How would you rate your spiritual health?

At the start of a new year, many of us set goals to be more intentional about our health.  We decide to go dry or veggie after the excessive eating and drinking over the holiday season. We join gyms and commit to exercise in search of a more physically healthy lifestyle.  Whilst these seasonal and physical cues make us aware of the need to assess our physical health and take action, it can be much harder to assess and act upon our spiritual health.  Many would not know where to start or even actively avoid doing so for fear of what we may find in a life examined.  Attending a carol service or watching a nativity to consider why we celebrate Christmas does not really have the same effect on church memberships as turkey dinners and champagne do for gyms. 

We are often too busy to stop and examine our life, only to ask questions about our spiritual health when we are soul-searching for answers to events we can’t explain, actions we regret or challenges to our identity.  It is just easier to get on with the life we have than consider if this is the life I am meant to be living.   Religious sources of spiritual health can be profound experiences guided by a connection to a divine knowing that resides deep within the soul.  They provide us with a sense of our true self, a community of care and a greater purpose to serve.  However, the quest for spiritual health is not the purview of those who practice religion alone.   

In the business world, issues often become mainstream and legitimate when the management consultancy McKinsey starts to write about them.  In a recent research study, they defined spiritual health as encompassing having meaning in one’s life, a sense of connection to something larger than oneself, and a sense of purpose.  They sampled 41,000 respondents across generational cohorts in 26 countries, and found the vast majority said spiritual health is ‘somewhat’ to ‘extremely important’ to them, including those who did not identify with any religious affiliation.   Although not groundbreaking, it highlights a challenge about how to engage in this important aspect of ourselves that we may not be comfortable acknowledging in a professional context.

I am like many of the leaders I coach who have spent significant parts of their lives working hard to achieve good grades, a good job, to be a good child, spouse, parent, citizen in the community and a force for good in the world.   This striving to be “good” in the eyes of the world can bring many rewards, but it can also be tiring and come at a cost to your mental, emotional and physical health.  Could the goal in life then be less about finding out what we are good at doing, but more about what we are created to do? 

I can attest to the cost of striving and performing and now live with lessons learned from a diagnosis of a bipolar condition and back surgery on my L5S1 vertebra, which at 30 stopped me in my tracks.  I needed to do some soul-searching about why I was leading this life and where it was heading.  Conveniently lying on my back away from work to rest and recover from the surgery gave me time.  Assessing my spiritual health was completely foreign at this point, as everything seemed to be going to plan. Therefore, taking time identify it, assess it and nurture it was hard.   Unlike going to the gym, grabbing a coffee or watching Netflix to take a break and get away, investing in spiritual health requires attention, stillness, waiting and listening to wrestle with big questions.  There are no shortcuts or quick fixes.  If we are to find our calling in life, we must make time to hear from the Caller. 

The leaders I work with are at significant transition points in their lives.  Some are being positioned as successors for top jobs, some are taking over the family business, and for some, it is time to leave a legacy and move on.  Some are becoming fathers, some are returning from maternity leave, and some just need someone to care about them.  Despite the different contexts, what I have found common to all is anxiety about what the unknown future will hold and who they are meant to be in it.  With increasing frequency, a moment will occur in our conversations about strategy, stakeholders, and challenges when it becomes appropriate to make an invitation to consider ‘what is your soul yearning to tell you right now?’  After a period of quiet inward reflection, a voice will softly reply, 'I don’t really know, as I have not asked this question of myself before.' Shortly, after a settling and more silence as we sit together, a knowing from deep within begins to surface. 

To be fully whole and healthy, we need to be attentive to the different parts of ourselves and engage with what is. When we want to get physically healthy, we turn to personal trainers and fitness coaches.  When we want to get mentally or emotionally healthy, we turn to a counsellor or a therapist.  Who can we turn to when we want to get spiritually healthy and find purpose and meaning? 

Despite all the research demonstrating attention to spirituality being important to health, coping strategies, meaning making, and life satisfaction, it rarely has space to be discussed and integrated into our professional lives.  I believe we all need to consider our spiritual health in the choices we make and have what I call a Soul Coach.  For some, this may be a Pastor, Rabbi or Imam, or maybe an elder who has experience of a life well lived. Importantly, it needs to be someone who can hold a space and help us connect with the ancient wisdom that lies within.  Someone who can help us consciously make everyday choices that our soul can live with, so we don't need to go in search of it when it can't.

Reflect and Respond:

What purpose do you serve beyond the busyness of roles and titles? Is your soul proud of the decisions you make and the business you do? How can you cultivate spiritually healthy habits and practices?

If you want to talk more personally, you can connect here.

Go Deeper..

Coe, E., & Enomoto, K. (2024, May 13). In search of self and something bigger: A spiritual health exploration. Mckinsey.com; McKinsey & Company.

Guinness, O. (2001). The Call: Finding and fulfilling the central purpose of your life. Authentic Lifestyle.

Ouwehand, E. (2024) “Religious experiences in the context of bipolar disorder: Serious pathology and/or genuine spirituality? A narrative review against the background of the literature about bipolar disorder and religion,” Religions, 15(3), p. 274.

Tracy A. Balboni et al., “Spirituality in serious illness and health,” JAMA, July 2022, Volume 328, Number 2