The last dimension of wellness that we will cover in this series is occupational wellness. Occupational wellness is “the ability to achieve a balance between work and leisure time, address workplace stress, and build relationships with co-workers. It focuses on your search for a calling and involves exploring various career options and finding where you fit in.”
Life is about balance. It is about finding your happy medium. Living your best life involves finding a career that gives you a sense of purpose and pride, managing your finances in such a way that you don’t feel constantly stressed or anxious about money, having the financial means to take care of your physical health, and earning a living that allows you to live the life that you want to live.
This balance is not something that is just given to you. You must find it. The path to obtaining this dimension of wellness isn’t necessarily a straightforward path, at least for some; and that is completely fine. Part of achieving occupational wellness might include “exploring various career options and finding where you fit in.”
Life is about making mistakes and then learning from those mistakes. Life is about taking risks and following your heart and your intuition. The majority of us have to work and will have to work for a significant portion of our lives. To settle for a job that doesn’t allow you to create a balance between work and leisure and that doesn’t award you with a feeling of accomplishment and fulfillment the majority of the time is a mistake that far too many people make.
Occupational wellness greatly affects your physical, emotional, and intellectual wellness, which in turn affects all the other remaining dimensions of your wellness. In order to achieve occupational wellness, self-reflection is vital. You must ask yourself questions like:
Do I enjoy the work that I do most days?
Do I feel that the workload I am responsible for is manageable?
Do I feel that I am able to communicate openly and honestly with my co-workers and superiors when problems arise, or I need help with something?
Do I feel that the work that I do is valued?
Do I have time where I am completely free from work and can enjoy the things that I love to do with the people whom I love to be with?
We are solely responsible for all dimensions of our wellness. It is important to develop a relationship with ourselves that is honest, positive, and communicative. The deeper the sense of awareness that we develop within ourselves, the easier it will become to recognize and address issues or faults in our personal holistic wellness plan. We must learn to listen to ourselves and do what is best for the sake of our wellness, including our occupational wellness.