Ayoba, wellness!

Ayoba is an exuberant expression of general delight or approval. It has its origins on the dance floor where it was used, together with words such as ayeye and ayoyoyo, to express approval or appreciation of good dancing. As with many slang words, no one knows its exact origins but it is believed to have evolved in Johannesburg’s township culture. It is therefore uniquely South African; it is positive, proactive and drives a call to action.

When you enter a competition such as the 2010 soccer event, you prepare for it. You exercise and train, you prepare yourself mentally to become resilient in the face of your opponents, and you follow a nutritional plan that keeps you in top shape. Never do you think that you can sit back and success will come to you! No, ayoba calls you to action! And so does all the thousands of spectators and fans.

Applying this to wellness, ayoba should also call us to action. To ensure your wellness, there are a number of things you can do to improve your chance of achieving your wellness goals:

Set a goal and plan to achieve it

Firstly, set a definite obtainable goal or goals and work out a game plan, that is, how you are going to achieve your goal. If your goal is to lose weight, decide on how much weight you want to lose by when. Don’t be unrealistic; set a goal that you can achieve.

Then start planning, for example how you are going to adapt your diet and how you are going to increase the amount of exercise you are getting.

Build some incentives for yourself into your plan to reward yourself when you achieve milestones on your way to success. For example, buy yourself new clothes when you’ve lost a previously decided number of kilograms.

Become resilient

To be resilient means to be able to recover after setbacks, strong opposition, etc. Resilience also has a lot to do with your belief in yourself and your mental and emotional wellness.

In striving towards wellness, we often experience setbacks. For example, when you stop smoking and succumb to a relapse you will show resilience when you realise that one setback does not mean that you have failed. Resilience will help you to strengthen your resolve to stop smoking. It will also cause you to realise that you have to try harder and be more vigilant during the times when the temptation is stronger.

Enlist others to help you

Sports teams often thank the spectators for their loyal support. In the quest for wellness, it is of great help when family and friends support us in our efforts. For example, if your goal is to control outbursts of anger, ask a friend if you may call him or her at the first sign of a rising temper. This will help you to focus and will help you to stay rational. All important, it will help you to wait before you react to the situation that caused the anger. As you voice your feelings, the anger may well disperse.

Our Employee Wellbeing Programme (EAP) is available 24 hours a day if you want to know more about setting goals to achieve wellness.