Wellness is an active process through which people become aware of, and make choices toward, a more successful existence. It is a choice to assume responsibility for the quality of your life, continually stretch your boundaries, and make your life, and the lives of those you touch, truly exceptional.
Mindfully focusing on wellness in our lives builds resilience and enables us to thrive amidst life’s challenges. Ultimately, wellness is a hands-on, get-down-to-business approach to being the best you can possibly be.
The hallmarks of intellectual wellness include openness to new ideas, a capacity to question and think critically, and the motivation to master new skills. Intellectual wellness has nothing to do with IQ or street smarts. Rather, it is about a strong sense of humour, creativity, willingness to experiment and try new things, and curiosity.
Actions to try:
- Start or participate in a book discussion club
- Attend a training seminar, speaker series, or educational presentation.
- Perform a “Google” or “Yahoo” internet search on a topic that you’ve always wanted to know more about. Find out what you can in 60 minutes.
- Use your local library’s learning resources.
- Attend a cultural, theatre, or sporting event.
- Rent a video about a meaningful human-interest topic.
- Spend 30 minutes reading about something you have never read before (e.g. read a section of newspaper that you normally skip).
- Challenge a colleague or friend to a discussion on a topic from local or world events.
Learn More
For more information about resilience and personal development the following resources may be helpful.
- Building Resilience. HealthLinkBC. https://www.healthlinkbc.ca/health-topics/abk9962
- The Road to Resilience. American Psychological Society. https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/road-resilience.aspx
- How To Build Your Resilience. Psychology Today. https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/how-be-yourself/201709/how-build-your-resilience
- Resilience in Children: Strategies to Strengthen Your Kids. Psycom. https://www.psycom.net/build-resilience-children
- Building Resilience. Psych Central. https://psychcentral.com/lib/building-resilience/
- Overcoming adversity by building resilience. TED Talks (Carol Taylor). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nag7az4-vEo
- Eight Secrets of Success. TED Talks (Richard St. John). https://www.ted.com/talks/richard_st_john_s_8_secrets_of_success_success)