The Self-Care & Wellness Test: What is Your Score?
A lot of people believe that healthy living is about being thin and fit. But there are many people who are thin and fit who are living unhealthy lives. This article will try to help you measure your quality of life by looking at different wellness areas.
How do you think you’ll score on the below wellness areas? Remember we cannot be truly happy or successful without a complete sense of wellbeing.
How Well Are You?
A lot of people keep themselves healthy and active. Some people do it for the health benefits, others for physical fitness, and still others just to take care of themselves. Whatever the reason may be, exercising is a good idea when you want to stay healthy or just feel better physically.
But “being well” is not all about exercising and eating a healthy diet. We need to take into account EVERYTHING we do in our lives – our environment, our choices, everything. The following points will help you see not only if you are well on a physical level, but also in your mind and soul.
This is especially important because we cannot be truly happy or successful without a complete sense of well-being.
A wellness test is not an easy test by any means, but it’s an important one to take because it will give you a chance to see where you may be able to improve your life.
The Wellness Test
Check how “well” you are by taking looking into the points below and pondering about each. How well do you score in each area? Use logical sense to score yourself in each of these areas of wellness. After you look at each area, you will be able to calculate your “overall well-being score”.
This is an excellent opportunity for you to test your overall health from many different angles, especially if you are a bit lost or need an assessment of your current level of wellness.
Let’s get started.
Creativity
Creativity can be a tricky thing to measure. If you’re creative, you may not always know. And if you are not creative, there is a good chance you won’t recognize that either. This area of wellness is less about specific activities and more about your mental outlook on life.
To be more well-rounded, we always need to open ourselves up to new ideas and try new things in order to grow as individuals.
NOTE: Creativity will help you improve self-esteem, delay cognitive decline and reduce symptoms of depression. Try to keep your creativity up, even if it is hard at first.
This wellness area is all about the “flow experience” — the way to feel connected to something bigger than yourself. I play the piano, and it helps me center my sense of wellbeing right in the middle of my soul. Find something you feel creative about and try to do it on a regular basis.
It will make a difference in your level of contentment and peace.
Finances
This is the area where most people have a sense of lack, no matter how comfortable they are when it comes to their finances. If you’ve ever had to go through a difficult financial situation – perhaps a job change, an injury, or something else – you know how important it is to have a grasp on finances or at least to have an inner sense of security.
NOTE: Fear of financial insecurity is not the same as being financially insecure!
There are many ways to manage your money and be financially sound: insurance plans, credit cards, retirement saving plans and investments, and many other things. This area will help gauge your level of financial wellness so that you can plan accordingly.
INFO: Financial stress has been shown to lead to inflammation and may increase the risk for chronic diseases.
Career
Having a job you enjoy is one of the best things you can do for your health and well-being. I have said no to jobs I knew were not going to make me feel joy.
A job you don’t enjoy ends up being stressful and time-consuming. This means that if we aren’t mentally prepared to face the day’s tasks, we will falter from our job responsibilities.
A well-balanced life will allow you to keep your priorities in order to make sure everything is done according to plan – whether it be household chores, work activities, or anything else for that matter. The more we enjoy our job, the less we will procrastinate.
Education
Not everyone has the luxury of traditional education. For those who do not have Primary or Secondary education, it may not be possible to follow a degree program.
It is important to understand your educational background so that you can make the best choices of legal, medical, and career plans possible. Perhaps you always wanted to study in college but were unable to due to a lack of financial resources. Perhaps you have a PhD but chose something your parents wanted you to do, although the vocation wasn’t there.
Regardless of your educational background, take an assessment to see where you stand in this area of wellness. You can always study. Education is neverending. I seem to do more and more courses the older I get. I love it, I study all the things I feel very passionate about (herbal medicine, formulating skincare, Integrative Nutrition, essential oils, etc etc).
Health
This area is one where you should know what your current health condition is, and if there are any symptoms that may be signs of a future illness or if preventative measures are needed (i.e. the food you are consuming).
By knowing what is happening to your body, you can make changes in your day-to-day life to help ward off diseases and ailments.
We all have different needs when it comes to our health. Some people need to exercise regularly, others need to take medicine every now and then. Knowing your risk factors will help you make healthy choices in regards to your health as well as give insight into areas where you may need extra care.
Physical Activity
Another thing that is good for your health is exercise. This section is about how much you do and how often. It’s a simple way to gauge your fitness level – simple because it only asks two questions: How many times per week do you exercise? How much exercise do you do each time?
Assessing how much exercise you do is a personal thing. I live surrounded by land and I have to take care of trees as well as vegetables I’m growing. My land is my gym. I also have to walk quite a bit to get to my car. All these things count towards my daily amount of physical activity.
Relationships and Social Life
This area will give you a quick idea of whether your social life and relationships are balanced – or not. You should ask yourself basic questions on what is important to you in relating to other people, for example:
- How do you treat other people?
- How do you respond when someone is upset or angry with you?
- Are you honest and fair with others? Do you trust them? Do they trust you?
NOTE: Having healthy relationships with others is one of the most important aspects of overall wellbeing. If you are feeling stressed out, talk it out with someone you trust.
This, too, is a very general area of wellness. It is meant to be something that you can go back to from time to time and see if your life is better now than it was before; if so, in what way? And if not, what needs improving?
Spirituality
What good is a healthy body and mind if they are not balanced by a healthy soul? This area will help you determine how spiritually sound you are right now.
Practising spirituality in your daily life may help reduce stress, improve quality and life and increase longevity.
Here are some ideas of the things you can do to keep your soul healthy:
- Read good books.
- Pray or meditate daily.
- Listen to uplifting music.
- Play your favorite instrument (stringed or wind) regularly.
- Learn a new language or improve upon an existing one.
- Volunteer in a program that helps others.
- Make amends when needed, if anything was done incorrectly
Yes, I do all of the above. It is necessary for a good, round healthy soul.
NOTE: I really do feel that my spiritual growth is a key part of my well-being. I have seen first-hand the benefits of being in touch with your inner self and maintaining the connection with your spirit.
Home Cooking
Home cooking is one of the most important aspects of wellness. It helps us learn valuable skills and it is healthier and more cost-effective in the long run.
Cooking at home means you don’t have to go to the grocery store for your food. You can make your own meals which will greatly reduce the number of processed foods you consume. That’s why many well-known health advocates believe that cooking at home is a major key in healthy eating and general wellbeing.
It is also healthier for our environment since we use less packaging, paper and plastic when we cook at home.
NOTE: You can get creative and use home cooking to spark your own ideas in other areas. For example, if you love pickled foods, then maybe you can make your pickled vegs at home. Or, if you love to bake, then you can make your own protein bars at home.
Home Environment
Some people have a tendency to clutter their homes with too much “stuff”. This can not only affect their health, but also the efficiency of their lives. I struggle in this area as I do find it very difficult to get rid of the things that have surrounded me over the years.
NOTE: An organised home environment that is also clean can help support emotional and physical health.
If you have tips around this one, I’d love to hear what you have done to keep your home environment decluttered. Other than that, the home environment is also about where are you living (and what sort of air are you breathing), who is around you (what sort of neighbours, perhaps there’s a sense of community?), how spacious are your rooms, do you have pets, etc.
Is your home an extension of who you are? I do find decluttering a difficult exercise but, in general, my home is an expression of my soul. I live in the countryside and have a very rudimentary lifestyle which suits me and my needs. I grow my own veg and make my own skincare. There’s plenty of space surrounding me and I have views of the Atlantic ocean as I live by the coast. The views, the air, the space, the music you listen to at home… all contribute to creating a home environment and it should be something you enjoy.
Hobbies
Some people have a lot of hobbies, others don’t. How many different things are you interested in and how dedicated are you to each of your hobbies?
A hobby is not something you do for a couple of hours once a month or even once a week – it’s something that you spend time doing and enjoying in order to allow your soul to be rejuvenated!
Service to others
There are many ways to be a good person and help others. You can volunteer, help out at the local food bank, or give money to an organization that supports the community.
How do you spend your time helping others? What kind of energy and passion you bring to each situation?
It is important to use your time to be of service to others. If you don’t, you may find that you feel trapped and unfulfilled in your life. When we don’t do service we get stuck with ourselves and we become our worst obstacle because only think about ourselves and lose sight of everything that is not “me”. When we think of others, though, we’re in a more “fluid” mood.
REMEMBER: When we think of ourselves, we feel trapped and unfulfilled. Thinking of others is the key to health and well-being because there’s inner freedom in doing so (the “me” is out of the way). Also, giving is joyful… but only if it’s a giving that comes from the heart. If you’re not feeling it, fake it til you make it. It will work 🙂
Self-Improvement
Along with each one of the sections, there is also a section for self-improvement. How well do you know yourself? Are you keeping up your physical, mental and spiritual fitness? Do you have any self-improvement goals to work towards? What are they?
Many people spend their time working on physical health but they forget to invest time in some of the most important areas of well-being: developing an understanding and a good relationship with their own inner self.
NOTE: It’s not always easy to improve ourselves, but it’s very rewarding in the end. I try to keep pushing myself just a little bit more each day. I don’t always succeed. But I do try. And that is enough.
It is important for us to learn about ourselves and how we process the world around us. There is a lot that we can do in order to cultivate our own internal happiness.
Compassion and Connection
If you are not compassionate, you will not be able to connect with others on a deeper (and healthier) level.
Compassion stems from the notion that “we are all the same” (at our core). No matter who you are or where you live, we have the same emotions, an inner voice that speaks to us and a desire to be happy.
However, it is also important to remember that we are very different. Only by respecting these differences can we learn to truly respect each other and support one another.
When you are compassionate, it means that you understand what it is like to be the other. You understand where they are coming from and you care about them because of this. Being compassionate means that you are open to the world instead of being fearful or judgemental.
NOTE: I have noticed that as I get older, it’s a lot easier for me to connect with others on a deeper level. This means that I’m a lot more compassionate since I don’t see people as being different to me. I also think that as we get older, we start to realise that there are some similarities in everyone. I think this is one of the reasons why I connect more with others. I also don’t demand others to be this or this other way. I accept others for who they are and this is a very important step in order to establish good relationships.
NOTE: It is also important for us to be mindful of the way we connect with people.
How Well Did You Do?
It is not easy to transform our lives but making an effort is important. I accept that change is a constant process.
Every day, when we wake up, we have the choice of doing something that keeps us rooted in the same old way of choosing something new (a different way).
When we simply decide (on a daily basis) to do something new and different, then change will happen in our life.
If you found this article interesting and you think others might find it helpful too, please consider commenting and/or recommending it on your favourite social media site. If you do, thank you!
Thank You
Thank you for reading this article! I hope that it was helpful to you and that it will bring about change in your life.
If you have any questions or any additions that you’d like to make, please feel free to comment below and I will do my best to answer your question.
