8 Factors That Influence Overall Health & Wellbeing
Living a healthier life can get easier by prioritizing factors that influence overall health and wellness. The following article identifies where you can make small, positive changes to enhance your wellbeing. It’s important to state that the key is to focus on what you can control while letting go of what you can’t.
In all areas of our lives, there are things that we can control and things that are out of our control. Below are three factors out of our control and five within our control. The goal isn’t to change all areas of your life at once. That typically leads to overwhelm and frustration. Instead, start with one or two that seem attainable.
Three Factors out of our Control
Genetics
People tend to blame genetics a bit too much. Using it as an excuse as to why they “can’t” do something such as lose weight because obesity runs in their family. The reality is that only 20 percent of your health is up to genetics (aka out of your control). That means that the other 80 percent is your habits, current lifestyle, perspective, outlook, etc (the things you can control).
You can improve this area of your life by making the right changes and taking appropriate steps that suit YOU. Aim to walk more each day or drink more water or even perform breathing exercises. Take some time to experiment and try different things. You’ll start to notice what feels right and with consistency, notice a profound impact.
Age
This is clearly something you cannot control. As we get older, the balance and levels of our hormones change. There are reasons for this that correlate with the time of your life such as a woman entering menopause. Our bodies know when we need to eat more or less depending on our hormone levels.
What you can control here, however, is your diet, caloric intake, habits and lifestyle. Maybe you start to notice that certain foods are causing inflammation or you’re holding a bit more weight. Take notice of how you feel after meals. Tweak what you’re currently eating to meet your body where it’s at as a place to start.
Gender
Gender is very similar to age in that men and women have different amounts of certain hormones. This is something to keep in mind when comparing one’s health to someone of the opposite sex. For example, men have higher levels of testosterone which aids in building muscle.
Tune into your body and how you feel. Don’t worry about what others are doing or what they’re capable of. Do what makes you and your body feel good.
Five Factors in our Control
Stress
There are two types of stress – eustress (the good kind) and distress (the bad kind). Eustress stress tends to be internal and intentional such as working out. When you’re working out, you are stressing the muscles and body for benefit. Distress is usually associated with external factors such as work. This could be working a job that leaves you feeling unfulfilled or working in a poor environment.
Sometimes stress can seem like it’s out of our control. To take the reins, think about your life as a whole and find your pain points. What can you do to make them better? Where can you add or subtract elements to take stress away? Examples include:
If you dislike your job, try meditating before walking into your office or starting your work day
If you can’t stand grocery shopping, reward yourself for going by buying yourself flowers or a tasty treat
Change gyms if your current one lacks equipment you need to progress
Nutrition
This is such an obvious one that falls under our control. You are the one that chooses what you consume daily. Again, assess your eating habits and take inventory of what’s negatively affecting you. Do you tend to snack too much or eat a lot of fast food? Overindulge? Lack adequate fiber intake?
Set small goals for yourself that are easy and attainable such as limiting the number of snacks you eat daily or only eating out once a week. Where can you make tiny improvements that overtime turn into automatic habits and therefore, better your lifestyle? Sit down, write out your pain points and think of a positive counterpart.
Social Environment
This may be the trickiest one. Who you surround yourself with plays a major role in your mental health, mood, habits and ultimately, lifestyle. There’s this idea that you become who you surround yourself by. So if you hang out with a group of four powerlifters, you’ll most likely become the fifth.
Aim to bring people into your life that lift you up and cheer you on. Those who are positive, encouraging and give you energy. Find those who embody the life you wish to live and start living like them. Use them as mentors and a compass for how you should improve your lifestyle.
Financial Situation
Most believe that one’s financial situation can have a vast effect on their health and overall wellbeing. Meaning the more money someone has, the more access to healthcare, healthier foods, resources, etc they will have. This isn’t exactly true.
We don’t need much to live a healthy, more physically active life. Improve your lifestyle and make it work within your budget. There are plenty of healthy habits that can be incorporated into your daily routine at no cost including: walking, hiking, drinking more water, meditating, journaling, stretching and more.
Takeaways
There have been two main themes throughout this post. The first being to start small. Attempting to implement too many changes at once often leads to failure. As mentioned before, choose one or two changes that will be attainable. Once those become engrained, try adding another.
The second theme has been to do what you can. Control what you can and let go of what you can’t. By consistently focusing on the elements you can influence, you’ll start to notice massive changes to your overall health and wellness. Start today and your future self will be thankful.