Let's kick this off with a bold statement.
Living in a vibrant, healthy manner is the ultimate hope of humankind. Maybe you don't think that is a bold statement, but then why is there such evidence to the contrary? Yeah. Every day people work hard to make their lives better. Yet it overwhelmingly feels like we live in a world plagued with disease, poverty, war, and political strife.
Don't believe me. Just flip on the news and scroll social media. Our journey begins with a simple question, what is true vitality?
Have you ever awoken from a dream and had a profound feeling wash over you? Like something important just happened? You had some epiphany or an idea that was monumentous. Well, a few months ago I had a lucid dream where I awoke from a refreshing night of sleep and started to dance around the room.
As I got ready for my day, my husband was lying in bed, staring at me like I was a little bit crazy, but I just smiled and hummed to myself as I continued along. And then I actually woke up. Instead of running for the coffee machine, I laid, still pondering the stream. What struck me as profound was the reaction that I projected onto my husband. Was it that I thought dancing around the room was silly? No, I, I love dancing and truly see it as an expression of joy.
Was it some hidden and unconscious, deep-seated issue? I was burying from my childhood again, no. I concluded that it was simply a constant lack of quality sleep and the general void of joy I experience in waking up each day. It isn't like I wake up feeling dread or anything super negative, but I thought, how wonderful would it be if I felt like dancing and humming every morning? I admit that my morning routine has changed for the better.
Over the past few years, but I still haven't broken down and replaced all of that not so healthy habits I created in my life. Of course, dancing and humming may not be your definition of joy or wellness, and that is absolutely perfect
In my opinion every human is unique and gifted in their own way. But we do need to get clarity and a common understanding of what is wellness, what is vitality. Everyone has a different perspective, and without explaining what we mean, we automatically assume that we are talking about the same thing.
Listen to the sentiments that we captured at the 2023 Women's Wellness Festival in Jacksonville Beach, Florida.
Wellness means that your body is very adaptable and that it can handle really hard times in your life
Getting consciously connected to be able to serve your needs in the now.
Being able to find your intercalm and staying grounded and center to yourself.
I think wellness really should replace sick care.
I like to think of wellness as, the big picture, right? Because you can eat healthy and exercise and do all the things, but at the end of the day, if you're sad or upset or you got something else going on, then how healthy can you really be?
Vitality, I feel like is synonymous with being young and healthy and vibrant. I think that playing and staying active and staying young is a big part of that.
I don't know if any of those definitions resonated with you or if you've even ever thought about what wellness is beyond your health and the consumer products and services that can support you on that journey.
I decided to look up some fun data to see how we view wellness in terms of consumer spending and sentiment. According to a wellness survey entitled Future of Wellness. By Market Splash, more than 50% of wellness spending by American consumers is allocated to products and services that improve their appearance, fitness, nutrition, and mindfulness. In that order, But yet consumers stated that enhanced overall wellbeing was their number one priority, and that they felt barraged with information from wellness companies that were conflicting and maybe even misleading. Since this is a Wellness Trend podcast, we will be talking about ways you can invest your time, energy, and money to enhance your overall wellbeing.
I'll be linking research and data in my show notes for your reference, but before we dive head first, Language is important. I wanna explain what vitality means to me and why I decided to become a vitality investor.
When it comes to health and wellbeing, I believe the word vitality is interchangeable with holistic wellness. Vitality to me means having the energy, strength, and enthusiasm for life that enables you to take on anything in your day-to-day life with confidence. It's a state of feeling strong and alive and appreciative of life.
You're aware of the small wonders that surround you. It connects you with purpose and paves your way to attaining success, at least your idea. Success, no matter how big or small.
And while vitality starts with you, the individual. I believe strong vitality in individuals eventually spreads professionally and civically. Evolving us as a society for the greater good. So during this season of investing in vitality, I'm gonna talk about trends, research, and statistics that shape self-transformation in the pursuit of this definition of vitality.
I started researching the wellness industry in 2017 while leading a strategic risk capability for a large private company in the United States. According to the research published by the Global Wellness Institute. This industry is projected to continue growing to $7 trillion by 2025.
That's an annual growth rate of almost 10% since the pandemic. What fascinated me with trend analysis was not only the potential to imagine a trend forward future, but also the opportunity to gain insights into how ingrained social norms and values impact our decision making. Ever since I was young, I have been drawn to different cultures from music and food to history and anthropology
As an adult, this curiosity and passion for learning was reinforced by living in different cities across the United States and traveling abroad. These life experiences gave me an appreciation of how our collective beliefs shape our behaviors and decisions. I've come to recognize that what we perceive as normal today could look completely different tomorrow, and this is not just dependent on external factors, such as advances in technology, economic conditions, and government regulations, but in how we both. Become aware and internally process those new things in the way that ultimately leads us to action.
We've all been taught conventional wisdom from a young age, whether it be by our parents or teachers, our church, this wisdom is ingrained in us and shapes the way we make decisions and live our lives. Conventional wisdom dictates that if you work hard, then you will get ahead.
That health comes from eating right and exercising, and that to feel fulfilled, one must work tirelessly to achieve their goals. Although this. Type of wisdom has stood the test of time. It's important to remember that everyone is different and that conventional wisdom is not a one size fits all solution.
This brings me to security and quality of life and our expectation of a quality standard of living. We make a lot of decisions based off those perceptions from whether to pursue higher education, the career we choose to our living arrangements.
We also need to understand how our environment influences our reality and personal decision making.
I was doing a little research and I pulled up country rankings on World Data Info. As of September, 2023, the United States is ranked 27th with an overall grade of 67% for the quality of life. Now if we were in school that averages to a high D.
Now I know this isn't quite fair for me to talk about this data as a grade.
There isn't a bell curve to this data, but it does paint a picture that we have a ton of room to improve. The United States considering both income and costs is the 17th most. Expensive country to live in. Not to mention we ranked 44th in average life expectancy, which is 73.5 years for men and 79.3 years for women. Maybe these statistics reflect how our work ethic and the need to earn a living can be so prevalent in our culture.
Who's to say, for my purposes, statistics only show averages amongst populations. Since I do not know any average humans, I'm not convinced that this data has significant influence on our wellbeing, but it can provide some context. My goal with this podcast is to not convince you of a solution to your problem or to sell you on the latest trend or fashion because I don't know you.
Our backgrounds, families, belief systems, values, et cetera, are different. What I do plan to discuss are the trends and topics that I find interesting on my pursuit of wellbeing. I'll share statistics and research with the hopes that it sparks inspiration for you. What I ask from you in return is to listen with an open mind and to do your own research.
If something interests you, we must take into account our individual needs when making choices about how best to live life and cultivate vitality.
Ultimately, the key is to find balance between conventional wisdom and individual needs so that you can live life with energy and enthusiasm. What that answer is for you, I don't know. Heck, I'm always questioning that myself. One thing I do know is life is a journey. A journey of exploration and continuous learning.
We can make progress by taking informed actions. We can learn from our mistakes and experiences, and each time we try something new it has the potential to lead us closer to our true purpose. I hope you have a supportive community because I believe that that's an essential part of this journey.
And having a network of positive like-minded individuals can provide us with encouragement when times get tough and accountability when we need it. So this season of investing in vitality will be exploring how we make decisions and how our ego gets in the way.
I'll be tackling different trends, some that are shiny new and others that have been around for centuries and that are becoming more and more popular. What I hope you'll take away from this podcast is that the goal should not be to find what is new, what is right, what is wrong, prescribe some solution to a particular problem.
It's to be to become aware of things that you never knew about and to ask yourself openly what if, what, then what now? If through this discovery process you walk away with one or two nuggets of insight that leads to real life positive changes, then we have. Accomplished our mission because change comes from embracing uncertainty and taking risks.
Only you have the power to decide how you wanna show up in the world, and if you aren't hitting that mark, you have the power to redirect and make new decisions and discoveries.
On the next episode, I'm diving into burnout. Burnout led me to switch directions in my personal life, and I would say it was the kickstart of my journey toward vitality.
Do you have a wellness trend worth investing in? I'd love to hear your feedback, trend research and ideas through our investing in Vitality Trend Hotline, which is found on our
[email protected], or join our community for free by visiting community.wellstylistlab.com. You'll be able to access more resources, watch in-depth interviews, and find member support on your vitality journey
This podcast is meant for education and trend awareness purposes only. I share topics, research and discussions that are opinion based and do not constitute professional health, wellness, or investment advice.
Please seek professional services and consult your primary physician or other healthcare providers before making adjustments to your health and wellness regiment.
