How To Do a Wellness Self-Assessment: 8 Key Areas

By Jasmine Clark, Live Well Enhance You Contributing Writer

“Wellness” is a word that pops up in blog posts, product descriptions, social media content, and many other places… but it’s rarely defined. Since August is National Wellness Month, today I’m exploring the question: What does “wellness” really mean?

The word is an umbrella term, so it covers several different categories. There are widely understood to be 8 dimensions of wellness: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, environmental, spiritual, vocational, and financial. Read about each of these below and think about your current state of wellness in each area.

Physical wellness

This is the #1 thing people think of when they think of wellness. Being physically well results from exercising regularly, eating a nutritious diet, getting enough sleep, and going to the doctor and dentist for regular checkups.

When you’re physically unwell, you usually know it. You may have fatigue, headaches, digestive issues, skin problems, insomnia, the list goes on. But it’s not always the case that you know when you’re physically unwell – there could be problems lurking underneath the surface. That’s why having those checkups is a must. 

Emotional wellness

Emotional wellness has to do with your mental health. Being emotionally well doesn’t mean being happy all the time; it’s about feeling a wide range of emotions, expressing your emotions in a healthy way, and developing a more positive mindset. We all go through difficult things sometimes, but with strong emotional wellness, we can handle life’s problems with resilience and optimism.

There are many ways you can be emotionally unwell, and these kinds of problems can be hard to define. You may be going through something that makes you feel a mix of negative emotions all at once. To make things worse, you may be hesitant to express your negative emotions to others, burying them under the cover of “I’m fine.” Improving your emotional wellness isn’t easy – but it is possible.

Social wellness

Connecting with other people is one of the most rewarding parts of life. Your social wellness is in a good place if you have close bonds with people such as family, friends, and romantic partners. Social wellness also includes having effective listening and communication skills, as well as the ability to get along with people of different backgrounds and viewpoints.

Some signs that your social wellness isn’t where it should be are that you often feel lonely and isolated, you find yourself easily getting into conflicts with others, you tend to assume the worst motivations in people, or you try to hide your feelings because you fear being judged by others.

Intellectual wellness

Having strong intellectual wellness means you feel confident in your ability to think clearly and understand the world around you. You like thinking of ideas, problem-solving, developing new skills, and learning new things that expand your mind. You’re informed about current events and important issues in society.

A lack of intellectual wellness can look like being afraid to try to learn new skills because you have a fear of failure. You may have bad memories of incidents where you tried to learn something new or come up with a creative idea and it didn’t go well, so you’re afraid to try again. In addition, having poor intellectual wellness can look like being apathetic and unwilling to learn about current events.

Environmental wellness

Environmental wellness involves caring about your own environment as well as caring about the earth. When it comes to your own environment, wellness looks like living and working in clean, pleasant spaces that you feel comfortable in. When it comes to the earth, you’re conscious of how you’re using the planet’s resources and you try to reduce any negative impacts you’re having on the environment.

What does it look like when you’re environmentally unwell? Maybe your living space or workplace isn’t clean, or it’s too noisy, or it lacks ergonomic design. Something about the space you’re in is uncomfortable and needs improvement. As for the planet, being environmentally unwell would mean you aren’t aware of your environmental impact and aren’t taking steps to live a more sustainable life.

Spiritual wellness

Spiritual wellness has to do with reflecting on deep questions in life and connecting with something bigger than yourself. It’s about discovering the meaning of your life and your place in the universe. Healthy spiritual wellness means having a solid understanding of your beliefs and values. This could involve practicing a religion or doing other things to connect with yourself and the world on a deep level.

If you’re unsure how to clearly define your beliefs and values, or you’re confused and frustrated about the purpose of your life, you may need guidance with your spiritual wellness. Having a poor sense of spiritual wellness can make you feel disoriented and lost in the world, searching for meaning and purpose.

Vocational wellness

Whether you’re an employee, business owner, or student, your vocational wellness is important. Vocational wellness means you’re generally satisfied with the work you’re doing and you feel like your work matters. You’re proud of yourself for trying your best and producing quality work. That said, another key part of vocational wellness is having work-life balance.

Feeling boredom, frustration, or anxiety about work/school is a major sign your vocational wellness isn’t in the best place. Maybe you’re not in a job or course of study you genuinely like, and you feel stuck. Another warning sign you’re not well in this area is that you barely have free time because you’re working too much.

Financial wellness

Financial wellness means being rich and living in a mansion, right? Not quite. It means you feel in control of your money and you know how to make wise, informed decisions about managing money. You also have a healthy view of money and know that the amount of money you make doesn’t define you.

If you’re not financially well, you probably feel like your financial situation is out of your control and it’s a constant struggle. Another sign you’re financially unwell is if you’re afraid to look at your bank account statements, bills, and other financial documents. One more sign of being financially unwell is compulsive spending/impulse buying.

How to improve your wellness

Now that you’ve assessed yourself, you can take steps to improve your wellness. Instead of trying to improve all eight areas at the same time, determine the top three areas you feel you need to focus on the most, or even just one. Then you can start creating a plan to make changes.

Making lasting changes to improve your wellness takes time. There are five stages of change: precontemplation (you have no intention of changing), contemplation (you know you have a problem but aren’t sure what to do), preparation (you’ve figured out what to do and are preparing to make changes soon), action (you’re actively changing your behavior), and maintenance (your situation has improved and you don’t want to undo your progress). Which stage are you in, in regards to the different areas of wellness?

To have better wellness, make commitments to yourself and be patient as you move toward improvement. You may want to talk with a therapist or another trusted professional who can help. Keep in mind, you’ll have ups and downs in your wellness journey, and that’s okay! Prioritizing your wellness – whatever that looks like for you – is the best thing you can do to get more meaning and enjoyment out of life.

Jasmine Clark is a freelance writer from North Carolina. She enjoys writing about topics such as stress relief and positive thinking. She likes to encourage others to find ways to calm down and relax. In her spare time, she loves to write fiction stories and watch TV and YouTube. You can find her on Instagram @cozysachi.