Mental Fitness: The Big Four
What are the ‘Big Four’ of Mental Fitness?
Today we are going to look at what I call ‘The Big Four’ elements of Mental Fitness. These are our take what it really means to be fit and well based on our years of research. Here they are:
- Self Care
- Self Organisation
- Self Development
- People Skills
I believe that all four are important if you want to be at your best. Real Clear works with people like you, who are socially minded and work in organisations that are trying to make the world a better place. What I find is that many of the people I work with are great at their people skills. They go over and above for others. What some sacrifice, is their self-care.
This isn’t always the case, but I wonder if you can relate.
Here’s my take on what these four elements mean:
Self Care. This is often the element of Mental Fitness that the people I work with score the lowest in. In a nutshell, our questionnaire asks people to consider what they do to look after themselves, physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Self Organisation. Taking care of ourselves by, say, getting an early night or eating a healthy meal, isn’t enough on its own. Another key to success is being organised. This means focusing on the right things, managing time well, and being creative to come up with new ideas. Some people I work with are great at this element of Mental Fitness, others struggle.
Self Development. This element refers to how purposeful your life feels. If you’re taking good care of yourself and are well organised, but there’s nothing that’s motivating you, you still won’t be at your best. Research is increasingly showing that living a life of meaning is good for our mental health (as long as it’s balanced out with the other elements of Mental Fitness!)
People Skills. Relationships are the single most important things in most people’s lives. Being able to be authentically ‘us’, to communicate well and to have empathy for others and good social skills is vital.
There you have it, the Big Four. I wonder which one you think is your greatest strength and which one you’d most like to give more attention to. In the next few posts, we’ll look in more depth at some skills you can develop to boost your self-care.
Here are some coaching questions to get you thinking:
- How well do you take care of yourself?
- How organised are you?
- How motivated and determined are you?
- How well do you interact with others?
