It is a great privilege to experience a new year. As we cross over from the holidays, the conversation around goal setting for the year begins to take centre stage. The beginning of the year forces us to reflect on the previous year and take note of the things that worked so we can repeat them and dump the things that didn’t work. This period can also feel a bit daunting but it also brings with it an overwhelming sense of newness – It feels as though we have another chance to improve the different aspects of our lives and must not ruin the opportunity.
I trust by now you have seen several posts on goal setting. If you have set your goals for the year I applaud you but I bet you have missed some aspects I will cover in this article. If you haven’t then this article will be right up your alley. This article showcases a broader goal setting approach and presents you with the opportunity to approach goal setting holistically. A couple of years ago I developed a system that I now use for my clients in my company and it is called “ The Seven Dimensions To Wellness”. It’s an approach that helps to create wholesome goals and helps you pay attention to different aspects of your life.
The seven dimensions to wellness are Physical, Relational, Intellectual, Mental, Emotional, Spiritual and Financial.
Physical Wellness is achieved when you take care of your body. A strong and healthy body is an advantage for achieving all other goals. A well maintained physical state will lead to high energy and vitality which enables you to perform everyday tasks efficiently. Here you set goals for diet improvement (eating more whole foods than processed foods, reducing refined sugars, etc), engage in physical activities like playing a sport, running, walking or any other types of exercise and these must be done frequently. It is also recommended to reduce high consumption of alcohol, smoking or other unhelpful lifestyle habits and ensure getting longer and more quality sleep every night. The goals set here are all geared towards giving your health a fighting chance so you can go ahead and be all you want to be.
Relational Wellness is achieved through the intentional nurturing of relationships. First off a healthy relationship with yourself sets the tone for how you will relate with others. You really cannot give what you do not have- Your values, your self worthiness, your self respect, your self love etc will all need to be intact so you can transfer the same to others. That being said this quote pretty much sums up the importance of nurturing relationships
“If you want to go fast go alone, if you want to go far go together”
Truly, there’s only so far a person can go alone. In the last few years in the business world we have experienced the transformative power of collaborations and I’m certain there’s a lot more to come. Collaborations can only happen when two parties or more respectfully engage and successfully manage interactions. I love this quote by Travis Bradberry
“Relationship management is your ability to use your awareness of your own emotions and those of others to manage interactions successfully.”
Basically your ability to build and nurture important relationships will tremendously help the course of your life & business.
Some of the behaviours here will be keeping in touch with people(genuine interest in their welfare not only when you need something from them), preventing conflicts or resolving them quickly when they emerge, learning and adapting to the boundaries of others, respectfully engage always. There are many others but start with these.
Intellectual Wellness is achievable when you adequately engage in mentally stimulating activities. It’s borne out of a desire for an optimal intellectual state. There are many ways to keep your intellect stimulated throughout life and it boils down to pushing yourself past your comfort zone with activities that challenge you, improve you and grow you. Neuroplasticity, also known as neural plasticity, or brain plasticity, is the ability of neural networks in the brain to change through growth and re-organisation, easily put it refers to the brain’s ability to modify, change, and adapt both structure and function throughout life and in response to experience. Basically by choosing mentally engaging activities you make your brain serve even better. Here you will commit habits such reading regularly, trying out new things, seeking to diversify your world (travel, a new skill, hobbies, new career, etc).
Mental Wellness is achievable by adopting positive coping mechanisms to manage everyday stress while engaged in productive work. I like to describe mental health as the buffer to your wellbeing, almost like the role Idris Alba played in the movie Thor. He was the gate keeper of the Kingdom and was in charge of making sure access is only granted to those who come in peace, and the only time the Kingdom was attacked was when Idris Alba was temporarily removed from his position. Protecting your mental health is one of life’s biggest assignments because allowing consistent interferences will affect the quality of your life. Here you will need to pay attention to yourself enough so you can prevent burnouts, you will take breaks when you feel overwhelmed and out of balance, you also need to set boundaries and grant access to people it is highly recommended to ask for help from others when you need support.
Emotional Wellness is achievable with self-awareness and acceptance of your feelings and the feelings of others. After Idris Alba was temporarily displaced of Idris Alba led to an invasion of the Learning how to manage your emotions puts you in the driving seat of your day and prevents you from experiencing turbulent mood swings. Here you will walk away when you are angry rather than “speak your mind”, you will express yourself without drawing unnecessary attention to yourself, It is advised to develop one’s emotional intelligence to learn how to respond rather than react to high-stress situations.
Spiritual Wellness is your search for meaning and purpose in your existence. It is when an individual seeks to live an admirable life, in alignment with their core values. Many people express spirituality through the practice of a Religion, however, it isn’t limited to that. To attain wellness in this area, It will be helpful to practice mindfulness, meditation, gratitude exercises, and any other forms of reflective practices.
Financial Wellness is all about how you handle your money. To be financially well is to practice good money habits. Here you will plan your expenses, avoid debt, invest and also save. While there’s usually a lot of conversation around how to make more money I believe that you have more control over how to make the money you earn go a long way for you. It is wisdom to get educated about financial planning and it’s never too early to start saving for the future.
I hope this article has helped point out areas of your life to consider while setting up your goals and how best to develop objectives around them. With my personal clients at The Excited Living Company, we go much deeper into each section on a more personalised level. With that said, I would like to get your feedback regarding how this helped you improve on your already existing plan or build a plan for the new year.
I wish you the best of the year as you work on your plan!