5 quick questions to boost your wellbeing

Do you often pause at the words “delicious 4 ingredient recipe” or “healthy and quick meal”?  I love the idea that we can do something that’s good for us in a quick and simple way, and when we find a quick recipe that works we tend to repeat it often don’t we.

So, how about a straightforward recipe to boost your wellbeing?  Stay with me and I promise this won’t take long – it’s just 5 quick questions to stir up your positive emotions.

1. What’s the best thing you heard today?

Did you have a great chat with a colleague or listen to an interesting or funny podcast? It could have been your child laughing or the sound of the kettle boiling in a quiet house which gave you a feeling of fabulous serenity.

2. What was the best thing you saw today?

We see so much in a day that you may need a moment to sort through your memories.  Look out for flashes of beauty that inspired you, or information that you found particularly interesting.  Recently after days of internet issues I saw the lights come back up on the modem!  I felt joy, gratitude and a bit of pride that I’d finally sorted out the problem!

3. What was the best thing someone did for you?

This is your chance to focus on feeling gratitude!  Gratitude encourages us to savour the good things in our life and regular expression of gratitude has been shown to improve mental and physical health over time.  For an extra boost of kindness and joy, you could let the person you’re grateful to know that their action meant a lot.

4. What was the best thing you did for someone?

Now the spotlight is back on you!  Every day we automatically care for those around us and perhaps don’t realise we’re making a true difference.  Please remember that even the simple act of chatting to your child at bedtime means a lot to them and is worth noticing when you take stock of your day.

5. What can I improve on tomorrow?

This final question is all about feeling hope!  It’s a reminder that you can choose what to focus on. If something didn’t happen quite as you would have preferred today, you can plan to try a different option tomorrow.  I’m resolving to pick my battles with my kids and to try to leave home 10 minutes early when I suspect parking is going to be tricky.  How about you?

How does this help?

Extensive research in the area of positive emotions show that regularly experiencing feelings of love, joy, interest, gratitude, pride, amusement, awe, hope, serenity and inspiration leads to greater positivity and increased wellbeing. We all have the capacity for these emotions but it’s up to us to notice them and pay attention to them.

I hope you’ll give these 5 questions a try to help you to detect positive moments in your day and treasure them!

About Kate

Kate Wilkie has a Masters in Applied Science (Coaching Psychology) from the University of Sydney, and her particular coaching interest is in working with women to increase well-being, boost resilience and guide positive action.

Evidence from the science of Positive Psychology shows that boosting overall well-being can help women to increase their resilience to stress and help to avoid depression and anxiety. This can be particularly important in the early years of motherhood and as their children become more independent.

Over the past twenty years Kate has worked and consulted across a range of industries and different sized businesses in the public, private and not for profit sectors. This varied experience has given Kate a strong understanding of, and clear perspective on, the challenges and opportunities that each individual and organisation faces.

FlexCareers offers a free 30-minute introductory meeting with our FlexCoaches, to help you establish if coaching is right for you.  You can contact Kate through FlexCareers here, and you can find out more about their practice, Flourishing Mothers, here.