Final Project

I.                    Introduction

As a Health and Wellness professional I feel that it is my goal to impact the lives of everyone I meet. By making the choice to get into the health industry it mean that you care about your own well being and want to help others with their wellbeing. If you are in the health industry but did not care about your own psychological, spiritual and physical health you won’t be able to impact other people’s lives. By continuing to develop it will ensure that you are knowledgeable about what you are preaching. I need to develop more spiritually in order to help others that way I want to. Getting weight loss advice from someone who is overweight just doesn’t make sense. Being able to say you walked in the shoes of the person you are trying to help will give you credibility and help you build trust, and that is why it is important to develop psychologically, spiritually and physically as a health and wellness professional.

II.                 Assessment

“My body is my temple”. When it comes to assessing my own health I am critical of myself because I feel that in life you can constantly make changes and better yourself. When I look at myself and compare myself to the rest of the world I would say that I rate very well in all aspects of health. My physical well being is excellent. I workout 5-6 days per week and I do various exercises including running, biking, weight lifting and yoga. I eat a well balanced nutritious diet and I make my health a priority. I also feel that I have a strong healthy mind and that my psychological health is great. I am confident, strong, and independent. I handle stress well and I turn every situation good or bad into the most positive thing I can. If I had to work on one area of my wellness it would be my spiritual health. I have good intentions but life is busy and I have more things to do than hours in the day. When I graduate from school I plan to become a mentor for a child. This will help me with my spiritual health. I realize the importance of meditation but need to take the time to actually do it. I do believe in God and although going to mass once per week is hard for me because of my schedule I need to make time to pray everyday before bed. I recently lost a close relative to Leukemia and it opened my eyes to how important spirituality is. If I was more in touch with my spiritual health it would be easier to cope with death instead of allowing it to be my biggest fear.

III.               Goal Development

Thomas Jefferson said “nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude

from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude”. I love this quote because it is so true. Learning about the mind body connection makes me realize the importance of mental health. Ever wonder why some people are unhappy and say things never go there way? That is because they have a negative attitude. While we all have bad days and sometimes our mental state of stress can get the best of us, it is important to stay positive everyday no matter what you encounter. I am grateful for everything I have in life and my attitude shows it. A goal I have for my Psychological health is to control my life so that it is calmer. I can handle stress well but I take on more than I can handle and it often leads me to chaos going on in my mind. I will try to not take on more tasks than I can handle.

            My physical health is excellent, almost too good. Being that I make my physical health such a priority I tend to push off other really important things in my life like family and friends. I want to continue to have great physical health but I want to make time for other activities in my life. If I skip the gym one day I feel extremely guilty and I don’t think that is normal.

            Spiritual health is something that I need to work on. I have more than one goal for spiritual health. I want to be a mentor when I graduate from Kaplan and I also want to meditate and pray more often. Dying is one of my biggest fears. Death is inevitable so why fear it? Getting in touch with my spiritual side by praying and meditating will help me get over my fear of dying.

IV.              Practices for personal health

As we all know, practice makes perfect. In order to maintain a fit body and

And healthy mind you have to be willing to work at it. By creating a life style to incorporate healthy choices you will be practicing without even realizing it. To foster growth with my physical health while reaching my goal of not isolating myself from my friends and family I will ask my family and friends to join me for a kick boxing class, running club or other group activity. This will ensure I get my daily exercise without feeling guilty and I will be able to spend quality time with my loved ones. Another thing I can do to foster growth with my physical health is teach a fitness class or be a running coach. This will allow me to meet new people which will create change, as well as strengthen my social skills.

            To foster growth with my spiritual health I will say a prayer every morning and every evening. There are some prayers that my grandpa gave me. He was very religious and saying the prayers not only connects me with my spiritual health but connects me with my dead grandpa who I adored. I find comfort when I think of my grandparents and that is the only thing that takes away my fear of death. This will help me grow and accomplish my spiritual goal. Another thing I will do to create growth with my spiritual health is to practice forgiveness. I say I forgive people but deep down I am still angry and I hold grudges a lot. I find myself sometimes getting very angry about a past situation and it affects the future of my relationships. I need to learn to forgive and let the situation go. I will create a mantra and whenever I am thinking of that past situation I will say that mantra until the anger goes away and I truly forgive the person. I love hanging quotes around my house and I also like to write a quote on the top of my planner everyday. Buddha said “Holding onto anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one getting burned.” I will continue to remind myself of this and allow it to help me find true forgiveness and move on!

            Psychological health is important to me because I feel that if you have a strong mind you can accomplish anything! When you believe in yourself anything is possible and you do not let others affect you. To help with my mental health I will continue to take part in hobbies that I love to do. Running for me is an outlet. No matter what mood I am in, after I run I feel on top of this world. I can head out for a run and take any emotion I have out on the pavement while meditating at the same time. I make progress on myself while running because it is my meditation time. By living a good healthy life I create good mental health. I exercise and eat healthy which helps me feel good about myself. Having high self esteem gives me a strong mind. Friends and family are the best support anyone can have. It is important to be a good friend and keep good friends. I will rid myself of the negative people in my life and give unconditional love to the good people in my life. Having close friends are great when you are feeling down and need a boost of confidence or someone to listen to you.

V.                 Commitment

I am going to start keeping a diary. Writing is also good for mental health and

This is where I can look back and see how far I have come. If I start doing something and it is not benefiting me I will stop doing it. I will continue to do the things that are working and are allowing me to flourish. I will ask for support from my family and friends and ask them to tell me if I am being too extreme with working. I love to read and by continuing to educate myself this will provide long term success and motivation to keep living a healthy lifestyle in all aspects.