HAWA Curriculum: Physical and Community Wellbeing

Have you completed one or more consultations with our HAWA Health Care Team? It’s a great way to review your current health conditions, goals and test results with someone who can support your goal setting and achievement. The HAWA Health Care Team can work with you to create a plan of action and educate you along your journey. They will also cheer you on to victory as you make positive health improvements through your healthy lifestyle choices. They are there to talk through and help guide you in your career, social, financial, physical and community wellbeing too. This week we are focused specifically on your Physical and Community Wellbeing.

The book we have been discussing this month in HAWA U, Wellbeing by Tom Rath and Jim Harter, suggests that 20 minutes of exercise boosts our mood for a day; no meds needed, no social drinking, no extravagant vacation, just 20 minutes of exercise. Does that sound almost too easy? It’s true! Sleep also plays a role, along with eating properly and regular exercise. The authors state, “getting a good night’s sleep is like hitting the reset button. We all need a fresh start and we get one each day! Make the most of yours by getting a restful night’s sleep. It is recommended to get 8 hours. How many are you getting on average? I’m out like a light the moment my head hits the pillow until the alarm goes off. It wasn’t always like that. I used to be overweight; obese actually. That extra weight played a considerable role in causing sleep apnea. I woke up throughout the night and woke everyone else up with my snoring. With significant weight loss over the last few years, I sleep soundly without any snoring. I feel like a new person! I needed no advanced medication to cure my sleep apnea, just weight loss. The next book we’ll be introducing in November, The Prediabetes Diet Plan, by Hillary Wright, discusses topics like weight loss being the #1 key lifestyle change within your control to reduce your risk of:

• Hypertension
• High LDL Cholesterol, low HDL cholesterol, high levels levels of triglycerides in the blood
• Type 2 diabetes
• Heart disease
• Stroke
• Gallbladder problems
• Arthritis
• Sleep apnea and respiratory problems
• Some cancers

No one wakes up one morning saying, I want to have a chronic health condition. I know, I certainly didn’t; but there was a day that I did wake up with obesity, high blood pressure, pain and inflammation, pre-diabetes and a benign tumor condition throughout my body. After being completely healthy most of my life, these were unfamiliar waters I was wading into and I needed to get to higher ground fast! For me, my weight loss journey eliminated all my chronic health conditions and returned me to a state of low risk, based on my normal BMI, low blood pressure and preventative labs all in the healthy range. My physical wellbeing has improved and returned to the state I was in 15-20 years ago. It was worth all the effort to lose the weight. It is life saving and enhancing to quality of life. Research shows, “there are 1.5 billion people who are not doing what they want to do today because of physical pain,” state the authors of Wellbeing. Imagine that. I spoke to a member today to whom we had suggested reducing her intake of sugar to reduce her inflammation, that would then reduce her chronic pain. Guess what? She did it, and it worked! No meds, no surgery, just reducing processed sugar intake and increasing consumption of anti-inflammatory foods. Is that the magic solution for the 1.5 billion suffering in pain? Perhaps it may be for many, certainly not all, but research shows that decreasing processed sugar consumption shows a decrease in inflammatory markers in your blood. No magic really, just a cause and effect reality. 

The authors suggest three recommendations for boosting physical wellbeing:

1. Get at least 20 minutes of physical activity each day.
2. Sleep enough to feel well rested.
3. Load up on natural foods that are red, green and blue in color.

Lastly, we look at Community Wellbeing. The authors focus on three recommendations for boosting community wellbeing:

1. Identify how you can contribute to your community based on your personal mission.
2. Tell people about your passions and interests so they can connect you with relevant groups and causes.
3. Opt in to a community group or event.

Contributions could be as little as mentoring a student or helping an aging adult in your community. It could be as large as donating time weekly, volunteering for a charity or outreach effort. Start small and raise your involvement over time, but enjoy the journey!

Thank you for spending this month reviewing the book, Wellbeing by Tom Rath and Jim Harter. They have done their research and we can all benefit from everything we have learned together this month. Feel free to email me with any additional questions or responses to what you learned or with personal success stories, at support@hawahealth.com.

HAWA Curriculum: Financial Wellbeing

Have you downloaded the HAWA Engage App yet? Did you know the App has daily challenges built around the Five Essential Elements of Wellbeing, which are based on Tom Rath and Jim Harter’s well-known book, Wellbeing?

Several of the daily challenges are targeted toward Financial Wellbeing. Many people wonder, does money buy happiness? Can wellbeing be bought? We look at these two questions and more in today’s lesson on Financial Wellbeing.

Three research studies discussed in the book found that spending money on yourself does not bring you as much happiness as spending money on others. I also tend to agree with this from my own personal experiences. But what about “Retail Therapy,”? Does that bring us greater wellbeing? Actually the authors state, “a bad mood could lead to a cascade of poor financial decisions.” Your homework this week is to ask yourself, “Do I spend the most when I’m feeling the worst?” If your answer is yes, you are not alone. Most of us are overspending when we feel emotionally down and stressed.

Are you someone who values experiences over buying things? Karen, my friend from college, loves taking exotic trips. It turns out, people who value experiences over material purchases have healthier wellbeing. Karen is boosting her spirits for the long term. As she looks back on pictures and recalls memories from her trips, it has a continual positive impact on her wellbeing. No wonder Karen always has a smile on her face!

The authors Tom and Jim have three recommendations for you to consider to improve your Financial Wellbeing:

1. Buy experiences vs material things
2. Spend on others instead of solely on material things
3. Establish default systems (auto payments) that can lessen daily worry about money

Next week we will wrap up this book by discussing Physical Wellbeing and Community Wellbeing; two more areas to learn about to achieve your best wellbeing throughout the rest of your life! Thank you for taking great care of yourself by being continuous learners and working with the HAWA Care Team for ongoing education and support. You are amazing!

HAWA Curriculum: Social Wellbeing

Tom Rath and Jim Harter made sure to include Social Wellbeing as one of the five essential elements of wellbeing. Last week we focused on Career Wellbeing, I’m hoping you did your homework and asked yourself that one important question. This week we have a new question. Ask yourself, “When you think back to the best moments of your life, were you alone or with other people?” In this section of the book, we learn that a Harvard study determined that our wellbeing is dependent upon our entire network. If you have direct contact with someone with high wellbeing it will dramatically increase your chances of being happy. It turns out, happiness may be contagious. I suspect depression and anxiety might be as well.

On page 36 we learn that our social circles have a direct impact on our weight as well. If you have an obese friend, it increases your chances by 57% of becoming obese as well. Could the same be true of active and fit friends increasing your chances of becoming active and fit? The people around us; family, friends, co-workers and our community, help shape our thoughts and feelings. Your social circle impacts nutritional and fitness choices, what we do on the weekend and how we handle positive and negative situations.

On page 37 the authors state that friendships are good for our physiological health. They go on to point out that “relationships serve as a buffer during tough times, which in turn improves our cardiovascular functioning and decreases stress levels.” The opposite is also true of those that live without close relationships. They are at greater risk for illness and disease.

Pages 43 and 44 discuss the essentials of Social Wellbeing. “People with thriving Social Wellbeing have several close relationships that help them achieve, enjoy life and be healthy.” Does that describe you? If it does, great! You are a health champion to everyone you are connected to. If it doesn’t, what steps can you consider taking to increase your Social Wellbeing?

The authors recommend three things:

1. Spend 6 hours a day socializing with friends, family, and colleagues (this includes work, home, phone, email, and other communication).
2. Strengthen the mutual connections in your network.
3. Mix social time with physical activity.

Social Wellbeing is interesting to learn about, but applying what we learned will take some thought and consideration. Ask yourself, am I social enough during the week? Am I setting a good example with the choices I make, knowing my social connections may be impacted by my decisions? Are there trends among my family and friends? What changes am I willing to make? These are all thought-provoking questions that can lead to positive changes personally and within your social circle.

HAWA Curriculum: Career Wellbeing

Wellbeing: The Five Essential Elements by Tom Rath and Jim Harter, begins by looking at Career Wellbeing. As the CEO of HAWA Health, I thought this would be a great place to begin our curriculum today, which we are basing off this thought provoking book.

Your assignment today is to ask yourself, “Do I like what I do?”

Research shows, only 20% of us do! Yikes, what does that mean? In some cases, you may be living out your life’s passion and thriving in the career wellbeing area. This is great news, because we spend most of our day doing something focused on a career. Your career could be as a stay at home mom or dad or the career of a student, volunteer or retiree. Or, like many, you will be spending 40+ hours a week at a conventional job. In each case, to achieve career wellbeing we need to find what we do that is fulfilling and meaningful to us.

You do not need to earn a paycheck to achieve career wellbeing. Some volunteers feel more fulfilled than those of us with a conventional job. However, you do need to be doing something you enjoy. Having said that, it doesn’t need to be an easy job; challenges are often very fulfilling and rewarding. A disengaged person that is not thriving in the career wellbeing area, may be bored or unchallenged. They may be isolated, needing to leverage the larger team for support. They may feel stress due to being over worked for too continuous of a time period. The great news is, in each of these cases, the individual can identify what is causing them to be disengaged and work on a plan to re-engage by taking proactive steps with the employer or organization they volunteer for, or in some cases have a meeting with friends or family.

Step 1 – identify reasons you are disengaged

Step 2 – discuss reasons with those who can help support you in making healthy changes that will re-engage you

Step 3 – track your progress as you make those healthy changes

The goal is to enjoy your weekdays as much as your weekends! On page 23 of the book, it states, “boosting career wellbeing may reduce the risk of anxiety and depression.” On page 24 it goes on to say, “as workers become more engaged, their physical health can improve in parallel. Lastly, on page 29, the authors identify 3 recommendations for boosting career wellbeing:

1. Every day, use your strengths.
2. Identify someone with a shared mission who encourages your growth. Spend more time with this person.
3. Opt into more social time with the people and teams you enjoy being around at work.

For me, writing this curriculum for all of you serves as a great reminder of what I personally need to focus on for myself and my employees. For you, this may be the first time you are ever thinking about your career wellbeing. In any case, I encourage you to think about it today. Answer the assignment question and work through the three steps. Then consider following the authors’ three recommendations to achieve a thriving career wellbeing.

Have a great day!

Wellbeing by Tom Rath and Jim Harter

What is Well Being? Tom Rath and Jim Harter used leading research to identify five essential elements.

1. Career Wellbeing
2. Social Wellbeing
3. Financial Wellbeing
4. Physical Wellbeing
5. Community Wellbeing

Gallup scientist have been researching all five elements and teamed up with experts to look at each element as it relates to you and I, where we live and how each impacts our health. This is not a new book, but it continues to dominate discussions around wellbeing and our overall health.

Recently HAWA Health released the HAWA Engage App and we deliberately added challenges in the app that apply to these 5 essential elements. We want to get you thinking about each element and even score yourself through this months curriculum on wellbeing. Are you thriving, struggling or suffering with any of the 5 elements?

Each week this month, return to HAWA U to learn more about this exciting topic, as we review the book, Well Being, by Tom Rath and Jim Harter. I’ll be adding in my insights and observations as well, as the Founder and CEO of HAWA Health, I invite you to learn and grow this month and explore your personal wellbeing.