Social Wellness...How’s Yours?

Building Relationships Through the Zest Wellness Platform, Mindfulness, and the Science of Well-Being:

What makes life interesting is the ever-present nature of choices. Turn left, turn right, and another choice is there to be made.

 “Beyond choices are more choices.” - Nathan Kolar

 There is even a meaningful piece of wisdom by Jean-Paul Sartre, French philosopher and novelist, along the lines of, life is the C between the B and the D. The C is a reference to choices, and you the reader, have homework to solve what the B and D stand for. Hint – they are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

 A tactic for choices that I personally experiment with is the 6-month outlook. For an appropriate decision I am about to make, I think of myself 6 months into the future from the respective moment and if my 6-month self would approve or disapprove of the decision to pick which choice.

 Indeed, taking the time to write and create a mental framework for the purpose of this article was a decision that my 6-month self would approve of. This led to a choice of yes, and here we are.

 Look, going through the ups and downs of various phases in your life is not easy, and hope is a variable that can seem to disappear on some days, making choices all the more difficult to make. That said, a worth-while question to ask oneself in terms of choices being within the domain of control, is for a given life phase ask what the story will be, or, how will this moment define you. Just like the 6-month outlook which can guide choices, asking oneself what will you come through the phase with, can also guide choices. This is about choices for thriving, rather than solely surviving.

 What will you tell future generations?

The purpose of this article, courtesy of the aforementioned time to write and create a mental framework, is to present tips for how to come through a phase by making choices leading to deeper [and building] relationships with family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, and community members – the tips don’t discriminate. This purpose of building relationships is integrated within the driving pillar of the Zest Wellness Platform, powered by Virgin Pulse. It, therefore, should not have come to surprise that by completing a free online course through Yale and Coursera recently, called the Science of Well-Being, I learned the power of social connections for health and happiness. Eureka, social wellness.

Healthy Habits and personal challenges for Building Relationships through the Zest Wellness Platform, powered by Virgin Pulse:

 Tips for building and achieving deeper relationships can be done through:

• Positive emotions

• Mindfulness

• The extra mile

We shall dive into further detail regarding each of these tips.

• Positive emotions

Positive emotions can include civility and respect, and empathy, all pointing to kindness. This is based on the benign assumption in which kindness is contagious. We never know what the ripple effect of kindness can be and who needs to hear, see, or feel it at a specific point in time to have an impact on their life or daily actions. What we do matters, and this is about taking responsibility. Have you said to yourself, I want to be an example for those around me?

In the table below are a few specific tips on examples of civility and incivility:

Let’s say we already self-proclaim we practice kindness and positive emotions. Only one way to truly find out, and to do so we can bring in our friend named “Evaluation” and go through the following checklist and reflection from the Greater Good Science Centre, both for our self and our workplace.

Personal Kindness Checklist:

• Emphasize kindness in day-to-day behavior.

• Get to know your co-workers.

• Be compassionate – help others at work during times of need.

• Say thank you early and often.

• Hold yourself accountable.

Workplace Kindness Reflection:

• How does the workplace feel right now?

• Do people trust each other and collaborate supportively?

• When bad things happen, do people take care of one another?

• Do people feel appreciated?

• Are conflicts healthy disagreements?

 Mindfulness

A quick Google search can share a formal definition of the word mindfulness. That said, it would be nice to say in this article, an informal definition. Mindfulness is about slowing down and noticing more. Then, stepping back in. It’s not easy to build and maintain relationships when emotions may be out of control isn’t it? For myself, I can count on more than one hand the amount of times I said something foolish, or I overestimated something, in a conversation, only to regret it afterwards. Mindfulness can help attend to emotions, name the emotions, accept the emotions, and therefore gain perspective.

During conversations in which emotions may be looming, or at any time frankly, ask yourself:

• What is my breath like?

• How do my muscles feel?

• How does my face look?

• What am I thinking about? (patterns of thought)

• What actions do I feel drawn to take?

• What are other ways I can handle the situation?

No-one does their best thinking when they are in a state of fear or anger. Clear minds can lead to clear choices – inputs for building and maintaining relationships. 

The Greater Good Science Centre shares a practices in action for mindfulness and overall connections. Try them out! One or two could make the difference for your social wellness.

The extra mile

The extra mile for building and maintaining relationships is about creating most of all time and space for others, but really thinking about others in terms of how to create joyful experiences for them – to enjoy together.

Have you tried scheduling time for social connections? Do you pick up the phone and call a friend you haven’t spoken to recently? Having you taken the time to understand their needs and wants and to do what you can to help facilitate? When you walk into a room together, is it about me or is it about we? Did you show up to support their respective event or initiative? Are you on your phone consistently during conversations?

 To help understand how you can go the extra mile for others, to achieve thriving social wellness, the following table regarding resilience through interdependence, from Plan For Resilience, can be used. The objective of the table is to create a diverse network of support for yourself. By identifying those who would best provide help in the ways described for your life, you can position yourself to do similar in someone else’s life. Yes, I know what you are thinking, it is a balance between give and take for social wellness.

It is with these three tips (positive emotions, mindfulness, and the extra mile) that we can create tiny habits for to help build and maintain relationships. For Zest Wellness members, the Zest Wellness platform allows you to do so through a digital means whereby you can track progress and engage others in challenges. 

As Zest Wellness twists and shouts, all together better!

 We dare you to lead by example.