What actually IS wellbeing?

This month, we're going to look at wellbeing and what wellbeing is, if you've ever watched any of my videos or read my articles, you'll see that I always refer to health, mental health and wellbeing. And I do that because there are three very different things.

When I work with organisations, a lot of the time people want to call things wellbeing strategies. But the challenge with that is that if you don't define what wellbeing is, then you can end up with a strategy that's just a mix of everything.

So this month, we're going to be looking at why you need to define what health mental health and well being are, and are not. The first reason to define what well being is to you and your organisation is that by doing that you've got a root or a foundation to base your strategy on.

The thing about well being is it's a term that means totally different things to totally different people. And the reality is, is that if you have a very loose well being strategy, then everyone will see it as delivering different things. To some it'll be tracklogs, before breakfast to others, it'll be a way of getting massages or manicures. But the reality is, is that if it means different things to different people, then not everybody is going to be happy with your strategy, or feel engaged with it.

The second reason for defining what wellbeing is to you are really clear definition of health and mental health and well being and what behaviours you want to encourage and what your organisation is going to spend money on will enable you to put some structure around this. So the all the pockets of spend that again on things that the organisation deems as less important, can stop.

For example, you can choose to spend money on things like private health insurance, rather than mindfulness and manicures. And you've got a structure whereby requests for spend on health, mental health and well being can be turned down if they fall outside of what the organisational aims are.

And the final reason why it's so important to define what health mental health and well being is, and what health mental health and wellbeing behaviours are for you and your organisation is that what people see in wellbeing as a loose term is what they're already doing or what they enjoy doing.

So a wellbeing strategy becomes a way to do yoga in office, or to get money for an app that people want or a Fitbit or training. So people aren't changing their behaviours. And what you want to achieve from a health mental health and well being strategy is behaviour change.

If people already think they're doing or trying to wrap what they're already doing into the loose term of wellbeing, then your strategy isn't going to achieve the behaviour change and the impact on individuals that you want. In my article next week, I'm going to be looking at different models of wellbeing and health and mental health and how you can create one that works for you and your organisation.

The key is, is that well being is such a subjective thing that there is no right or wrong, but you need to find something that is a definition that works for you. And you can make some decisions then around what you are and aren't going to cover in your strategy. I'll be giving you my top tips.

But in the meantime, I'd love to hear what you think well being is is it health and mental health or is it something different? Is it broad? Is it narrow? Other things that wellbeing strategies shouldn't cover? Should we have well being strategies at all or should we not just have health and mental health ones? I'd love to hear and in the meantime, I'll see you in a week.

Do you want support and guidance with an expert in the field? Mentorship with Amy McKeown is available - check out more info HERE