Wellbeing Wizard

Wellbeing - we are what we do	free login
	Our wellbeing is affected by 3 things: Our Genes Our Circumstances The Things We Do  Wellbeing wizard helps you identify which things will do most for your wellbeing

Studies of twins reveal three factors contribute different amounts to how happy and content we feel:

Our Genes - about 50%
Some people are naturally happier than others. Our genes account for about half our happiness - how happy we are compared to other people and how readily our natural level of happiness tends to shift.

Our Circumstances - about 10%
The circumstances of some people's lives are happier than others. Overall, about 10% of the happiness we experience is due to our environment - the time, place and situation we are born into and what's going on around us.

What We Do - about 40%
While genes and events are largely outside our control, the things we choose to do ourselves also have a considerable effect. About 40% of our wellbeing is directly down to us and our own choices, decisions and actions.

Which Ways Lead To Wellbeing?

But what is happiness except the simple harmony
between a man and the life he leads?
Albert Camus

So what can we do? What sorts of choices, decisions and actions are likely to enhance our sense of wellbeing?

Greek philosophers identified 2 possible paths to wellbeing - hedonism & the pursuit of maximum pleasure & minimum pain (Aristippus) and eudaimonia,being true to our nature and pursuing activities that make the most of our potential (Aristotle, who thought pleasure was for wimps).

More recent approaches to wellbeing have identified at least six broad paths we can take:

• Pleasure and enjoyment – having some fun
• Relationships and interaction – doing things and being with other people
• Growth and development – using your natural strengths and talents
• Meaning and purpose – achieving things that are meaningful to us
• Value and contribution – to something outside ourselves
• Refreshment and renewal – changing things and the way we look at them

And along each of these paths there is an enormous variety of things we can do - activities, approaches and experiences which can enhance our sense of wellbeing in one way or another. The key is creating a personal prescription, a balanced blend of activities and experiences that provide us with what we need and promotes our wellbeing.

Creating a Personal Prescription

The aim of wellbeing wizard is to sort the wheat from the chaff, to help people find the activities and mix of experiences that will do the most for their wellbeing. It works like this:

At the end you get to see how your wellbeing levels compare, one area of your life with another and with other people's.  You can also see in which areas, if any, there are enhancements or adjustments you might wish to make.

Discover: A List of Suggested Activities
Second, a prescription - your results will include a list of suggested activities & experiences, based on the ones that have done most for the wellbeing of people with similar scores to yours.

Try: Personal Wellbeing Plan
Thirdly, a plan - you can prioritise and rate the activities according to your personal preferences - which ones you'd like to try, which ones you wouldn't and the effect they have on your wellbeing.  You can use this life list to record and refresh your experiences - as new activities and ratings are added your results are automatically updated with the latest scores and suggestions.

We are what we do
There are three things that affect our sense of wellbeing: our genes, our environment and the things we choose to do & don't do.  The choices and decisions we consciously make and the automatic habits we get into can significantly effect our wellbeing, for better or for worse.

Our questionnaires and suggestions help you explore your wellbeing, review your choices and discover activities and experiences that could work well for you. 

You can access the questionnaires via the Free Login 

We hope you enjoyed this article and the rest of the site

Best Wishes
Mark

Related Items 
More about the Questionnaires  More about the Activities

References
PsyBlog: Sustainable Happiness: Why it's all about the day to day.
This article describes some of the research into the relationship between activities and wellbeing, including why the activities we choose have around four times more effect on our wellbeing than the situations we're in.

Daniel Gilbert: Stumbling On Happiness
This book explores why we sometimes make rather poor decisions about our own wellbeing, including our tendency to 'miswant' and make inaccurate predictions about what will and won't make us happy.

Read

Write

Subscribe