Real Wellbeing Beyond 'GDP'

"Successful people are always looking for opportunities to help others. Unsuccessful people are always asking, 'What's in it for me?'" Brian Tracy

Quite often 'wellbeing', like CSR, seems to be a very poor relative of the profit motive. Let's face it though, with the advent of artificial intelligence, making an increasing number of jobs obsolete, you have to wonder, "what are we going to do instead?" In a world of finite resources, UK Plc's national economic model of ever-increasing GDP seems increasingly crazy. Is consumerism and 'buying stuff' really the antidote to the human condition and global chaos? Why, for decades, have we become 'consumers' rather than citizens, human beings or people? More to the point, what other ways of being might be more meaningful and free us from destroying our planet?

I remember being struck by a line spoken by Patrick Stewart in "Star Trek: First Contact", where he explains to someone from the 21st century how the "economics of the future are somewhat different" and that money does not exist. He then describes how "the acquisition of wealth is no longer the driving force in our lives" that instead "we work to better ourselves, and the rest of humanity." Okay, Star Trek might not be the most 'hip' example but it strikes me that we are now at the point where we have to decide if we want to pursue a greater goal or continue into the abyss of our own making. Real wellbeing for the majority has to start with a change of motivation and a realisation that there is more to life than the very narrow definition of happiness = ever increasing consumption, in a false Zero Sum Game of 'winners and losers', which was assume is the only way of doing things...

For me, activities like meditation, creative writing, and art are powerful ways to change lives, which is why I created www.creativity4wellbeing.com for our global community. Of course there are so many other things like dance, music and yoga, etc., that can help people recover from mental and physical illness and maintain wellbeing. Whether we like it or not, we are in the midst of great change and it is up to us whether we take the opportunity to help shape a positive outcome or hide and hope it all goes away.

Richard K Potter BA Hons PGCE MA

www.richardkpotter.com and www.creativity4wellbeing.com