Cogs of Wellness

Since HealthCamp DC a few weeks back, I've been doing more work on the idea of behavior change and how to help people make the best choices for their health. More and more, the signs seem to point to the importance of "that other stuff" being in good shape so one's eating and exercise habits are also in good shape. Not a new concept but perhaps it would help to look at it in a different way.

I'll pile all of the "other stuff" into a category called quest as in the cause, goal, idea, motive and purpose for what we do. Over our lifetimes, our quest will change and often we're working on more than one quest at a time. Sometimes we work on one quest for the sake of another quest. Ideally, all of our individuals quests compliment each other and work together.

I contend if our quests are in order we are feeling our best -- energetic, happy, excited. And, if we are feeling our best we feel even more motivated to take good care of ourselves, get regular exercise and eat healthy foods. The question is this... if we want to help people get more healthy should we start with diet and exercise or should we start with the quests?

Perhaps the quest is the biggest cog in the sustainable wellness machine.