Juggling the 8 Wellness balls

Earlier this year, I did not feel like I was thriving. I felt like the flow I was seeking was always justtttt out of reach. My creativity felt stifled, my motivation dwindled, and I knew that I could be a better person. Recognizing that life is short and doesn’t wait for anyone, I became determined to make a change.

I began seeking ways to systematically improve my life. I believe that one way I could do this was to become more organized. I wanted to create a checklist that I could abide by and evaluate my progress week over week. I started creating weekly goals/tasks across 5 categories – Family and Friends, Travel (one of my biggest passions), Work, Self-Improvement Projects, and…you guessed it…wellness. On Sunday of each week, I would write out 1-3 objectives per category and get lots of satisfaction throughout the week of checking them off ✅.

In the first quarter of the year, my wellness objectives looked a little something like:
1. Workout 5 times a week for 30 minutes
2. Meditate 5 minutes every day
3. Watch Lesson 1 of the Science of Well-being course on Coursera

More than any other category, this one, along with the Family and Friends category, made me feel proud and just…well? Because of this, I decided to learn more about Wellness. This is the first time that I learned Wellness included more than just physical, emotion, and mental dimensions. In fact, it is often considered to have 8 dimensions of wellness.

According to Northwestern University, the 8 dimensions of wellness are: Physical, Emotional, Social, Intellectual, Environmental, Spiritual, Vocational, and Financial.

Becoming aware of these 8 dimensions was illuminating for me. Systematically improving the 3 dimensions of wellness that I was familiar with was a challenge, how will I ever improve all 8? Well, this blog is dedicated to my efforts. It is the most important lifelong journey of introspection and action that I will ever have. If you feel the same, let’s connect and keep striving well together.