What is Wellbeing?
Wellbeing is a very popular word recently, but what exactly does it mean?
For some, it’s a recent trend, a fancy phrase they can add to a business offer or a care package. For me Wellbeing is very simple, it means looking after yourself. When you break the phrase and switch the words, you end up with Being Well. Perfect, but what does it mean to be well?
We are complex creatures and we all have a lot of needs that need to be met for us to feel OK. However, we don’t need very complicated processes in order to meet them.
Maslow’s hierarchy of needs sums up human needs in a very easy to understand format, a pyramid. Each part of the pyramid is focusing on different needs, and they all build on top of each other. In order to climb the pyramid, you need to fulfil the basic needs first.
Since Maslow’s publication, there were many psychologists that disagree or revise those needs. However, I believe that this version sums up the basic needs we need to fulfil in order to feel good and thrive in our environment. It’s good and easy to understand the foundation to help us focus on our priorities and overcome difficulties.
Physiological Needs
Basic needs such as air, water, food, shelter, sleep, clothing and reproduction. These are our basic needs and are the most essential. So when you are extremely hungry or sleep-deprived you can’t focus on much else until you meet those needs.
It is very important to remember those needs in your mission for wellbeing. You have to make sure you satisfy your basic needs before you move on to the other needs.
I can’t stress enough the importance of nutritionally balanced food, drinking enough water, cutting out sugary foods and fizzy drinks. But since I am no expert in those fields I would just say look for expert advice, slowly reduce your sugar intake, eat more veg and see what difference it makes to your life.
As sleep is one of the physiological needs that I studied and are passionate about, I will be writing further about sleep and improving it very soon.
Safety Needs
These needs are about the safety of your environment. Personal security, employment, resources, health, property. Needs for a safe and predictable environment and our reaction of anxiety if those needs are not met.
These needs become more prominent in emergency situations like natural disasters, war, illness. This causes a lot of stress and possibly even post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
In later posts, I will dive deeper into stress and will include some tips on dealing with it.
Love and Belonging
Next level of needs involves friendship, intimacy, family and sense of connection. Feeling loved and accepted, including family and friends as well as romantic relationships. It is also the feeling of belonging to a wider social group. We as humans are social creatures and those needs are important to us. Having good social support is related to better physical and mental health and improves your overall well being. So in order to improve your wellbeing stay in touch with your friends, spend time with your loved ones.
Those with anxiety and social anxiety in particular might struggle with being able to connect to people. Fears may try and stop you from fulfilling this need – you can definitely overcome it.
I will write about anxiety in next blogs and provide some tools to conquer them on the website.
Esteem
This involves respect, self-esteem, status, recognition, strength and freedom. These needs are firstly about us feeling good about ourselves and secondly about feeling valued by others. When your needs of esteem are fulfilled, you feel confident and see your contribution towards society as valued and important.
Sometimes these needs are not fulfilled due to psychological difficulties. We might have had difficult experiences in childhood or early adult life, where our self-esteem has been damaged. Rebuilding it is possible, we might need help from our loved ones or a therapist.
We are able to challenge the negative thoughts and beliefs that we acquired through our life experiences. The way we think about ourselves can be changed, we are not doomed to live with low self-esteem. We can change our thinking habits with determination and a bit of help.
Self-actualisation
This need is about feeling fulfilled, becoming your best version of yourself. Feeling that we live up to our full potential and make the most of our life and the opportunities it offers. It’s a feeling that we are doing what we feel we are meant to do. According to Maslow, achieving this is relatively rare and it’s an ongoing process.
Going Forward
While Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs is not perfect for all different personalities and stages in our lives, it offers a great starting point for recognising our needs.
Hopefully, by now you are more familiar with what all of your different needs might be and will be more aware of them on a day to day basis.
If you are going through a stressful period at work, looking for a house or are unable to sleep – your unfulfilled needs will come to the forefront. These needs will be interfering with you being able to cope on a day to day basis or may become a driving force and a priority, sometimes subconsciously.
When you are stressed at work and just try to carry on, you might become depressed, anxious or simply exhausted. If you recognise in time, that you are dealing with more things than you should, you can stop. You can implement techniques on reducing your stress levels and then you will be able to enjoy every day rather than trying to survive it.
Remembering the pyramid of needs will help you to look after yourself better. Hope it will enable you to give yourself time and space to fulfil those needs and will enable you to prioritise your tasks.
Stay calm, rested and well.