Do you want to feel full of energy, motivated, living a long
and prosperous life, free from chronic health conditions and to be happy? What
are the secrets? Is there a pill or a rare Amazonian fruit that can boost our
beta-2-3-4-antioxidant-hydroxi-foxi-soxi levels to help us boost vitality?
Before we rush to the latest issue of Hello! or Ralph
Magazine for the verdict, lets consider a few varied and more qualified
opinions.
Firstly in a lecture on mindfulness & happiness in 2010
Dr. Craig Hassed from Melbourne’s Monash University, Department of General Practice
identifies his 7 pillars of health as being education, stress management,
spirituality, exercise, nutrition, connectedness and the environment.
In the book Prosperity Without Growth, Tim Jackson
identifies a number of factors affecting subjective well-being (happiness) in
order of importance; {Partner/spouse and family relationships, health, a nice
place to live, money and financial situation, religion/spiritual life,
community & friends, work fulfillment.
In his book the Blue
Zones, Dan Beuttner studied places around the world where people live
longer and more often become centurions than anywhere else and identifies a
wide spectrum of factors covering; food, physical activity, sleep, a realistic
optimistic mindset, a sense of purpose, financial stability, good close
relationships, strong community support and a sense of spirituality as being
important.
Many traditional cultures have identified different levels to wellbeing,
for example the Maori culture in New Zealand has a philosophy of wellbeing known
as Hauora which incorporates four
interconnecting dimensions: taha tinana, taha hinengaro,
taha whanau, and taha wairua. This translates to physical, mental/emotional, social,
and spiritual wellbeing. The World Health Organization recognizes this concept.
Recently, in a 2007 article in the Harvard Business Review, Tony
Schwartz and Catherine McCarthy discussed how professional people can enhance
energy at work by focusing on four levels of energy; physical, emotional,
mental and spiritual energy. Many coaches who incorporate 4 quadrant thinking models (e.g.
HBDI, MBDI, DISC) will appreciate the
parallels present in the last two examples.
What these different sources
confirm without doubt is that when wanting to really flourish it helps to respect
the importance of all the different inter-related factors and it is important
to open our minds to all of them if we are to live a fulfilling life and best
serve humanity.
What is really interesting is that a shift in one area of
life often has unexplainable positive effects in other areas. In one of a comprehensive group of studies of
thousands of people in over 150 different countries the Gallup organization proved
a link between heart health and engagement at work. Personally, I remember how the stress of a
marriage breakdown in 2010 caused me to experience asthma symptoms for the
first time in my life! I also remember
interviewing a young lady last year who started volunteering for those less
fortunate than her and through it became inspired to start a career as a TV
presenter. I can confirm the interconnected nature of wellbeing and vitality
holds true again and again with many coaching client.
If you want a great starting point complete
this very simple four-step vitality assessment, which can act like a
springboard to making changes.
SPARK VITALITY MINI-ASSESSMENT
|
||
PHYSICAL VITALITY
|
1 2 3 4 5
|
How well are you taking care of yourself
physically through food, exercise, and sleep to provide a foundation for
day-to-day living?
|
SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL VITALITY
|
1 2 3 4 5
|
Are you maintaining an honest, open and assertive
relationship with yourself and those closest to you?
|
MENTAL VITALITY
|
1 2 3 4 5
|
Are you prioritizing day-to-day activities
and managing important events, finances and technology use?
|
SPIRITUAL VITALITY
|
1 2 3 4 5
|
Do you have a strong and clear sense of
purpose in your life and live with gratitude and an appreciation of
everything in the world
|
As a great coach, the next question that comes to mind is possibly
- what can we change or improve to really flourish? I’ve decided that for two reasons it would be
best to provide a smorgasbord for readers to pick and choose as
appropriate.
Firstly because our circumstances are all different and I
want to respect your unique situation and intelligence to decide for yourself
what you need. Secondly, because I want to honor the core philosophy that a beautiful
symphony is born out of the harmony between all the different instruments of
life. The
list of top tips below is just a small succulent selection from life’s large
fruit bowl of options.
PHYSICAL VITALITY
|
1.
SLEEP - Minimize medication and reduce alcohol use to fall
to sleep or manage stress
|
2.
POSTURE - Make sure your desk or workstation is set up
with good ergonomics so you can maintain good posture.
|
3.
MOVEMENT - Participate in regular repetitive physical activities
to break distracted/stress related thought patterns
|
MENTAL VITALITY
|
1.
SCHEDULE in hobbies, me time and family time in to your diary
|
2.
Set BOUNDRIES with staff and colleagues about when they
can contact you.
|
3.
Reduce INTERUPTIONS by performing high concentration tasks
away from phones and e-mail.
|
SOCIAL & EMOTIONAL VITALITY
|
1.
Take time out, to engage you in a regular (screen free)
relaxing or repetitive ritual that fills your mind with one dominant
sense. E.g. playing music, fishing,
dancing, warm bath, gardening, yoga, tai chi, meditation, and painting.
|
2.
WALKING MEETINGS – For difficult meetings &
conversations try taking a walk. This
changes the dynamics of the conversation and can lead to more effective
discussions and better outcomes (Thanks to Erika Edmands).
|
SPIRITUAL VITALITY
|
1.
Forgive somebody, show compassion or go and redeem
yourself if you have done something you are not proud of.
|
2.
Become deeply engaged in an activity that is altruistic or
service orientated Immerse yourself in an expression of your personal belief
system
|
Once you have decided where focus your vitality laser in
2012, I am sure that as a great coach, you will get started by creating a
vision, setting goals, diarizing action plans, engaging the services of a coach
or signing up to a suitable program. Before before you do please give the
following ideas the consideration they deserve.
· Be open to new insights & miracles
· Utilize your strengths and respect your weaknesses
· Use the power of community and work with a coach or partner
· Stay committed – a resolution is for a lifetime not just for
the new year
Click here, for access to the Spark Vitality Assessment. Its a more comprehensive energy assessment and is only available to the public for a short time.
WHO IS THE BRIGHT SPARK?
Hi, im Chris Eastham, a Port Melbourne based executive
coach with a passion for energy management and performance enhancement. I have a down to earth approach and aim to
have an engaging style. To find out more
about me feel free to check out my website! www.sparkexecutive.com.au
No comments:
Post a Comment