Dr Jordan Peterson, in his book; Beyond Order: 12 More Rules for Life, recommends that we consider the following questions in order to evaluate aspects that contribute to our overall mental health and wellbeing:
- Have you been educated to the level of your intellectual ability or ambition?
- Is your use of free time engaging, meaningful and productive?
- Have you formulated solid and articulate plans for the future? Are they (and those you are close to) free of any serious physical health or economic problems?
- Do you have friends and a social life?
- Do you have a stable and satisfying intimate partnership?
- Do you have close and functional familial relationships?
- Do you have a career, or at least a job, that is financially stable, and if possible, a source of satisfaction and opportunity?
He further states that if your answer is ‘no’ to three or more of these questions, you might be heading for a downward spiral in terms of your mental health and wellbeing.
Even though our careers play a significant role in our overall mental health and wellbeing, it is important to consider our careers as part of an interwoven web of factors, that interplay and affect each other simultaneously. This implies that if one element contained in this web is out of balance, it will also negatively influence all the other elements in the web.