The Wellness – Success Relationship

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Wellness - Whether a passing fad or the next revolution, it sure is catching on. But it seems to mean different things to different people. Most people think that Wellness is good health. But is it physical health or mental health or both? I would like to submit to you that Wellness is a way of life in which you learn to use tools such as fitness, yoga and meditation to attain physical, mental and spiritual health. I can hear you say “Ok, I understand that health is essential for success but I don’t see any obvious connection between the two”.

Let me explain the delicate connection between welllness and success with the “Success Pyramid” shown in figure 1. Physical health is the basic prerequisite for success. If you are not fit, your mind will also be sluggish and you can’t be agile. Beyond this, mental health is more important for success.

First and foremost, mental health requires inner peace. Once you obtain inner peace, you also need freedom from bondages and constraints. This is because of the fact that only when you learn to think freely, you discover new choices in life that you never even dreamt of before. You can say this is similar to “out of the box” thinking or creativity. When you breakaway from your constraints, you will be able to start a process of deep introspection and analyze your life. Now you will understand what your values are. Values are the principles that you would uphold in your life even at the cost of death. You may say, everyone understands their values as they grow up. While this is true, more often, the understanding of values is superficial. When you introspect more, you come to a totally new level of understanding about yourself and values can even change in this process or over time. Once you are clear on your values, you understand what is the purpose of your life. Without purpose, there is no success.

Success magazine’s 2006 poll on success in business revealed that 60% of respondents felt that it is all about adding value to the lives of other people and only less than 20% felt that it is about making money. In fact, achieving balance, happiness and fulfillment in life is success in itself! Most motivational speakers state that the difference between successful people and others is often purpose. If you derive your goals by connecting them with your purpose, you are way ahead of others and your journey is bound to be successful.