I wrote a whole book about the eight dimensions of wellness. It’s called The Whole Life, and I meant every word of it. So when it came time to rate my own life across all eight, I figured I’d hold my own. I know the material, and I could walk you through every dimension without notes. Then I gave myself a 2 in Social, and I sat there staring at that number for a long time.
What I Tried
On October 15, I sat down and gave each of the eight dimensions a score from 1 to 10. A 1 meant I’d basically ignored it, and a 10 meant I was living it most days. The hard part was one word in the assignment I gave myself: honestly. I wasn’t rating what I know about each dimension, because I know plenty. I was rating what I actually do. To keep myself in line, I used the same question every time: if someone watched my last two weeks, what score would they give me? I worked through it as a back-and-forth with a sounding board that kept asking follow-up questions, and that turned out to matter more than I expected.
What Happened
Physical set the tone. I spend most days sitting at my desk. /left and right rotator cuff injuries has me sleeping in a recliner, and my eating is irregular enough that it probably drains me more than it fuels me. I gave it a 4, and I couldn’t argue my way any higher. It’s the kind of score that’s easy to explain away, which is exactly why I didn’t want to.
Mental got a 6, but not without a snag. I said I constantly have troubling things on my mind, and in the same breath said I don’t carry much stress. When that got pointed back at me, I had to admit those two don’t sit together easily. The pressure I carry isn’t random worry. It’s tied to one thing: getting my work off the ground and finding people who think like I do. When it builds, I either procrastinate or take my motorcycle out for a ride, and only one of those actually clears my head.
Intellectual came in at a 4. I am learning, sometimes because I want to and sometimes because the work demands it. I read, I explore ideas, and I try things that stretch how I think. The problem is practice. I’m still disorganized and figuring a lot of things out, so I rarely get the space to practice what I learn. Learning without practice turned out to be its own kind of low score.
Social was the 2. I couldn’t remember the last time I spent time with friends or family where I was fully present and not half-thinking about work. I used to believe I had people to call when things got hard, and when I looked closely, I didn’t. It would be easy to blame the work for that. The honest version is that I made myself a loner.
Spiritual was more complicated than a number. I’m religious, but not practicing. I pray, I reflect, and my quiet time happens on my motorcycle. I don’t feel like my sense of purpose is buried under the work, because the work itself feels like part of the purpose. I gave it a 6.
Environmental got a 4. My space is cluttered and draining, and I’m working on a plan to fix that, but I rated where it stands today, not where the plan will take it. I do get outside, mostly to the park where I record my videos. Strangely, that cluttered space still pushes me to do my best work. I’m still figuring out what to make of that.
Financial got a 5, and I’ll put it plainly: if broke was a mountain, I’d be on top of it. My income is fixed right now, and outside of operating expenses, I don’t have many money worries. I know where my money goes each month, and it doesn’t keep me up at night. But it’s month to month, without much of a cushion. Steady and broke, it turns out, can live in the same house.
That leaves Occupational, which ended up teaching me the most.
What I Learned
My first answer for Occupational was an 8. My work uses my real skills, it feels worth doing, and I could keep this pace for years. Then I said the quiet part out loud: my work has more or less taken over everything. My other scores showed the bill for that, with Social at 2, Physical at 4, and a mind running in work mode from morning to night. I had also admitted the 8 was there because I believed growth would come in time. I was rating a hope, not my life today, so I moved it to a 5.
That slip is the biggest thing I learned. When you rate yourself, the future sneaks in through the side door. You score where you’re headed, or what you know, or what you mean to do, and none of those are the same as what you did over the last two weeks. I wrote a book about these eight dimensions, and I still scored a 2 in one of them. Knowing the material didn’t protect me. If anything, it made it easier to feel further along than I am.
The second thing I noticed was my motorcycle. It showed up twice, once as my mental reset and once as my quiet time. One habit has been quietly holding up two parts of my life. I hadn’t noticed how much weight that ride carries until I saw it written down.
What I’m Trying Next
Here’s where I stand, lowest to highest: Social 2, Physical 4, Intellectual 4, Environmental 4, Occupational 5, Financial 5, Mental 6, and Spiritual 6. My lowest score becomes the first dimension I practice, so Social goes first. Then I hit a three-way tie at 4. I put Physical next, because it’s the one I feel is most at risk, with Intellectual and Environmental behind it. If you try this and hit your own tie, ask which one you can least afford to keep ignoring.
Over the next couple of weeks, I’m practicing Social on purpose. I’m not promising a big turnaround from a 2. I’m promising to report what I actually did and how it felt, even if it’s small. I saved these scores with the date, because in April I’ll rate all eight again and put the two lists side by side. That comparison will show whether practice moved anything, or whether I just got better at explaining my scores.
If you want to try this, start with one dimension. Pick the one you know the most about, then ask what someone watching your last two weeks would score you. You don’t have to share the number with anyone. Does it match what you know, or what you actually do?
R.L. Canty │ Good Time To Shine
