Last week we discussed two very important pieces of the 8-dimensional wellness puzzle; emotional and physical wellness. This week we're going to focus on intellectual and financial wellness; what they are and why they're important to our overall well-being.
Intellectual wellness refers to activities that are creative and mentally stimulating.
These types of activities should increase your knowledge and skill base while also allowing you to share your knowledge and skills with others.
Intellectual wellness can be developed through:
academics
cultural involvement
community involvement and,
personal hobbies.
Intellectual wellness is important to develop because it relates directly to our relationships with ourselves, our environment, and others. Without intellectual stimulation, it's easy to assume that all areas of wellness would begin to suffer. Learning new things and practicing skills helps us to become more well-rounded and mindful individuals. To deepen your level of intellectual wellness make sure you're open-minded to trying new things, don't be afraid to get artistic, practice active listening when engaging in conversation with others, try new hobbies, and travel. When choosing activities to develop your intellectual wellness keep in mind that there are no right or wrong answers. Like any dimension of wellness, intellectual wellness is personal. Choose activities that motivate and challenge you and you're well on your way to improving your intellectual wellness!
Similarly, financial wellness will also be unique to you. This area of wellness is much more than how much money you make, your credit score, or your overall net worth. Financial wellness actually tells the story of your relationship with finances. This relationship includes how well you’re able to stay on top of your monetary obligations, how secure you feel about your financial future, and whether you have the financial freedom to make personally satisfying life choices. These are much tougher questions than some of the other wellness questions we've faced so far, and they may make you feel a little overwhelmed. These tough feelings are the reason why financial wellness is so important! According to a study, published by Capital One and The Decision Lab, 77% of American participants reported feeling anxious about their financial situation with 58% feeling that finances control their lives. Those feelings of anxiety and loss of control relate directly to emotional wellness.
If you find that you're struggling with financial wellness, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has listed 25 tips to improve your financial wellness- including a quiz that you can take by clicking here. Other tips include ways to better understand where your money goes, how to save for emergencies, and reduce your debt (among others). See all 25 by clicking here.
If you're feeling lost with your overall wellness, St. Andrew's Family Fitness is here to help. Please reach out to our Fitness Department to schedule your free starting point session where we will work together to create a wellness plan for you. Just e-mail eclark@standrewsfitness.com to get started.
Comments