Personal Well-Being
For most of the history of mankind, our personal well-being was mostly about addressing basic physical needs (food, water, shelter, and clothing). Up until the late 19th century, hard work was the inherent ethos for achieving a good life. Industrialization brought us efficiencies into the early 20th century that began to enable people to spend less of their waking hours trying to achieve basic physical needs. It is also when it became more complicated.
The study of human psychology has also evolved with the emergence of Positive Psychology to help us understand our modern day definitions personal well-being. Positive Psychology is not about happiness that can be influenced by a cheerful mood, pleasure, frustration or the events of the day. It is not simply positive thinking, which can be harmful if it’s not complemented with critical thinking. It is about achieving personal growth and improving well-being.
Assuming we have enough money to address our basic physical needs and we are not limited by financial anxiety, we want these components of personal well-being:
There is nothing better than seeing your favorite team win a game, your daughter performing miraculously on her concert stage or simply spending time with those you love. The positive emotions produce internal chemical responses helpful to our health, especially from a good laugh.
Being a part of making something of meaning happen. Millions of people earn a modest income sacrificing lucrative salaries for the opportunity to make differences in people’s lives. We put careers and finances on hold to raise families, send kids to college or create businesses. We try to find purpose in tragedies by dedicating our lives to preventing others from experiencing the same feeling and giving more meaning to the loved ones we lost.
Through meaningful relationships and by being valued. We drop everything in our lives for those we love. We sacrifice job opportunities and the pursuits of passion to spend time to be with our families. We get married to people that requires moving to a new community and leaving friends and loved ones behind. Connection is what we feel when we can express ourselves with little explanation. It is seeing understanding in the eyes of your confidant that is listening.
We put our lives on hold to train, compete and win (Olympics, ironman) for the reward of feeling competent and successful. Entrepreneurs and scientists are relentless in the pursuit of solving a problem or making a discovery that is more about success than a financial reward. We purchase luxury cars and expensive homes as a symbol to ourselves and others that we are a success. Yes, we regretfully play video games till 2am to beat our high score or speed up to not let people pass us in the next lane.
When time just disappears while we are with great friends, reconditioning a classic car, reading an engaging book, watching our favorite team or laying on the beach. It is being so engaged that we can shut off the stresses of our modern day, lower our blood pressure and renew our souls.
Our modern day has made it challenging to achieve our desired definition of personal well-being. Collaborations and eDream Pursuits can help you get there.
