By: Clay Routledge
Published: September 29, 2022

Wellbeing is big business. Americans spend billions of dollars per year on wellbeing-related products, services, and experiences. The Global Wellness Institute estimates the value of the global wellbeing economy to be close to $5 trillion. And it is projected to keep growing. The worldwide growth of this industry is a result of human progress and flourishing. More spas, fitness centers, green smoothies, yoga classes, meditation retreats, mindfulness apps, self-help books, and workplace wellness programs means there are fewer people struggling to meet their basic survival needs.

However, the way our society currently conceptualizes wellbeing and seeks to maximize it may ultimately be a barrier to human progress and flourishing. People tend to view wellbeing as more inward-focused than outward-focused, more about feelings than action, and more about today than the future. To have positive wellbeing is to feel good about one’s own life right now.

I propose that wellbeing can’t be fully captured by how one feels about their own life at any single point in time. And it is not as simple as the current presence of pleasant psychological states and absence of unpleasant ones. A more holistic conception of wellbeing would include a broader appreciation of human potential and functioning that involves the actions people take to positively impact the world outside of the self, even when such actions cause some personal distress. A more holistic conception of wellbeing would also include future-oriented goal striving that often involves enduring negative psychological and physical states right now to achieve a meaningful goal at a later date.

Read the complete article here: https://profectusmag.com/toward-a-holistic-view-of-wellbeing-outward-future-and-action-oriented/