To me, well-being is defined as a state of overall contentment, happiness, or positivity.
Personally speaking, I characterize my well-being into three basic dimensions: physical, psychological, and social. All three of these dimensions play a crucial role into my overall well-being, and they are all connected with each other in various ways.
Physical: This dimension discusses what basic physiological needs a person has in order to survive on a daily basis. One TED Talk describes how Maslow’s hierarchy of needs impacts the overall well-being of a person, and the most basic tenet of that hierarchy is the satisfaction of physiological needs. Food, water, rest, and shelter are all universal basic needs that humans share. Further, research shows that happier people are healthier physically, as they have lower rates of cardiovascular disease and a stronger immune system. Personally, I can’t always say that I eat the healthiest, and I keep telling myself I need to exercise more. However, I know how important my physical health is and how it ties in with other dimensions of well-being, so I make sure that I tend to those needs as much as possible.
Psychological: This dimension describes how one’s mental health, cognitive thinking, spirituality, and emotions can affect how they perceive the world and their place in it. It can be difficult at times to tend to this aspect of well-being, because ways to improve psychological well-being are extremely subjective. For me, I am always trying to improve my psychological well-being by actively taking steps to become aware of my mental health needs, accepting who I am (flaws and everything), and learning about different methods of self-care that work best for me, such as exercise. I also recognize that well-being isn’t linear, and that I don’t have to be happy every second of every day in order to achieve a state of well-being. Even though this is something I struggle with, I know that I can control my perceptions of the world and of myself.
Social: It is no surprise that one study found that “good relationships make people happier and healthier”. Another survey found that people who spend more than 6 hours a day with loved ones are much more likely to report being happy. A very important part of well-being to me is being able to have strong, high-quality relationships with other people, both professionally and personally. I am an extrovert through and through, and surrounding myself with people that I care about is extremely vital to my overall happiness. However, social well-being is closely tied to mental well-being, and it can be easy for one to impact the other. For example, research shows that using technology, such as social media or watching TV, can cause more unhappiness in both teens and adults. As technology is becoming more embedded into our lives, and even though we are more connected than ever before, social media can create unrealistic expectations about how “happy” other people are, and we find ourselves comparing our lives to theirs. I fall victim to this sometimes, but it’s important to step back and realize that our in-person relationships are much more crucial to our well-being than what is put out on social media.
While there are many ways that someone can define their well-being, I feel as if these three dimensions encompass the different ways that I prioritize my well-being. Even though I don’t always take time to think in-depth about my well-being, being able to understand what I need to do in order to increase my overall happiness has become an important part of my life.