Self improvement is the reason people are increasingly moving towards the wellness philosophy. Self improvement involves the intent to make ones life better in one or more ways. The same goes with wellness. But the main difference between the two terms is that wellness is a more defined philosophy, whereas self improvement is a very general term to use. So I will discuss wellness so you can get a handle on self improvement and integrate it into your life.
For the purposes of this discussion, when I say wellness, you may want to think self improvement if that makes it easier for you. The major foundation of wellness is self responsibility. We are by and large responsible for creating our world. So aside from unforeseen and genetic circumstances, our world is the result of actions or inactions by us for our entire lives, for better and for worse.
There are those who would argue that even genetic traits and unfortunate circumstances of birth are of our own making, and that they are either carryovers (Karma) from our past lives and/or that we have asked to be born in a particular way or under a particular set of circumstances. But that discussion is best had on another day. Suffice it to say that if I do not like something about my life, I need to take responsibility for it and change it.
Wellness can best be seen on a scale, a wellness scale. On one extreme of the scale is disease and death, and on the other extreme, wellness, health, Nirvana, perfection or some other ideal that we strive towards. We are somewhere on the wellness scale in every aspect of our lives and are either moving towards disease and death or towards health and perfection.
While on this earth, we will never reach Nirvana or perfection, but it is something to strive towards. Unfortunately, we will all die, but the journey between birth and death is largely of our own making.
Another aspect of wellness is that every aspect of our lives can be measured on the wellness scale. Any aspect of your life, including love, finance, exercise, stress, career, assertiveness, etc., can be measured on this scale.
The good news and bad news is that when you move up or down in any aspect of your lifestyle, other aspects of your lifestyle are either pulled up or pushed down as well. For instance, if you start exercising regularly, chances are that you will also take a look at and improve your diet and nutrition. And since exercise makes you think more clearly, you will probably be able to look at other aspects of your lifestyle and move towards wellness in those areas as well.
There are also byproducts of improving in one area of your life. If we look at the exercise example, you would experience a reduction is your stress levels, improve your immune system, become more confident, and a host of other positive side effects.
On the other hand, if you develop a drinking habit, then your career, love life, relationships with others, health and other aspects of your lifestyle will probably suffer and move down the wellness scale towards disease and death.
So the name of the game in self improvement is to take responsibility for your life, diagnose and evaluate your lifestyle and choose the most effective way to improve your life in the most common sense order for you. But the main point is to do something. Anything! And to any degree. Just improve something, in some area of your life, to some degree, to start to move towards wellness, and you will see a magnificent ripple effect in all aspects of your lifestyle eventually. Good luck!
