Top 10 Tips to stay well

The health and wellbeing industry is a global market worth trillions.  From 2017, it has reportedly grown at twice the speed of the global economy.

From spas, weight loss, personal trainers, beauty care, life coaches, supplements and at home gadgets, we are flooded with options to improve our wellbeing all competing for our hard-earned cash.

But perhaps we’ve missed a trick here.  Before looking outward to the next “in-thing” maybe we spend a little time looking inwards?

Here are 10 considerations:

1.   Motivation

Instead of trying to convince yourself you “must” or “have to” do something.  Ask yourself “what is my motivation”?  It reframes a demand on yourself, which we invariably rebel against, to a positive, what’s in it for me?  

2.   Responsibility

We tend to “outsource” our wellbeing because, well, it’s just easier than actually taking responsibility for it ourselves.  If we don’t lose weight, it’s Weight Watchers fault not ours. Really taking responsibility for yourself, owning change, owning your excuses will help you to accept where you are and focus on where you need to be.

3.   Look for positives

When we focus on the negative, we keep ourselves in that place, we continue to search for failure or problems.  It’s in our DNA, we are programmed to look for threats, but we can get dragged down by it so catch it when it happens.  Ask yourself whether it really is that bad or if your mind is just making a catastrophe out of a molehill.

4.   Connect with others

We have a fundamental psychological need to connect, to belong and we have been separated for a long time from those we care about.  Get back to connecting in person, it may not be obvious straight away, but your mind will thank you and you will feel better.

5.   Be mindful

We are so used to doing, we have forgotten how to just “be”.   Mindfulness doesn’t have to be about meditation, it can simply be about bringing your focus to one thing at a time, in the moment and not always thinking about all the other tasks you haven’t completed yet – that’s doing mode.  This will also help you reconnect with loved ones as well as re-establish what is important to you.

6.   Have regular breaks from work

In a hybrid working environment, we don’t take the same amount of breaks we used to, even worse we are switched on way past when we might have previously been. Taking regular, proper breaks is more important when we work at home.  Making sure you stand up, walk away from your desk, get some fresh air and yes, lunch AWAY from the desk.

7.   Stay off social media

As important a tool as it is, social media can be damaging, we know this, we limit the time our kids have on it.  If you find yourself scrolling for no reason other than finding a distraction from something else then it’s time to go back to No. 2, take ownership, figure out why you need this distraction and replace the needless scrolling with something more positive.   

8.   Nutrition

Back to basics.  Eating well is crucial for our overall wellbeing and it’s not just about weight.  Our organ health, skin health, muscle density, ability to focus and fight off disease all rely on a balanced diet.  Ask yourself one very serious question, how long do I want to live?  If the answer is as long as possible, then it’s time to take responsibility for your diet.

9.   Sleep

As important as nutrition, sleep repairs our mental functioning, it sorts out and processes all of the previous days goings on.  Adults require between 7 and 9 hours consistent sleep.   Check out our article here on "how to get a good nights sleep".

10.   Exercise

It’s the last but by no means least important topic.   Exercise we know help us to maintain our physical wellbeing but as many of you know, it also supports our mental wellbeing.  The chemicals released from exercise are proven to reduce symptoms of stress, anxiety and depression.  It can be playing with your kids, gardening, DIYing, and doesn’t need to be difficult, costly or time consuming.  It has been found that simply moving more each day is more beneficial in the long term than forcing yourself to the gym for strenuous workouts.  

We are not perfect, we get lazy, we think it’s too hard, we think we can’t afford to, we don’t have time, we think too much or not at all.  There’s so much information out there, it can be overwhelming, so we switch off and do nothing, it’s much easier.  The problem is if you don’t take responsibility, no one else will.  

Remember, you can’t jump straight to ten from zero, it’s too difficult, so don’t.  Take one small step.  Make one small change.  It’s called the power of one for a reason. Instead of trying to do it all, think about what one small step looks like and do that.  Tomorrow or next week make one more small step and before you know it, a healthier, happier person will be staring back at you each morning.