Transcriber: Jiwei Fang Reviewer: Denise RQ
There's a high probability
that every one of you has had an experience of healthcare.
If you found yourself ill and needed help, you probably had questions
like, "Could you find somebody that would see you?"
"Could they help fix whatever was wrong?"
"Could you afford to pay for it?
If you had insurance, you might have wondered,
"Would my insurance cover it?"
If you didn't have insurance, you might have wondered,
"Can I pay for it out of pocket?"
Over the last few years, there's been enormous debate and conversation
in our country about healthcare and healthcare reform;
and without a doubt,
the evidence is so strong that our healthcare system is broken.
A couple of statistics:
we spend more money on healthcare in the US
than any other country in the Western world.
Yet, our health outcomes are near the bottom.
Health outcomes really matter, things like infant mortality, longevity.
So while there's no doubt that our healthcare system
is in desperate need of transformation, and we need to invest in that,
it's also critical I think that we invest in ideas and innovation
outside of healthcare, outside of the healthcare system.
Ideas that you and I can do to improve health and wellbeing
in our own lives, as well as those around us.
So, if I were to ask you what wellbeing means to you,
I'm sure I'd hear all kinds of different things.
Some of you might say, "It's about an enlightened spirit,"
"It's being aligned, it's being balanced and integrated."
It's recognizing my individuality."
In one word, the word would be "whole;"
a whole person, a whole being, attentiveness to the whole person.
For the last ten years or so, I've been really interested
in the science underlying wellbeing, and one of the determinants of wellbeing,
because whether you're a young person, a college student,
a mid-career professional,
or whether you're a senior
that's planning a transition in housing or jobs,
what you hold in common as a human being,
as part of the human condition, is a deep yearning for wellbeing.
So as I talk today about each of these determinants of wellbeing,
I really invite you to think about how does this work in your own life?
So the first determinant I'll talk about is the determinant of health.
When I talk about health, I'm not talking just about physical health,
I'm talking about your emotional health, your mental health, your spiritual health.
The important thing to understand is that, in many ways,
health is literally in your hands.
Eighty to 90% of how healthy you are
has nothing to do with doctors, hospitals, or drugs.
It has to do with lifestyle choices that you make everyday in your life:
the food you eat, how much you exercise,
how much you sleep, and how you manage your stress.
A recent study confirmed
that when people pay attention to their health and wellbeing,
when take charge of it, when they are engaged in their own wellbeing,
they not only have better outcomes,
they use about 22% fewer resources,
so that's something that's not very important to the nation.
I'm sure that you can all think of people that you know
that might have great health, but they still have really poor wellbeing.
On the other hand, you probably know people that have lousy health,
yet they exude wellbeing in their lives,
and that's because there's so many other areas that impact our wellbeing.
One of those areas that is very important in addition to health, is purpose,
having purpose and meaning in life.
There's this statistic that's important to know:
what happens when you retire and have no plans?
You are actually at very high risk for death.
The mortality rate is much higher for people who have no plans.
People literally need to have a reason to get up in the morning.
So purpose and meaning is something
that's important at every age and stage of life.
Mark Twain once said in his writings
the two most important days in your life are the day you were born
and the day you figured out why you were born.
So, even when people have compromised health,
they might have a lot of wellbeing in their lives,
because of their deep and abiding sense of purpose.
Purpose is not the same as a job or career;
while some people might live out their purpose within their job or career,
for many people, it's something that is much bigger and beyond that.
So health and purpose are important.
Relationships are important;
so important to have people in our lives that love, nurture, and support us,
and who we love, nurture, and support.
In the US, there is more loneliness than there is depression,
and there's a whole lot of depression.
The risks of being lonely are comparable to risks like obesity and hypertension.
So, real important to think about:
do you have a network of people in your life
that are supporting you?
Community is so important to wellbeing;
and when you think of community,
you might think of the infrastructure of the community,
either roads, bridges, parks, schools and museums.
Those things are clearly important.
You might think that the economic base of the community is unstable.
That's important,
but it's also really important to look at the social networks in the community
and look at the issue of diversity;
does the community embrace and hold up diversity?
Lots of evidence that healthy communities are communities for people
are not only engaged but are also empowered.
Community is very important to wellbeing.
Safety and security is important.
You might be doing well in all these other areas of your life,
but if you live in fear-- fear for whatever reason can immobilize us.
It could be fear of financial issues,
"Will I have enough money to put food on the table or a roof over my head?"
or it might be fear of interpersonal violence.
So making sure
that your life has safety and security is very critical to wellbeing.
The last area that I'll mention is the environment.
There's so many things to talk about within the environment.
You might be thinking clean air, clean water, not having toxins;
all those are important.
Another aspect of the environment that is really important is access to nature.
Lot of evidence that nature heals.
E.O. Wilson described in his writings the "biophilia hypothesis,"
that as human beings, we are literally drawn to nature.
So the environment in which we are is very important to our wellbeing.
Each of these areas that I've talked about can actually be applied
not only to our individual lives
but also to organizations and communities.
If you were to think of a college campus,
if you were embarking on further education at a college, university, technical school
a really important question to ask might be
not only "Can I get an education there that would give me
the knowledge and skills to do what I want to do in the world?"
but "Will I emerge a better human being?"
Does that university invest
in the wellbeing of faculty and staff as well as the students?
You might be thinking about in the area of health,
"Will I be able to eat healthy," "Will I be able to exercise?"
"Is there clarity of purpose within this university?"
"Will I be able to form the relationships
that will help me thrive and help me flourish?"
"Is there a sense of community on that campus?"
"Are issues of safety and security attended to?"
"What is the environment?"
"Is the environment going to be conducive
to my learning, to my growing, to my healing?"
If you were thinking about a job,
and thinking about moving into a business, or corporation, or place of employment,
be thinking of asking those same questions.
"Is there clarity of purpose?" "What's the health of the organization?"
"What is the quality of the relationships?"
Same questions can be addressed.
Wellbeing can also be looked at from the standpoint of cities and states.
I have to say, we are very fortunate to be in Minnesota and in the twin cities;
these are some wellbeing metrics that are interesting.
We are the number 1 bike-friendly city, we just beat out Portland, Oregon.
We are the second healthiest state in the nation,
the third best state for wellbeing, the forth happiest state in America,
and forth best city in which to get a job - in fact, those two might be related -
the seventh best city in the nation to be an artist.
That was actually a poll where many artists ranked it number seven;
and this last one is interesting:
Minneapolis was also ranked to have the best parks in the US.
And that was beating out cities like Chicago, New York, and San Francisco,
so you can clearly say that in Minnesota, we are above average.
(Laughter)
(Applause)
Wellbeing is also being looked at at a global level.
This is not something that is being looked at
truly only in the US and our own lives.
Globally, Canada has the index of wellbeing,
the Netherlands has a life situation index,
and Australia, the UK, Finland, France, Italy, Japan, New Zealand, and Luxembourg
are all in the process of developing wellbeing indices in their country.
So it's a huge topic.
His Holiness, the 14th Dalai Lama was
on the University of Minnesota campus a few years ago.
His Holiness in his writing and speaking, often talks about wellbeing
and makes the link between wellbeing and happiness,
"Dedicate yourself to the wellbeing of others, and you will find happiness."
"The more we care for the happiness of others,
the greater our sense of wellbeing becomes."
So I really encourage you to think about
how can you cultivate and nurture wellbeing in your own lives.
I think it's one of the most important ways to expand your potential.
But equally important, I encourage you
to think about how can you support the wellbeing of those around you;
your family, your friends, your community, the nation,
and ultimately, the planet.
Thank you very much.
(Applause)