these

Here is a quick quiz for you to rank how well you are doing in contributing to your wellbeing.

Do work to do these 5 core elements of well-being?

1. Express Positive emotions.
2. Feeing Engaged in what you are doing.
3. Ensure you are involved in good Relationships.
4. Finding Meaning in what you do.
5. Accomplishing positive things.

If you wish for more wellbeing and happiness, you might want to increase your focus on these components.

​I'll give you some ideas of how to do that below! It starts with Positive Psychology.

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​What's Positive Psychology got to do with wellbeing? Lots!
Martin Seligman, the father of positive psychology, says that when you practice these 5 things, (The PERMA model of well-being), you bring order to the chaos of your life. While these 5 components don't define well-being he says, they contribute to it.

The PERMA Model

• Positive emotions isn't about always being happy, happy happy necessarily.
  • It's being optimistic. That's one of the Signature Strengths from the VIA assessment that I encouraged you to do a little while back. p.s. Martin Seligman was instrumental in the development of the VIA and the development of character research.
• Engaged is that sense of losing sight of what's going on around you because you are engrossed in what you are doing.
  • It's often called being in flow. It's also been shown to be one of the key factors for successful teams. It's when you as a leader create engaged teams that according to Gallup research, you flourish. Oh, by the way, another tidbit of information: Tom Rath, the author of Strength's Finder, which is all about employee engagement, was one of Martin Seligman's first Masters of Applied Positive Phycology degree. Yes, I geek out over this stuff 🙈
• The connections we develop in our relationships give meaning to life.
  • It is where compassion, caring, love and kindness all come into play. Yes, more signature strengths from VIA.
•  I often ask you a couple of key questions: Why bother? What's the point?
  • When you have a bigger sense of purpose to your day, your work, your life, you are happier and yes more fulfilled. That sense of meaning contributes to your well-being.
• Accomplishing something positive, whether that is at work, with your family or in your personal life feels good.
  • What's more, it contributes to your self-esteem and builds competence and confidence.

3 steps to help you impact your wellbeing!
When you focus on these 5 components, you'll be doing both. Here are the steps for doing that.

.......... √ Be intentional

• You can't do it all. Pick one area to focus on.
  • Perhaps you will choose to work on a specific relationship with someone.
    
    

.......... √ Create a habit of practice

• Change takes time and effort. Pick one small thing and make it a habit that you do.
  • You could start a habit of making eye contact and smiling at this person each time you walk into the office in the morning.
    
    

.......... √ Journal each day

• Documenting, reflecting and measuring is what truly makes a difference.
  • This might be as simple as marking a little check mark at the top of each day in your agenda when you do it. A line through the checkmark might indicate they smiled back at you. At the end of the week, you can notice how often you did it and how effective it was in making them smile. You might also notice what overall effect that has had on your relationship.

Other factors that contribute to your well-being
Tom Rath, whom I mentioned above, wrote not only the Strength's Finder, but also a book called Eat, Move Sleep: How small choices lead to big changes. Tom knows that these are the foundations for being able to do the others: Feel positive emotions, be engaged in what you are doing, have strong relationships, contribute something meaningful in your life and accomplish good things.

Don't forget to take care of yourself!

This time of year can be tough on your sense of well-being!
This can be an incredibly stressful time for many of us. I've fallen apart many times in December; physically, emotionally, spiritually and in my relationships. Each year I work to add new habits, routines and practices to ensure I enjoy December more and more. And do you know what? It's working!

Tonight I'll be singing with my church choir to a group of seniors.
I created that practice last year, and it makes an incredible difference to all 5 components.

• It gives me a burst of Positive emotions.
• I get so Engaged I lose track of time.
• I build Relationships with these old folks that warm my heart.
• That connection makes me feel like I am contributing Meaningfully to their wellbeing too.
• That will make me feel like I Accomplished something worthwhile today!

Work on the 5 components of PERMA, and you'll be contributing to your well-being!

1. Positive emotions
2. Feeing Engaged
3. Involved in good Relationships
4. Finding Meaning in what you do
5. Accomplishing positive things