indexOne of the core beliefs that I have as a therapist is that people have to address four areas of their lives: physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. I talk about this with all my clients and in the talks I give.

And I practice this in my own life.

Do you address these four core areas?

Failure to do so can often leave us feeling depressed, anxious, and not thriving in our personal and relational lives.

So what is interesting is that last week in a New York Times article, Why You Hate Work by Tony Schwartz and Christine Porath of the Energy Project address these four issues in terms of employee satisfaction. Here is what they write:

“Employees are vastly more satisfied and productive, it turns out, when four of their core needs are met: physical, through opportunities to regularly renew and recharge at work; emotional, by feeling valued and appreciated for their contributions; mental, when they have the opportunity to focus in an absorbed way on their most important tasks and define when and where they get their work done; and spiritual, by doing more of what they do best and enjoy most, and by feeling connected to a higher purpose at work.

THE more effectively leaders and organizations support employees in meeting these core needs, the more likely the employees are to experience engagement, loyalty, job satisfaction and positive energy at work, and the lower their perceived levels of stress. When employees have one need met, compared with none, all of their performance variables improve. The more needs met, the more positive the impact.”

If you don’t know where to start, here are some “baby steps to self-care.”

Because even if your job doesn’t address these four core areas, you can address them yourself.

Why wait for someone else to help you thrive?