Do you know everything about you? Or are you still on your self-development journey?
One thing that I have learned in this journey of life and self-discovery is that we are multidimensional people living in a forever changing world. Mind blowing right? You are so complex, with lots of layers that it would take multiple lifetimes for you to get to know all of you, down to your true higher self. You are so incredibly designed and each new experience uncovers a new discovery getting you that much closer to the diamond buried inside.
What I mean is that life constantly teaches us something new about ourselves with each experience. And we should be constantly learning, growing and developing ourselves until the end of our life’s journey. At Least that’s how I see it. In order to live a quality life you must develop an understanding of the basic elements that make up you. You have eight dimensions of wellness that determine your optimal health and wellbeing. These eight dimensions consist of your spiritual, physical, intellectual, emotional, social, environmental, occupational and financial wellness. They are interconnected and build upon one another. If one dimension is overactive or underactive it can cause a rip effect, positively or negatively impacting the other dimensions.
For instance, let’s say hypothetically you are experiencing lots of changes and challenges at work which is causing stress within your occupational wellness. As a result, depending on the type of stress you’re experiencing could have a negative or positive effect on the other dimensions. If it’s chronic negative stress then you could experience headaches or other physical stress symptoms. You could become irritable and anxious (emotional); hyper focused (intellectual); withdrawn (social); disorganized and cluttered (environment); unproductive (occupational) which could impact your finances and possibly weaken or strengthen your faith (spiritual). Does this sound somewhat familiar?
I know it does for me. It does not matter which dimension the change or challenges occur in. What’s important is not to balance but to create some harmony within that dimension so that it is contained with minimal negative impact or it positively spreads to the other dimensions.
Here are three strategies that I use to help with harmonizing my eight dimensions of wellness. I think it might be helpful to you too.
#1 Acknowledgement: Take inventory and assess the wellbeing of each dimension of wellness. Identify which dimensions are healthy and feel good to you and which dimensions you’re experiencing discomfort and need attention and support.
#2 Acceptance: Celebrate those dimensions that are in harmony and continue maintaining those habits. And for those dimensions that are disharmonious, you will need to further investigate; by identifying what specific aspects within the dimension are causing you to feel unbalanced and disharmonious.
#3 Action: In healthy dimensions continue the positive energy flow to support those dimensions. For those other unhealthy dimensions, grant yourself grace and mercy. Forgive yourself if you are hard on yourself or speaking negatively. Then forgive others or situations that caused the discomfort. Lastly, you will want to provide support to those unwell areas. Here are a few examples of support that can be provided to each of the dimensions of wellness:
- Physical: Exercise; adopt better eating habits; work with your doctor; and get 7-8 hrs of sleep & rest
- Emotional: Increase your emotional intelligence; journaling daily a gratitude list; meditate; and seek professional support
- Intellectual: Learn something new via reading, podcast, youtube etc.
- Social: Talk with others; join a group within your interest; engage more with family and friends; and disconnect from negative relationships
- Environmental: Declutter and organize; bring nature indoors; remove negative energy; use color or reorganize your environment to stimulate and support
- Occupational: Take classes to increase your skills; set boundaries; seek a mentor; challenge yourself
- Financial: Create a budget; pay yourself-first; talk with a financial advisor; learn more on financial wellness; and create more money by starting a business
- Spiritual: Devote morning and evening time for praying (talking to God) and meditating (listening to God). Try to meditate and listen more than praying. Often we talk too much and miss our answers.
The better you understand your eight dimensions of wellness the better you will become at balancing and keeping harmony within those areas. This will assist you in maintaining a quality life that is rich and full of amazing experiences to uncover the whole you.
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