Wellbeing has become a fixture of workplace conversations and wellness industry trends. It is a term used so frequently that it risks losing its meaning altogether. What the last few years have done, for many people, is strip away the noise and prompt a genuine reckoning with what wellbeing actually means in practice.
For most of us, life before 2020 was relentless. Long hours, packed social schedules, constant movement. We were busy by default rather than by design. When that came to a sudden halt, it created both difficulty and, for those willing to look closely, an unexpected opportunity to reassess.
What lockdown revealed about how I was working
Being forced to slow down is not the same as choosing to. The distinction matters.
I was fortunate to continue working from home throughout the pandemic, which gave me a degree of normality others did not have. Even so, I found myself filling the time previously spent commuting with more meetings. The saved hours went straight back into work rather than into anything that genuinely served my wellbeing.
It felt productive. It was familiar. In a period of significant uncertainty, work was the thing I knew how to do well, so I leaned into it. Looking back, obsessing over one area of life at the expense of others is not sustainable, however secure it feels in the short term.
Being busy with work felt secure. Obsessing over one area of life at the expense of others is not good for overall wellbeing.
The four pillars of wellbeing
Genuine wellbeing is not one thing. It is the result of four areas working together.
The four main factors that contribute to overall wellbeing are:
- Physical wellbeing
- Emotional wellbeing
- Financial wellbeing
- Social wellbeing
Neglecting any one of these tends to weaken the others. Financial wellbeing in particular is often underestimated. Building multiple income streams is not simply a financial strategy. For many people it removes a source of persistent background anxiety that quietly erodes physical and emotional health as well.
Before the pandemic I was a committed gym-goer and worked regularly with my personal trainer. During the first lockdown I sustained an injury that forced me to stop. It was only then that I understood how much consistent physical activity had been underpinning my mood, focus and energy. The absence made the value visible.
What actually changed: the habits I kept
Small, consistent habits done regularly outperform occasional grand gestures every time.
A daily walk, whether around Llandaff or further afield at weekends, has become one of the most reliable tools in my routine. It is simple. It costs nothing. Returning to my desk afterwards I am genuinely more focused than I was before I left. That is not a cliché. It is a pattern I have tested repeatedly.
Scheduled wellbeing sessions have also made a real difference. When something is in the diary it becomes a commitment rather than an option. Yoga, mindfulness sessions, anything structured that is easy to access shifts from feeling like a distraction from work to feeling like preparation for it. If I am in good shape physically and emotionally, everything else I do benefits.
I now see wellbeing sessions not as pausing work to do something for myself, but as an investment in everything else I do.
Taking control: one practical starting point
Consistency is the mechanism. Small daily goals, written down and reviewed, are how consistency becomes a habit.
The approach I would suggest is straightforward. Set yourself one small daily wellbeing goal. Write it down. At the end of each day, reflect on whether you completed it. It could be a walk, a podcast, ten minutes away from a screen. The specifics matter less than the act of committing to something concrete.
After a week of following through, notice how you feel during that reflection time. Progress becomes its own motivation. The gap between where you started and where you are is what sustains the habit through the days when it feels difficult.
Investing in your own wellbeing is not a luxury. It is the foundation everything else is built on.
Frequently asked questions
How do I make time for wellbeing when I am already stretched?
Start by looking at where time is already being spent rather than trying to find extra hours. Commuting time, meeting time that could be an email, the first thirty minutes of an evening: small pockets exist in most schedules. One deliberate choice made consistently will do more than an ambitious plan that never gets started.
Is financial wellbeing really connected to physical and emotional health?
Directly. Financial stress is one of the most common underlying causes of poor sleep, strained relationships and reduced concentration. Building a secondary income source or developing multiple income streams does not just improve your finances. It removes a source of chronic anxiety that was affecting other areas of your life without you necessarily realising it.
What if I start a wellbeing habit and then miss a day?
Miss one day, not two. The habit is not broken by a single gap. It is broken by deciding the gap means you have failed. Reflect on what caused the interruption, adjust if needed, then continue. Consistency over months matters far more than a perfect unbroken streak.
How does my employer's commitment to wellbeing affect my own responsibility for it?
Employer support matters and it is right to expect it. It does not, however, substitute for your own investment in yourself. The people who make the most sustained progress on their wellbeing treat it as a personal responsibility first, with employer support as a useful addition rather than the primary driver.
Keep climbing,
