The Well-Being Star
Well-being is a term that we use to determine the quality of our life. It includes not only wealth and employment, but also our environment, physical and mental health, education, recreation and leisure time, and social belonging. When you think about your own well-being, what comes to your mind? Is it happiness, health, money, love, or positive emotions? How do you measure your well-being?
There is no one definition of what well-being means but there are models that can help us understand how we are doing in life. One of the models that I find to be simple and comprehensive is The Well-Being Star, which was created in neurotransforming (1). This model can be described using this formula:
Well-being = Effectiveness + Happiness
You overall well-being consists of your effectiveness combined with your happiness. Effectiveness means that you are able to produce desired results in business, finance, relationships, and other areas of your life. Happiness means that you are satisfied with what you already have. Being effective does not mean being happy just like being happy does not mean being effective. You can be effective and unhappy, and you can be happy but not effective. Effectiveness is a necessary component of well-being, whereas happiness is a sufficient part of well-being.
The Well-being Star consists of five major parts of life that include
- Health
Physical Health – when this part of your health does not bother you.
Psychological Health – when your thoughts and emotions are balanced.
Spiritual Health – when you have purpose in your life and know why you wake up in the morning.
- Love and Sex
- Work
- Finance
- Relationships
Download PDF version of The Well-Being Star.
Take a look at The Well-Being Star and rate each part of your life on a scale of 1-10 where 1 = very bad and 10 = excellent. The areas of your life, which are less than 7 can be improved and areas, which are less than 5 require immediate attention.
The main idea in this model of well-being is to achieve balance in all areas of your life. If you are not successful in any one area of your life this means that overall you are not successful.
The Well-Being Star is based on the principle from-inside-out, which means that everything that was created by people in this world, first originated inside the mind in a form of idea, vision, plan, or thoughts, and only then things materialized into existence. Thus, most of what you have and don’t have in life is a reflection of your own thoughts.
If a person does not know what a computer is, not only will he not buy the computer, but he may not even recognize it in the store. Everything that you have in your life is a reflection of what you have in your mind, and if something in your life is missing then it is probably missing in your mind.
One of the main principles in neurotransforming (1) is the law of actualization, which states that your thoughts become your reality. If health, wealth, and success are not included in your thoughts then they will not become part your reality. Why do the rich get richer and the poor get poorer? Because rich people occupy their mind all day long with how to get richer whereas poor people occupy their mind with how not to get poor.
What determines your well-being?
Your well-being consist of mental maps and programs that tell you how to interact with these maps. The foundation of your mental maps and programs are acquired during childhood and are fine-tuned during the rest of your life (1).
- Mental maps consist of four major maps about yourself, other people, the world, and God.
- Mental programs determine how your interact with your mental maps.
What is the next step?
The first step you should take is to use The Well-Being Star and determine your level of well-being in each area of your life. Once you identify the areas of your life which have the lowest score, answer these questions:
- What do I have and don’t want to have? (Your problems).
- What don’t I have and want to have? (Your desired goals).
- What do I have and want to have? (Your resources).
- What don’t I have and don’t want to have? (Your fears).
Once you have a better understanding about what areas of your life require attention, you can take the next step and start making positive changes in your life.