The 7 Pillars of Wellness

Tenant WellnessEmployee WellnessResources

Apr 13

Pfizer defines wellness as “the act of practicing healthy habits on a daily basis to attain better physical and mental health outcomes.” A pretty good starting point.

Generally, wellness is a multi-dimensional and layered concept that seeks to tap into people's potential to thrive in all facets of their life.

If you are a business exploring a wellness offering, some questions worth asking are:

How does your firm define wellness?
Does wellness connect with your company's overall strategy?
What wellness categories or pillars are a priority for your top management?
Is wellness part of your firm's values, vision, and mission?

When it comes to business operations, wellness refers to the programs and policies that allow an individual to flourish and realize their full potential in all aspects of their life. More than just basic health insurance coverage, a good wellness program is comprehensive and holistic. Not just for big corporations, these programs are increasingly critical for businesses of all sizes.

The Importance of Wellness

Wellness impacts many areas of daily life and the workplace environment. The pressures of the modern workplace are more intense, perhaps, than ever before, and a focus on wellness can help mitigate that. Attending to your wellbeing can yield both professional and personal benefits.

As such, employers who offer wellness programs improve the overall wellbeing and health of their workers. The result is happier, more productive employees, which means better employee retention, lower health care costs, and less unplanned leave.

There are many elements of wellness to consider, and each of them is important to healthy work-life balance.

The Dimensions of Wellness

1. Occupational Wellness

Occupational Wellness is focusing on work responsibilities that bring you a sense of accomplishment, joy, and satisfaction. It is achievable by successful management of workplace stressors and exploration of different career pathways. You can improve your occupational wellness by:

Creating time to attend networking events or refresh your skills
Prioritizing work/life balance to avoid burnout
Maximizing productivity over the long-term by establishing good workplace habits

2. Emotional Wellness

Your behaviors, thoughts, and feelings inform your emotional wellness, which allows you to recognize and embrace both positive and negative feelings. That will include adapting to difficult situations, stress, and changes in life. Improving your emotional wellness is possible by:

Adopting positive coping approaches to manage stress, like meditation
Cultivating a growth mindset wherever possible (concept coined by Carol Dweck. We highly recommend the book ‘Mindset: The New Psychology of Success’)
Ensuring you get enough rest and practice good sleep hygiene

3. Financial Wellness

Learning how best to manage your finances should be part of your priorities, which is financial wellness. A full picture of your financial wellness factors in investments, savings, expenses, and expenditures. You need to know your income sources and how you spend, save, and invest your money. You can improve your financial wellness by:

Setting up separate savings accounts and automatically contributing
Ensuring that you’re saving toward retirement
Taking small steps to improve your credit score and reduce your debt

4. Physical Wellness

Physical wellness doesn’t require an intense training regimen or a severe diet. You can see substantial benefit from some small, simple changes. Regular walks, meatless Mondays, and even just drinking more water can make a difference. Below are some of the ways you can improve your physical wellness:

Swap unhealthy snacks for fruits or raw veggies
Use a step tracker to try to get 10,000 steps a day
Joining a group exercise class (in-person or virtual) to get accountability, community and physical movement in one experience

5. Intellectual Wellness

Mentally stimulating activities challenge your overall knowledge and skill sets. Taking part in intellectually stimulating activities promotes intellectual wellness, which means remaining open to new things and committing to lifetime learning. Some of the ways you can improve your intellectual wellness include:

Enrolling in a continuing education program
Joining a book club or discussion group
Starting a daily routine of foreign language learning

6. Social Wellness

The ability to maintain strong relationships and connect with others is what constitutes social wellness. You can achieve that by becoming comfortable with who you are in social environments and surrounding yourself with positive individuals. Some of the ways you can improve social wellness include:

Reaching out to friends, family, or coworkers
Exercising or sharing a meal with others
Prioritizing social time when available

7. Spiritual Wellness

Spirituality is defined as the traditions and values by which people live. This helps give a sense of purpose and meaning, which tends to guide actions. Many people develop this pillar with or other means of fostering connection to one’s purpose. Similar to social wellness, spiritual wellness helps develop resiliency when obstacles arise. Some of the ways you can improve spiritual wellness include:

Spending time in nature
Quiet reflection and introspection
Meditation
Physical movement that helps clear the mind