WB - Living Well Today
Getting Started
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Making changes - or deciding if we want to make changes because we want to feel better, do better at work, be better husbands/fathers/wives/mothers - doesn't happen because we wish for it. It doesn't happen because we want it or make a New Year's Resolution. It happens when we own it and work it.
STEP 1 - Find out more - is this anxiety? depression? stress? all three?
STEP 2 - Identify what you're most concerned about - what you want to work on 1st
STEP 3 - Start where you are - need motivation, need help making a plan, need ideas to keep your plan working
STEP 4 - Get support - sign-up
Step 1 - Find out more - is this stress, anxiety, depression? all three?
Depression Self-assessment - 9 simple questions
Anxiety Self-assessment - 7 simple questions
Step 2- pick a topic YOU'RE most concerned about.
What are YOU concerned about? You might have a lot of things you think you 'should' do something about but what's at the top of your list, the one you think is important for you to deal with first?
Anger and Irritability
Getting angry more often? Not able to calm down as easily?
Want to understand why it's happening?
Need ideas on how to manage it?
Is it interfering in your relationships? work? daily life?
Worry and anxiety
Is your mind always busy thinking about things in the future - what might go wrong? or what you need to do? or going over things that already happened - analyzing them, giving your self a hard time about what happened? Does it interfere with getting things done now? Is it hard to shut off? Some worry is normal - the challenge is when it starts to consume your time, keeps you awake at night.
Feeling sad, no energy, hopeless
Not having energy, being slow/sleepy can be due to physical conditions and can be part of depression. Other signs of depression include being more irritable & quick to anger, loss of interest in your usual fun things/hobbies, isolating from others, feeling sad, feeling alone.
Sleep - too much or too little
Sleep - the right amounts for you - are key to feeling healthy and living well. You may wondering what's the right amount for you. Are you sleeping all the time? Too little? Is your sleep broken up - waking up in the night? Falling asleep at work, while driving, other times?
Weight and Eating
What we eat and being overweight are a major topic of concern. But eating too little or binge eating can also be a concern and harmful to health and well being.
Stress - how to handle it better
"Stress" is a normal part of life - it can be good stress - that keeps us on track, doing our best, like 'stage fright' before a talk. It can be negative - drains our energy and distracts us. It can also be too much, overwhelming us. Find out how to tell the difference and how to do better managing it - so it doesn't manage you.
Physical Activity
Being active in the day affects our health in alot of ways. It improves mental heatlh - alertness, cuts down on anxiety, depression. Refreshes us. But - we may sit alot for our jobs. We may not have every been active and don't know what we'd be willing to do - or how to get started.
Impact on family / friends
Are you concerned about how your health - mental and physical is affecting your family and your relationships? Are you isolating more? Pushing them away? Are you having disagreements than in the past? Have they said anything? Are they concerned?
Missing work
We may not think our health is so bad - but others may notice or we notice we're missing work more often. We may be having more acute problems, like a cold or flu, or we 'just don't feel up to it today'. This could be due to physical health problems, being depressed and/or overwhelmed by stress. At any rate - it can be a warning sign that our life is not in the best of balance and needs attention.
Step 3 - Start where you are today
See which one of these fits where you are today about your top concern.
I think things are ok - but others say different
Do any of these sound familiar?
- "I'm only here because my family thinks I have a problem."
"I don't want anyone butting into my affairs - my life!"
"It isn't causing me any problems."
- “I have this under control. I don’t need any help.”
- "I don’t see a problem with my mood. My doctor is concerned – thinks I need to get treatment. This is how I've been all my life.”
Why should I do anything for it?
Things could be better - but I'm not sure I'm ready to change yet
Does any of this sound familiar?
- “I’m not sure that changing my eating will make that much difference with my mood and relationships with my family.”
- “I know my daughter is concerned about my health, that I’m going to have a heart attack or something but my doctor hasn't said anything. She always worries.”
- “I can see how getting my stress under better control might help me not miss so much time at work but I really can’t see myself making a lot of changes.
- "I don't see any problem with my eating. My doctor's concerned - thinks I need to lose weight or I could get diabetes but I've been this size all my life. Same for my family."
- “I could see a doctor about medications but I'm not going to see a counselor or get therapy.”
I get it - I'm working on a plan to get started.
Have you decided you need to make some changes? Wondering where to start? Looking for information and ideas? Preparing to make changes? Set a date to start in the future, e.g. next month, after sister's wedding next month?
- “Now that I’ve decided to do something about my diabetes, I’m not sure where to start”
- “I’d be willing to be more active but I can’t afford a gym membership and I hate exercise bikes. Are there other things I could do? ”
- “I want to take my medications but the doctor's schedule doesn't fit with my work schedule. How do I talk with the doctor to get a schedule that works for my life? ”
Now's the time to prepare - get ready.
- Research - gather information about what you'll need to do to make changes.
- Pick you topic, set some short and long range goals.
- Get things set up so you'll be a success when you kick your plan into action, identify possible challenges and figure out how to get around them.
I'm taking action & making changes now - could use more tips/ideas
Already set goals? Have action steps planned out?
- “I feel good about my progress. ”
- “I think my plan is working right now but I'd like more information about balancing my food better. ”
- “I’ve cut down a lot on carbs and volume at home. But we went out for a fish fry last Friday and we had a football party Sunday, it was really tough. It was hard to not join in the eating frenzy and beer drinking."
Made my goal. My plan is working - need to keep it up
- "I met my goals last week but this week isn't going too well. Any ideas?"
- I'm on-the-road - I'm a little discouraged. It's pretty easy to quit trying to eat healthy or exercise. Need more ideas and support.
Got sidetracked
I got sidetracked. Need to restart - pick up where I left off.