Conception, maternity and birth

Life Journey- starting the journey is all about providing help, experience, guidance and support to people, parents, children who are going through this stage. Life Journey- early years starts even before conception because there is so much to consider.

Here are some facts and stats  about conception and birth. GO!

This section explains what are the 4 building blocks for the life to be. GO!

What is the new child liekly to inherit? GO!

See what traits can be passed down to your child. GO!

This section describes what happens to the foetus in the womb.  GO!

The mother has a huge influence on the baby’s development during preganancy.  GO!

This is the old argument – nature or nurture – see what impact social environment has as opposed to genetics  GO!

This section explores the financial aspects of starting a family.  GO!

See what happens during pregnancy.   GO!

The climax of the whole thing (sic) is giving birth.  See what that’s like.  GO!

After all that, what can you expect in the first few days after birth? GO!

You may want to join us GO!

We have a testimonial  GO!

What next?  GO!

Some stuff you might like?  GO!

Facts About conception, maternity and birth

births
50 thousand

712,680 births in UK in 2019 – a reducing trend from 812,000 in 2012.

is male : female birth ratio
0.1 to 100

 male to female birth ratio  is now the highest ever at 107/100. Never has female rate exceeded male

pocket money per week
£ 1

£11.20 is the average pocket money per week for children; for those aged 5 to 10 years it’s £6.40 and £16.30 for those aged 11 to 16 years.

Babies christened
1 in 1

In 2019 only 1 in10 babies are christened in the UK

Preganant smokers
10.4%

2019/20, 10.4 percent of pregnant women in England smoked at the time of delivery. 14.6% in scotland

Toilet training
70%

70% said more children aged three to seven – the foundation stage and key stage 1 – were now starting school without being toilet trained than five years ago. This number increased to 100% among staff working with children aged three to five

Reading to children
77%

77% of parents read to their child 0-5 every week but only 30% read daily

Chores
90%

90% of parents did chores but only 60% of their children do chores

 

conception building blocks diagram

It all starts this way for conception - the 4 building blocks

There are many key stages of life, but the creation of life and the early years are the building blocks for the future adult-to-be.

Scientists today have agreed that there are four main areas that go towards the development of an adult - namely :
- DNA
- Foetal Development
- Maternal Environment
- Social Environment.

Before we get into the journey let’s talk about the preparation, planning and scene-setting for the journey.

DNA picture

DNA – It’s all in the DNA - or is it?

When first thinking about starting a family it’s important to take a look at the DNA – in other words look at the family history on both sides and see what the position regarding physical and mental health is.

It’s not always guaranteed that a child will inherit certain tendencies from their parents, or grand- or even great-grandparents – but they could. So, taking DNA – if there has been a lot of (say) cancer, heart disease, motor neurone or mental health issues then parents should seek professional advice first and even more importantly understand the consequences and impact creating life might have if a child is born with a major issue. This video from 23andme which you can see by clicking the image explains what you might inherit from your parents and why.

moomoomat video

Genetics and inherited traits

Looking at the good side of DNA parents can also see traits and tendencies that are likely to be passed on such as a family full of nurses tends to suggest that a caring disposition may appear in the new born. Likewise, if there is a strong musical tendency again this may make an appearance in the newborn, or it may pass it by for the next generation. See the MooMooMath and Science video on genetics and inherited traits here by clicking on the image.

Traits to look for

Parents should be looking with great enthusiasm for these tendencies; they may not appear straight away or even may not appear until they become adults but things will surface – both good and bad – so parents should be on the lookout and in many situations be willing to support and manage that tendency or characteristic. This article from Kids Health from Nemours explains how our DNA affects who we are for parents.

foetal development chart

Foetal development

The second building block is Foetal Development. This 40 week journey is full of knowledge gaining. We know from 20 plus weeks that the foetus can see light and hear and take on board sounds. For example, playing classical music gently can have an impact on the foetus, but at that time the foetus cannot interpret what it is – it just sounds soothing. When the new born baby arrives and grows up, sounds that were played in the womb often bring back warm memories and comfort. But likewise, the reverse can happen if the mother is a smoker, 10.4% of pregnant mothers smoke. The foetus is deprived of oxygen and could be underweight or more at risk. See the ScienceDaily article on exposure to nicotine during pregnancy by clicking the picture.

If the mother is a drug user or heavy drinker this will have a massive impact on the foetus. Whilst the foetus has built-in filters that protect it against the mother, the chemicals in the mother’s blood stream can get through. Smog and heavy polluted areas of an inner city gets into the blood stream of a mother and can also affect the foetus – see the World Health Organisation report. So planning the 9 month journey is really important

A Natureresearch article shows how genetic and environmental issues can affect a foetus during pregnancy. 

Finally an interesting point is whether traits, knowledge or behaviours can be passed on through ‘genetic memory’ – see BBC article here.

maternal development video

Maternal environment

The third building block is Maternal Environment. We have already seen how smoking, drinking and drug use can directly affect and impact the foetus and Parents should think about this before contemplating starting a family. Maternal Environment is the condition in which the mother lives during the 40-week period. Stress hormones at work or very loud work environment can all impact on the mother. For example, where couples are rowing or arguing, or where aggressive noises can be heard and sensed via the mother (but not interpreted by the foetus at that stage). The foetus is gathering information but unable to decipher it, but in later life sounds, emotions and feelings can be reconnected to make the adult feel uncomfortable. The individual still might not be able to understand fully, but they will feel strange when the same scenario is played out. So, if the mother is subjected to aggressive behaviour or is aggressive the foetus not only senses the emotion, but chemicals are often produced by the mother’s body and the foetus will be subjected to them.

Clicking the picture will play a Canadian video which explains about the impact of stress during prenancy.

Family environment

Very well family have an article on Environmental Influences on Prenatal Development .

An example of this might be the mother being involved or injured in a road accident; imagine the sounds, the impact, the screams, stress and fear, then potentially the pain and the chemicals such as cortisol, hormones, endorphins, corticotrophin coming into the blood stream. The foetus will sense the trauma and may receive some of the chemicals passed on by the mother. The foetus records the information but is unable to interpret the data at this stage.

Taking extra care during this critical period is vital for mothers.

Social environment - nature or nurture

The final building block, Social Environment. Scientists and professionals have long argued whether nature or nurture has the biggest impact. Well, it can be either or both – see the articles by very well mind or by Simply Psychology below. It all depends on the stronger of the two and the impact. If we look at the animal kingdom (to which humans belong) let’s take for example a cat. In most instances cats have strong DNA and hard wiring to kill or play kill smaller animals and birds and they cannot help it. It’s in their nature.

But it has been tested and kittens have been reared with small animals and they did not attempt to kill or play kill their sibling. Humans are the same. Often today bad DNA tendencies are watched closely in a new born and programmes developed to ensure the tendencies are monitored or counterbalanced.

There’s an article from verywell minds on the age old debate of  nature vs nurture  and another from Simply Psychology which takes a more technical view.

starting a family video

Starting a family - finance

This video is US based - it discusses the finances to be considered when starting a family.

Starting a family is not often easy and things often don’t turn out as planned. Everyone has the right to have a family, but we have a growing population and it’s not cheap bringing up children. It’s a balance between having a family and thinking about the wider issues of population growth – and feeding that growth.

When considering starting or extending a family it requires 2 views – a short term view and a long term view. It’s not just about having a baby or adopting a baby. It’s not just about love and passion (which are often drivers to family making). It’s about dedicating yourself to looking after something for at least 25 years and having the financial back up and stability to ensure your child has the best possible upbringing. The risks are pretty obvious. If you have no money and you’re raising a family it’s stressful, tiring and demoralising, and you’ll be unable to raise your child the way you would have wanted to. Phil Town covers some basic financial implications for starting a family.

When considering starting a family it’s also important to think about health. Many couples casually talk about getting married and having a family with no review of historical hereditary health issues they may be passing on. If a couple have parents and grandparents who have genetic health issues such as cancers and premature deaths due to heart matters etc. then it’s vitally important to talk to health professionals about the potential risk and consequences, and what to do. WebMD has an article on whether you should look at genetic screening before conception.

personality nature or nurture

Pregnancy

Things to consider when you're pregnant

When pregnant it’s important to consider the parents’ health, their lifestyle, environment and financial situation. Stress due to hereditary matters or financial uncertainty can make pregnancy very difficult. Ensuring the mum has a stress- and trauma-free environment with a good balanced lifestyle along with as healthy a diet as possible can only make for a good pregnancy and happy baby. If the individual or family environment exposes the foetus to chemicals, or drugs or excessive drinking this can cause the foetus to suffer or lack in various areas.

BabyCentre show 10 steps to a healthy pregnancy 

WebMD explain the impact of stress during pregnancy 

LiveStrong.com explain the impact of fighting and stress during pregnancy 

giving birth video

Giving birth

There are many things to consider when giving birth. Raising a child can be extremely demanding especially in the first two years, and parents need to stay in good mental and physical health to ensure their new baby gets the best start.

This video (click the picture) shows you the top ten things you need to know about giving birth. It's a fact-based realistic US list from a nurse.

The NHS have a section the stages of labour and birth.

FamilyLives have advice on pregnancy and babies 

BabyCentre have an article explaining why there may be problems between you and your partner during pregnancy 

baby feet

First few days

Things you'll do in the first few days

The first few days with your new baby are exciting (and tiring!). Your baby will sleep for about four hours, feed, and then sleep more. You need to keep them clean and dry, and wash them every day or so.

Some misconceptions: you imagine a robust bouncing baby, but they might be tiny and wet. You imagine a little adult, but the baby is likely to be scrunched up as its arms and legs have been bent, and it will have a huge head which may start out pointy!

Some babies' skin is red, pink or purple. Some babies have a white coating (called vernix caseosa), which will wash off in the bath. Some are slightly furry - it's nothing horrible or wolfish and will wear off quite quickly. It may have spots or rashes, but again any blotches will wear off quickly.

Having said all that, you must speak to the midwife if you’re worried about anything with your new baby – they will be able to reassure you.  In the first 24 hours a health professional will offer your baby an injection – this is vitamin K which can help prevent a rare but serious blood disorder. 

You will also be offered a newborn physical examination for your baby in the first 72 hours.

They will also have a blood spot test and hearing screening in the first few weeks. 

There’s a good article by parents.com which tells the story of someone’s first week.

For visitors

Why don't you join us?

You can register to join us as a member, when you’ll be able to download our stuff and comment, or as a YouDriver when you’ll also be able to check your health and set up your own action plans to make some improvements.  If you’ve already registered, sign in below. Or let us know what you think.

“Giving birth is like taking your lower lip and forcing it over your head.”
carole burnett picture
Carole Burnett
American actress, comedian, singer, and writer.

Next Steps

It doesn’t matter what stage  you’re at – it’s important to be the best you can be.  At the end of the day it’s about taking personal responsibility – You Drive!

It’s really your choice. You can find out more information about the subject, or see other institutions that can help by going to Support. There you will find organisations, training, coaching, self-help courses and other items to support your personal change. We have also started developing a panel of experts to provide info, advice, help and support. 

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Your DNA Guide

DNA Guide -the Book, a unique new approach to learning genetic genealogy. Instead of learning more-than-you-need-to-know in textbook style, you’ll choose a specific DNA question and start exploring it right away. Follow concrete step-by-step plans, learning important DNA concepts–in plain English—as you go.


Go to Amazon

Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are:

In Blueprint, Robert Plomin, a pioneer in the field of behavioural genetics, draws on a lifetime’s worth of research to make the case that DNA is the most important factor shaping who we are. Our families, schools and the environment around us are important, but they are not as influential as our genes.


Go to Amazon

The Mind of Your Newborn Baby

This is the 10th anniversary edition of the classic Babies Remember Birth. This book has the potential to revolutionize the way we look at babies, both before and after birth


Go to Amazon

The Making of a Ginger Nut

– Nature or Nurture

In his book ‘The Making of a Ginger Nut’, Malcolm Day attempts to answer the question by recalling memories of his relatively poor, but happy childhood, living in Shirley, on the edge of affluent Solihull. He explores how his father, grandfather and uncle have all influenced his life.


Go to Amazon

The Modern Midwife’s Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

‘Marie Louise is a dream come true for any parent with her uncanny ability to simplify the most important and complicated questions’
Emma Bunton, co-founder of Kit and Kin


Go to Amazon

The Pregnancy Guide For Men

The ultimate first-time dad’s handbook on what to expect having a baby and becoming a new father

In The Pregnancy Guide For Men, you’ll discover:
How to navigate everything that is expected of you — without feeling overwhelmed and like you’re losing it. The biggest challenges you’re going to face during pregnancy — and simple (but effective) ways to overcome them


Go to Amazon

Your Baby, Your Birth

Hypnobirthing Skills For Every Birth

In-demand hypnobirthing coach Hollie de Cruz provides you with the skills and tools to make any birth feel safe, calm, connected and empowering.


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Pack of 2 Pregnancy Tests

Early Response Home Testing Kit, Early Family Planning, Quick Result & Easy Detection | Over 99% Accuracy – Discreet Packaging

Pack of 2 Midstream Pregnancy Tests – They come in a sealed case and each test is individually airtight foil-wrapped to make sure no tampering has been done.


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Stuff you might want regarding conception

Now you’ve read about conception and giving birth and all it entails, you might want to make a bit of a statement.  Have a look at some stuff below we think has some humour value!  We may make pennies on commission, but that’s not the point really.  Click on the image to see more details.

Making babies

A Brief History of Everyone Who Ever Lived: The Stories in Our Genes

It's in my DNA: Scottish mug

It's in my DNA: Ugandan Tee-shirt

I Can't Keep Calm I'm Having a Baby Tee-shirt

This is my last one maternity Tee-shirt

All areas of health are interlinked

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Find your initial focus

You might think that physical, financial and mental health are quite separate, and for some people they are. However, often a problem in one area has a knock-on effect on others. Losing your job can lead to anxiety and depression, which can turn you to drink and impact your health.

You might have a severe issue in one area but that can lead to problems in other areas, and the people treating you for the first problem won’t be equipped to deal with these linked issues.

For example, doctors and nurses can treat you for a physical problem but can’t advise you about your job or finances.  Nor for the anxiety that comes with it, apart from prescribing some drugs, which might or might not be the best solution.

We encourage you to take a holistic view – we look at all areas and offer support across the whole spectrum.

health areas interlinked

Even this view of health is simplistic, as you’ll discover later if you go down that route.  You might want to consider overall health, or wellness or wellbeing, which include additional types of health, such as occupational health (how you are in your job).   Then there’s happiness and quality of life – how do these fit?

If you’re interested in that, click the link here to see more information.

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Your Baby, Your Birth

Hypnobirthing Skills For Every Birth

In-demand hypnobirthing coach Hollie de Cruz provides you with the skills and tools to make any birth feel safe, calm, connected and empowering.


Go to Amazon

The Pregnancy Guide For Men

The ultimate first-time dad’s handbook on what to expect having a baby and becoming a new father

In The Pregnancy Guide For Men, you’ll discover:
How to navigate everything that is expected of you — without feeling overwhelmed and like you’re losing it. The biggest challenges you’re going to face during pregnancy — and simple (but effective) ways to overcome them


Go to Amazon

Blueprint: How DNA Makes Us Who We Are:

In Blueprint, Robert Plomin, a pioneer in the field of behavioural genetics, draws on a lifetime’s worth of research to make the case that DNA is the most important factor shaping who we are. Our families, schools and the environment around us are important, but they are not as influential as our genes.


Go to Amazon

Pack of 2 Pregnancy Tests

Early Response Home Testing Kit, Early Family Planning, Quick Result & Easy Detection | Over 99% Accuracy – Discreet PackagingPack of 2 Midstream Pregnancy Tests – They come in a sealed case and each test is individually airtight foil-wrapped to make sure no tampering has been done.
pregnancy tests

Your DNA Guide

DNA Guide -the Book, a unique new approach to learning genetic genealogy. Instead of learning more-than-you-need-to-know in textbook style, you’ll choose a specific DNA question and start exploring it right away. Follow concrete step-by-step plans, learning important DNA concepts–in plain English—as you go.


Go to Amazon

The Mind of Your Newborn Baby

This is the 10th anniversary edition of the classic Babies Remember Birth. This book has the potential to revolutionize the way we look at babies, both before and after birth


Go to Amazon

The Making of a Ginger Nut

– Nature or Nurture

In his book ‘The Making of a Ginger Nut’, Malcolm Day attempts to answer the question by recalling memories of his relatively poor, but happy childhood, living in Shirley, on the edge of affluent Solihull. He explores how his father, grandfather and uncle have all influenced his life.


Go to Amazon

The Modern Midwife’s Guide to Pregnancy, Birth and Beyond

‘Marie Louise is a dream come true for any parent with her uncanny ability to simplify the most important and complicated questions’
Emma Bunton, co-founder of Kit and Kin


Go to Amazon

Health Areas in Domains

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Domains

We break down the overall concept of health or wellness into ‘bite-sized chunks’ that we can actually do something about.  The first level we call health domains. 

We like the Life of Wellness site and we have chosen the following domains.

1. Emotional Wellness: Awareness and acceptance of feelings
2. Spiritual Wellness: A search for meaning and purpose
3. Intellectual Wellness: Recognition of your creativity, knowledge and skills
4. Physical Wellness: Need for physical activity and balanced nutrition
5. Environmental Wellness: Positive awareness and impact on your environment
6. Financial Wellness: Debt reduction, cash flow balance or financial future planning
7. Occupational Wellness: Personal achievement and enrichment from your career
8. Social Wellness: Contribution to your community

Health Areas

Within each domain, we have included a number of health areas. These are specific issues that you can tackle.  Within each health area, e.g. Depression, we have built additional information and exercises which you can do to help in the area. You can create your own Action Plan to address this area, and see

Emotional: Anxiety, Compassion Fatigue, Depression, Gambling, Laughter, Narcissistic, Personality Disorder, Sleep, Stress

Environmental: Environmental Issues, Greenness

Financial: Debt, Family Finance, Financial Planning, Financial Wellness

Intellectual: IQ, Personality, Procrastination

Occupational: Jobs for Different Personality Types, Retirement Income, Work Life Balance

Physical: Alcohol, Disabilities, Dizziness, Drugs, Fitness, Food Preferences, General Health, Healthy Ageing, Illness, Nutrition, Sleep Apnea, Smoking

Social: Communication Skills, Communication Styles, Domestic Abuse, Emotional Abuse, Love Partnerships, Mental Abuse, Parenting Styles, Sexual Addiction

Spiritual: Are You Sensitive, Mystical Guidance, Spirituality

Each health area has supporting information and its own questionnaire.

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Understand Health

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Physical, financial and mental health

One definition of health is:

Health is a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. 

The NHS define health as: ‘We use a broad definition of health that encompasses both physical and mental health, as well as wellbeing. This means we are not only interested in whether or not people are ill or have a health condition, but also in how healthy and well they are.’

We believe we also have to consider financial health, as this can easily impact physical and mental health. Click the button to see an example of how these are connected.

 It gets more complicated…

What is Health? How about Wellness, Wellbeing or Happiness?

The Active Wellbeing Society (TAWS) define Health as a state of the overall mental and physical state of a person; the absence of disease. They define Wellbeing or wellness as a way of life that aims to enhance well-being and refers to a more holistic whole-of-life experience which also includes emotional and spiritual aspects of life.  We expand on this definition of health to include financial health and mental health, to make it synonymous with wellbeing or wellness.  

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Values, Attitudes and Beliefs

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We all have our beliefs, attitudes and values – these have developed throughout our life based on who we are and what we have done. Let’s look at what these are.

The University of Reading explain: “People’s values, beliefs and attitudes are formed and bonded over time through the influences of family, friends, society and life experiences. So, by the time you’re an adult, you can hold very definite views on just about everything with a sense of “no one is going to change my mind”.

The combination of your personal values, beliefs and attitudes are your moral principles that guide you in life and affect your behaviour. However, your views can wildly differ to others and in an institution such as a school, these beliefs may be counter to the values of the school, child development or indeed the law.” 

Let’s look more closely at the differences between beliefs, attitudes and values.

Beliefs

These come from real experiences – we think our beliefs are based on reality, but in fact our beliefs colour our experiences; also, an original experience e.g. when we were a child is not the same as what’s happening now. Beliefs can be moral, religious or cultural and reflect who we are. They can be rational (‘it gets colder in winter’) or irrational (‘I am never going to make something of myself’).

Attitudes

This is an immediate belief or disposition about something specific. It is a recurring group of beliefs and behaviours aimed at specific groups, people, ideas or objects. They will normally be positive or negative and we will always behave that way to the target group. Examples of attitudes include confidence (I can or can’t do something), grateful (I an entitled to / grateful for XXX) and cheerful (I am generally happy / miserable).

Values

These are things (principles or qualities) that we hold in high regard or consider to be worthwhile or right / wrong. They are formed by a belief related to the worth of something – an idea or behaviour. Some values are common (e.g. family comes first, the value of friendship) or cultural (which the whole community have – see video at Study.com here)

The theory

Links to Wikipedia

Expectancy Value Theory suggests you balance your beliefs about something with the value you attach to it. The Theory of Reasoned Action suggests that beliefs and evaluation about behavioural outcomes determine attitudes, and intentions lead directly to behaviour.

Beliefs

Expressions of confidence – can change over time

Attitudes

Learned predispositions to something – are subject to change

Values

Ideals that guide our behaviour – Generally long lasting and often need life changing experience to change

Iceberg demonstrating implicit and explicit bias – from Owlcation

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Assess your overall health using a health questionnaire

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At YouDrive we try and help people improve their health. We use ‘health’ but we understand there are other terms such as wellbeing or even happiness that reflect how we are doing in our lives – if you’re interested in the different definitions and ideas see our page on the subject.

We want to help whether you have a particular problem – physical, financial or mental – or if you just want to improve some specific part of your life or just make some improvements overall.

You’d be surprised, but there has been a serious amount of scientific work done in this area over the last twenty years.

So first we allow you to assess your current health (or wellbeing, or happiness).  We do this by questionnaire.  Which one is determined by the type of person you are:

  1. You understand yourself well and want a quick overview of your health and wellness, and will drill down in any areas needing work
  2. You want to do a more detailed assessment and then focus on areas you’re already aware of
  3. You want to look at the whole situation in more detail across all the health domains.

By the way, we take your privacy seriously – we collect information that you choose to provide but we de-identify it as much as possible and will never share it with anyone without your explicit consent.

You can then drill down into some specific areas and there are more questionnaires to see your situation in these particular areas.  We provide you with specific information and refer you to other potential aspects of help. Our next step is to build a personalised action plan – for now we will make a suggestion for you to develop your own plan and then after a time you can see whether this has had a positive impact by retaking the test.

In future we will be engaging with medical and behavioural specialists to devise action plans for individual people with specific situations.

We have an overall questionnaire which you can complete which will assess your current state.

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Add your attitude to change - see how you view changes in your life

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Do you need to change?

No matter how healthy you are at the moment, the chances are that there are some areas you could improve. It may be that you have a real problem in one or more areas, and you would like to make some improvements.

At YouDrive we accept that there are many different degrees of ‘not wellness’ in a large number of different health areas, ranging from physical illness such as covid-19 through mental illness such as anxiety through to financial problems like debt.  We try and help where the problem ranges from ‘slight’ to quite bad’ – after this expert help and intervention may be needed.

However, especially in these times, we have to try and make these changes ourselves, possibly with some help from others, whether remotely or face to face.

The thing is, to make an improvement we have to change some things.

This involves changing our behaviour in some respects, and that’s not always easy.

Henry Ford, the creator of the assembly line, is quoted as saying “if you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got”.  

henry ford

Another way of looking at this: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.” – attributed to Albert Einstein.

Consequently we need to make some changes.  The problem is that we have already developed a lot of habits, some of which we need to break and replace by better ones.  Some of our bad habits have become entrenched, and the bad results they create in turn engender further bad habits to develop – in effect the bad habits can feed on themselves.

We need to understand how we can make changes and stick to them, and that’s what this part of your health profile is about.

It will involve some learning, through reading, some videos and some additional information and also seeing how you react to change currently.

It will also ask you to consider whether you feel you are in charge of your future, or whether you feel it’s all fate.

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Locus of Control

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  • We want to help people in all aspects of their health  – physical, financial and mental. We also provide detailed explanations of how overall health (or well-being) is measured.
  • We believe these things are often linked, so we try and address health holistically. We are building templates, questionnaires and exercises to help you identify what’s important to you.
  • We think people should try and take responsibility for  of their own health as much as they can.  See below for what that means.

People look at things differently.  Some people believe things happen to them, while others believe they can influence what happens to them. Technically this is called the ‘locus of control’.  People can have an Internal or external Locus of Control

So how do you see things?

Psychology Today have a 15 minute test which gives you a summary of your position you can buy the detailed results if you want to.

My Personality Test have a 10 minute test which gives you a summary.

People tend to take more responsibility (locus gets more internal) as they get older.  However, external isn’t always bad – for example if you are physically unable to do some things you can accept it and focus on the things you can do.  This American video explains the concept and gives examples of how this can affect relationships.

locus of control

Internal

  • More likely to take responsibility for actions
  • Tend to be less influenced by others

External

  • Blame outside forces for what happens
  • Don’t believe they can change their situation themselves

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See which domains you should address

You need to scroll down to see all the info in this popup – sorry for going on so much!

Having established that we use 8 domains, you need to understand which you should concentrate on.

The 8 are:

  • Emotional
  • Environmental
  • Financial
  • Intellectual
  • Occupational
  • Physical
  • Social
  • Spiritual

 

You can take a questionnaire, which scores you in each domain.  You can decide which domains you are strong in, and which you need to improve.

Another analysis shows which domains you should look at, but also which domains you want to look at.

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Health domains

You need to scroll down to see all the info in this popup – sorry for going on so much!

We break down the overall concept of health or wellness into ‘bite-sized chunks’ that we can actually do something about.  The first level we call health domains.

We like the Life of Wellness site and we have chosen the following domains.

1. Emotional Wellness: Awareness and acceptance of feelings
2. Spiritual Wellness: A search for meaning and purpose
3. Intellectual Wellness: Recognition of your creativity, knowledge and skills
4. Physical Wellness: Need for physical activity and balanced nutrition
5. Environmental Wellness: Positive awareness and impact on your environment
6. Financial Wellness: Debt reduction, cash flow balance or financial future planning
7. Occupational Wellness: Personal achievement and enrichment from your career
8. Social Wellness: Contribution to your community

wellness wheel

Health Areas

Within each domain, we have included a number of health areas. These are specific issues that you can tackle.  Within each health area, e.g. Depression, once you have subscribed we have built additional information and exercises which you can do to help in the area.

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A Butterfly Life: 4 Keys to More Happiness, Better Health and Letting Your True Self Shine

Times of change can be a challenge, no doubt! Whether it’s a relationship breakup, job loss, or being diagnosed with a serious health issue. Or you may WANT things to be different, but it feels a little scary or overwhelming. The butterfly reminds us change can be beautiful, even necessary, in order to realize our full potential and live our best life.