Deal or No Deal: Steps Toward Intentional Wellness

Written by Branda Polk

Choose the numbered case that holds the $1 million and win. Then the host gives you an offer and plainly asks, “Deal or no deal.”  What will you choose? 

Like the popular game show, life is full of choices. Even the most indecisive person is forced to make choices every day. We choose to get up, to go to work, where to live, what to drive, what route to take, what to eat, and how to spend our time. We choose to risk, to love, to leave, to stay, to enjoy challenges, or to run from difficulties.  We choose to fight or hide, to live or survive, to take responsibility or to blame others.

Choices are everywhere and unavoidable in life. Even the actions about which we think, “I have to … ” are simply choices based on the consequences. For example, you may say, “I have to go to work. I don’t have a choice.” The reality is that you choose to go to work because you like the paycheck and the stuff you can buy with the money you earn. You could choose not to go to work, but you wouldn’t get paid, and that presents a whole other set of circumstances.

Choice is a powerful tool that will work for your advantage in life when properly used. When you choose to make mindful, positive choices, you are taking intentional steps to living a total wellness lifestyle. Wellness is so much more than just good health or a physically fit body. Total wellness includes mental health, emotional health, spiritual health, and physical health. To be totally well is to live a balanced lifestyle that honors God. 

To begin or to continue living a wellness lifestyle requires five components that will move you from a passive, come-what-may life to a purposeful, intentional wellness lifestyle. The steps of direction, declaration, determination, discipline, and devotion flow in succession, leading to a healthier you.

The first step is direction. Direction implies movement toward a goal. Goals provide the structure for making choices. When a choice moves you toward your goal then it is positive. When a choice distracts you or stalls your progress, then it may not be a wise choice. Most people limit success by choosing not to set goals. Goals allow you a mental picture of where you want to go. Goals give you landmarks to progress. If you don’t know where you are going, how will you know when you get there? Goals provide the direction for success, but they are not the end. 

After setting a direction, the second step toward intentional wellness is declaration. Have you ever thought, “I’m going to make some changes, but I’ll just keep my plans to myself”? It’s easy to believe that staying quiet is the best approach to making changes so that we don’t have to deal with the fear of failure or rejection. This fear of failure is a powerful force that keeps us safe. If no one knows we want to accomplish a goal, then they won’t know if we don’t make it. The problem is that when we stay silent we plan to fail. Declaration helps you face the fear of failure by seeking support from others as you move toward your goal. Declaration is the process of sharing your goals with others and inviting them to hold you accountable and support you when temptations and difficult times come. Choose one or two trusted people with whom you can share your goals. Ask them to check on your progress, join you in the journey, pray for you, and support your determination. Inviting accountability through declaration will help you move toward the next step in the process.

Later this month on LifeWay.com you will learn details of the final three steps toward intentional wellness. Begin today with these two steps. Prayerfully ask God to show you the goals He desires you to accomplish, and then declare those goals to a support network. Choose to move toward intentional wellness and reap the spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical benefits, or choose to stay where you are and slip backward. The choice is yours. Deal or no deal.

Branda Polk, B.S. Exercise Science, is a certified Fitness Instructor, personal trainer, and wellness coach in Memphis, Tennessee.

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