Improved Well-being = Healthier and Happier World

Simple Idea

Our Well-being Check-up iPad app is a tool to help individuals and teams reflect on their well-being. It is a simple idea. Reflect on your well-being, focus on your well-being, improve your well-being and the world will be healthier.  According to Corporate Wellness Magazine, every $1 invested in employee wellness programs yields roughly $4 in savings through reduced sick days, higher productivity and decreased overall health costs. Healthier People = Healthier Business Results. 

As an Executive Coach and Management Consultant I have had the privilege of working with thousands of leaders. In my experience, Leaders with positive well-being are more energized, innovative, approachable and more fulfilled.  There is a huge payback to society, business and our communities when people are healthier and happier.  The burden on our healthcare system would reduce. Our schools will be filled with healthier children. More energized people are more creative and can positively impact our economy.  Parents with high well-being have children who are happier and more confident to learn.  In line with reducing school and workplace bullying healthy human beings need to be developed.

When I was a little girl I remember thinking that if every person had peace in their heart the world would be at peace. It is another simple idea. As Nelson Mandela said – It starts with us.  Our Vision is that our simple idea will help focus and improve individual well-being and this will help us have a healthier and happier world.

This need spurs us to continue our development in spreading the message through our Well-being Check-up app.  The Well-being Check-up helps people stop, pause and reflect on their life balance.  The well-being wheel has 10 dimensions; these 10 dimensions are not exhaustive, but are a good place to start.  The check-up gives you a baseline against the 10 dimensions.  The dimensions include Work, Health, Mind, Adventure and Money. The iPhone app allows you to focus on the dimensions in your life that are most important for you and develop an action plan.  The iPhone app also provides tips and hints to improve each of the 10 dimensions.

Crossing the Chasm into Software Development

To make the Well-being Check-up more accessible we are about to launch our iPhone version.  Android phone and tablet development are in the pipeline.  The iPad development lessons learnt was a fantastic process we reviewed features and functionality of the app based on user feedback and overall development process. We had a lot of feedback on the design aspects of the app this became our starting point for the iPhone development.  We wanted the iPhone app to be a more positive experience aesthetically and functionally.  We called in help from Designers and we experimented with the harmonizing of design, functionality and costs.

 I am still a novice and what I thought would be a small development process moving from an iPad app to an iPhone app has proven to be much bigger than anticipated. I am now entering the black box of software development; I am a positive person so I will rename this to the rainbow box of software development. In this world there are native languages that can only be used with certain tribes at certain times. There is a universal HTML language that can cross chasms between Android and Apple, but beware there are dangers… If we use the universal language; design and colours are comprised.  HTML provides leverage and the ability to create Apple and Android devices at the same time. For our new Well-being Check-up iPhone app we have decided to program in native language and visually the app is 1000 times better than the HTML iPad version. Ongoing we will continue to explore the dilemma of leverage v design, when to do native or universal development. 

We are fortunate to have an-in house partner locally in our office who is leading the app software development.  We are also looking at broadening our capability to access more resources locally and abroad.  The risk management aspects of building the right software development capability are becoming apparent and we are now actively looking at deepening our capability and spreading the risk.

Crossing the Chasm into Social Marketing

As my previous blogs have highlighted we are light on in the social marketing space.  My research has me discovering some wonderful Social Marketing sites.  I was blessed to meet Rhiannon Colarossi founder of the Well-being Web.  She has amazing resources on her fantastic website and Facebook pages –

http://www.wellbeingweb.com.au/

https://www.facebook.com/WellbeingWeb?ref=hl

We have agreed to form an alliance to support the cause and spread the well-being message.  I am going to continue to explore wonderful social marketing partners to spread the word.

Vision for Product Development

Now that we have had a taste of app development we are broadening our vision for product development.  We have always used technology as an enabler to support effective learning, organisational development and business improvement.  Our technology powered solutions include global on-line surveys, knowledge portals and information dashboards.  We are now adding mobile app development to that suite to support in the moment access to knowledge and learning.  We are talking to clients right now about how blended solutions can in particular reinforce learning on the job. Watch this space for updates! 

Please look out for our iPhone app, it will be out in the next couple of weeks. Spread the well-being message and  keep well!

Trials, Tribulations and Triumphs of Launching an App

The weather in Melbourne has been fantastic, sunshine, blue sky and warm balmy nights.  It is much harder to be grumpy when the sun shines on you.

It has been nearly three weeks since we launched our Well-being Check-up iPad App and we are gaining some interesting insights from our new development.

STAGE 1 FEAR & TREPIDATION

 

When launching a new product and service there is some fear and trepidation. Will our baby, I mean app be noticed, accepted, supported, rejected or just ignored?  Once 10 people in the world purchased the app, my fear subsided.  Totally illogical I know, but subconsciously I just needed 10 people to validate the app and suddenly the fear dissipated.

STAGE 2 SOCIAL MARKETING

    
Well, this is an area I sort of know not a lot about!  I certainly didn’t want to have anti-social marketing this just didn’t seem nice.
We had done the research; all good apps are supported by effective social marketing.  This included a website that links to the app, a blog that talks about the app, a Facebook page where people could share their stories and experiences and access more knowledge. There was also talk of Twitter.  The social marketing needs to be relaxed and personable and give people an opportunity to socialize.  Apps that go ‘viral’ are the ones that really are successful, it is funny in other contexts viral could be the last thing you would hope for…

There were also the traditional marketing techniques, including media releases, sending free trials to Connectors and Mavens, and hoping and praying!

One of the biggest dilemmas we experienced was getting our App rated which means people need to review and provide a rating of their experience of the app.  We had been waiting for the magic 5 reviews as this then triggered an overall rating. It was a triumph when we hit 5 reviews and ratings, it did put a smile on all our faces.

If you really enjoy using an app I would encourage you to spend the extra 2 minutes providing a review. Your feedback is worth a lot more than you realize.
So our social marketing has been poor to average. We did do the Internet page, blogs (obviously), we did pre-launches and launches on LinkedIn. We still need to do a lot more work on getting the right strategy and content for a Facebook page – so I’ll keep you posted on how this progresses.

STAGE 3 FEEDBACK SO FAR

Thank you to our colleagues, friends and family who have invested the $2.99 and cared enough to give us feedback; we really appreciate this.  The other part of releasing something new, it is always interesting to see who cares and who doesn’t.  There are always surprises in who you can reach, when people in Switzerland, Canada, Columbia, Brazil and China purchased our app – it was kind of cool and amazing.

The feedback we have received has been consistent.  There are small enhancements that can help such as an action plan and more tips to improve, a get results button…we will prioritize all the feedback in our lessons learnt session next week. There were obvious things we forgot, like a link back to our website and the ability to email us for further assistance. We are aware that an iPhone and Android versions are in demand, all part of our future development plan.  Here are some comments we received:

Great to see where I’m going well. It’s great to be able to pinpoint exactly where your improvements should be. It’s like you know there are things missing but you don’t know where or what.  Gotta go, got some thinking to do.
You have been busy what a fun idea well done
I never really thought about some of the life aspects highlighted by this app.  Now that I do, I can take action in those areas.

There are more comments on the app review page, if you are curious.

STAGE 4 NEXT STEPS

 

 

We have a lot of learning and development to continue doing.   The best part is that I am working with fun, smart people and we are in it together.  I look forward to sharing more of the trials, tribulations and triumphs after our lessons learnt session.
By the way if you still haven’t seen our Well-being Check-up App – here it is (you need an iPad):

 https://itunes.apple.com/app/well-being-check-up/id589563823?ls=1&mt=8

STOP living busy START living fully – Well-being Check-up now released

Here it is our first iPad App - Well-being Check-up!  Our intention for this App is to learn and share a quick snapshot tool to help people focus on their Well-being. We hope the App gives you time to reflect and focus on your whole life. 

We wish you more enhanced Well-being and a more fulfilling life.

To view and purchase the App for $2.99 you will need an iPad and click on this link:
https://itunes.apple.com/app/well-being-check-up/id589563823?ls=1&mt=8

Official Media Release:

Busy professionals juggle and struggle with doing and being everything… our lives have become too busy. We have coached many successful people on how to move from living busy lives to living more fulfilling lives and achieving their definition of Well-being. We have designed the Well-being Check-up iPad App to help people stop, pause and reflect on their whole life and get a snapshot of their Well-being. The App offers a Well-Being Wheel Assessment with 10 Dimensions, so you can gain insight into areas like family, health, adventure, work and money. Working professionals are surprised when they discover their scores on these 10 dimensions.  Convenient and affordable at only AUD$2.99, the engage Well-being Check-up App tracks where you are now, where you would like to be and how to get there – perfect for serious New Year resolution-makers.

“The engage Well-being Check-Up App is the culmination of my team’s experience in getting people – and their businesses – to flourish in every area,” says Sarina Sorrenti Co-Creater of the App, engage consulting group.

 “It will take you from living busy to living fully. It’s your own coach on your iPad!

STOP living busy START living fully

January 2013

Busy professionals juggle and struggle with doing and being everything…our lives have become too busy.  We have coached many successful people on how to move from living busy lives to living more fulfilling lives and achieving their full potential.

Many of our clients are grappling with increased responsibilities, global roles and time zones, balancing family and work, keeping healthy, keeping wise and feeling fulfilled. We of course do not have a magic bullet, even though it wouldn’t be a bad R&D opportunity…we do though have a new Well-being Check-up App to increase awareness and focus in this area.

On New Year’s Eve, in between drinks, great food and a lot of laughs a number of my friends lamented their current life balance experiences.  There were common themes - busy lives, feeling tired and not feeling on top of the day to day. On my reflections for 2012 I felt the structure and routine I had put into my life to be extremely efficient and effective and tiring all at the same time.  There were many weeks where I would feel I have given my best to my clients, business and there was little left for my daughter, husband and my dog, let alone myself.  On reflecting on my own well-being over the last 4 weeks of holidays I remembered I could choose to reset my focus and consciously work on my own well-being.  Yes, practicing what I preach does come to mind…

I have a few busy addiction confessions:

-          I like being busy it stops that chatter in my mind (my ego loves creating noise)

-          I was conditioned to work hard and long and put work above all else

-          My identity is strongly linked to achieving and doing not necessarily thinking or being

I am not asking for forgiveness I am just acknowledging these are some of the reasons I have put my own well-being on the back burner.  Another assumption I have is the importance of credibility and being a good role model. So rather than set some goals and plans we developed an iPad Well-being Check- up App.

The Well-being Check-up helps people stop, pause and reflect on their life balance.  The well-being wheel has 10 dimensions; these 10 dimensions are not exhaustive, but are a good place to start.  The check-up gives you a baseline against the 10 dimensions.  The dimensions include Work, Health, Mind, Adventure and Money.

The personal changes I have experienced from focusing on my own well-being so far include giving myself permission to having a well-being day, zip lining 20 metres above the ground in a rain forest, becoming an Apple App developer,  increased health and vitality and more quality times with my family. 

If you are curious about your own well-being and finding out your scores on the well-being wheel our App is being released on January 29^th.  Let us know if you would like us to send you link to the app once it is released.

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Make sure 2013 brings lots of opportunities to live fully.