Well-Being is the idea that we focus on new or improved healthy life practices which will help us with a more mindful and positive life.
In her course, The Science of Well-Being, professor Dr. Laurie Santos shares that we often want the wrong things in life due to the misconceptions of our minds. Dr. Santos calls these misconceptions "annoying features" of our minds. Annoying features of the mind are what tell our students that they will only be happy if they have the best grade in class. Annoying features of the mind are what tell us that we will only be happy if our job is perfect. Dr. Santos states that working on healthy practices to improve well-being increases intrinsic motivation which will create better wanting and help us have a more mindful outlook.
To help start our journey to better wanting, I want to share what Dr. Santos has labeled as "rewirements" or ways to change our brains way of thinking about life and our well-being. If you are interested she has an app called ReWi that will help you track your well-being progress.
Lets dive into the well-being that will help us and our students.
Well-Being
*Gratitude & Gratitude Visits
*Savoring (a focused gratitude)
*Kindness
*Social Connection
*Exercise
*Sleep
*Mediation (Mindfulness)
*Utilizing Signatures Strengths
*Goals (WOOP)
As we embark on a this new school year I want to walk us through our well-being. Over the summer, when I took Dr. Santos's course we were required to weekly put into practice these rewirements. I would like to challenge you to also take one or two a week and set a goal to put these into practice.
An easy well-being rewirement to start implementing into your daily life is, gratitude.
Gratitude has been studied over and over and it has been found to have a profound and lasting effect on well-being.
Emmons & McCullough 2010 found that those who take time to write out 5 things they are grateful for each had better well-being. These participants were able to see life as a whole better, view their upcoming week better, have fewer negative physical symptoms, and do more things which are better for their lives, such as exercising and hour more a day.
Seligman et. al. 2005 took gratitude to the next level and extended that gratitude toward others. If you included a person on your gratitude list, you were then asked to complete a gratitude visit. This visit could be in the form of a note, letter, card, or in person telling someone you are thankful for them. This study discovered that after one gratitude visit participants saw an increase in positive well-being for up to three months.
Grant & Gino 2010 found that a simple gratitude statement to someone at work increased work effort. Those who feel appreciated at work are more likely to work harder, do more work, and have an overall better outlook on work; even without an extrinsic reward (such as increased pay).
So what does this all mean for us and our students? It means that we can help our students feel better about coming to school and wearing a mask, working on online at home, maintaining social distancing, and increase their desire to work on at their studies. We can teach our students to daily write out five things they are grateful for and once a week complete a gratitude visit.
We ourselves can feel better about virtual teaching, wearing a mask, maintaining social distancing, and coming to school daily; by simply remembering our daily gratitude list. We can also increase our well-being by making sure to complete a weekly gratitude visit.
My challenge to us all is to take this next week and start a daily gratitude list. At the end of the week of gratitude look over your gratitude list and find one person for whom you can write a positive note, letter or card to and then give it to them. Also take time to thank someone for their effort and hard work.
The more we put in the effort to increase our well-being and be more grateful the easier it will be to introduce and encourage our students to do the same.
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