FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What is well-being and what does it mean?

Well-being typically refers to a person’s inner sense, and comprises five essential elements: Health, Career, Finance, Social and Community, all of which are closely interconnected and influence each other. Factors that can positively influence an individual’s well-being include a love for what they do each day, good relationships with others, a strong financial position, robust health and pride in their contribution to society.

Can I trust you and is your system evidence-based?

Scientists at the Gallup Institute in the United States have studied the requirements for well-being for over 50 years. Through research that encompasses participants from over 150 countries, they have concluded that there are five universal statistical indicators affecting well-being and happiness in life. These five universal indicators are key contributing factors in everyone’s happiness, regardless of their situation. For this reason, our algorithm is oriented around them.

We have developed an elite team comprising leading experts in each of the individual life areas and, using cutting-edge knowledge and best practices, created a scientifically proven and expert-designed holistic system for measuring the basic elements of a person’s quality of life. We anticipate that by collating our life data, we will be able to create a valuable knowledge-based system that will allow us to make a discernible difference to people’s lives. Our mission is to become a source of scientific thought and independent research.

The questionnaire that we use to measure health was founded on methodologies developed by leading scientific institutes, including the World Health Organization, the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (CRF index, cardiorespiratory fitness, which is a marker of cardiovascular disease risk), and both local and global medical associations.

The questionnaire that relates to social well-being was developed by trusted experts the PCC ICF coach.

The methodology for assessing career well-being is based on the experience, methodologies and practices of the global American leadership and headhunting consulting company Heidrick & Struggles, and the Kingston CIPD IHRM Masters program, which is an international training and development program specifically designed for HR professionals (UK).

The Living Environment questionnaire uses quality of life ratings, such as Mercer Guides.

Why so many questions?

The number of questions we ask has been determined by trusted experts to be necessary to provide an accurate and reliable result. Our questions are not only used for assessment purposes, but are also a key component of a nudging system. In their book “Nudge”, Nobel Laureate Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein described nudging systems thus: each question forms a certain parameter within the expert model, with your answers generating a hypothesis (diagnosis), and this hypothesis then creating recommendations.

In order to develop an objective picture and achieve an accurate result, we need objective and accurate data. Nevertheless, you can skip questions, fill out only one element of well-being, or provide partial answers if necessary. Questions are asked gradually.

Which components are included in the elements of well-being that you measure?

Each element of well-being includes specific parameters:

The Physical Health element includes a questionnaire which evaluates:

- medical risks;

- physical activity;

- stress level;

- quality of food;

- bad habits, including alcohol addiction, smoking and eating disorders.

The Social element includes questions that evaluate:

- the quality of relationships with family members;

- the quality of relationships with friends;

- level of community involvement;

- level of hobbies.

The Career element includes the following factors:

- the personal brand equity;

- career consistency;

- job satisfaction;

- business responsibility.

The Finance element consists of 3 modules:

- security - the quality of disposition of income;

- independence - the level of readiness for lack of income;

- wealth - sufficiency of current savings.

The Environment element includes an assessment of:

- the quality of the workplace/office;

- the quality of the place of residence.

What aspects of my life does well-being affect?

Well-being deals with how a person feels, and moreover, how sustainable his or her life is as a whole. A person’s close circle (friends and friends of friends) can have a significant impact on their well-being, whilst the chances of being happy increase by 15% if their environment is happy. The impact a happy environment has on well-being is greater than that of income growth. Environment can affect weight, habits and lifestyle in a variety of ways. Meanwhile, having close friends at work is likely to increase social engagement sevenfold. However, it is the quality of the relationship that is important rather than the number of friends.

Those who enjoy a high level of professional well-being typically have twice the chance of succeeding in life compared with those who do not. Conversely, a lack of interest in work is often one of the causes of depression and health risks.

It may come as a surprise that money is not the best measure of financial well-being. In reality money only matters until a person has enough money to satisfy their basic needs. For this reason, when two people receive the same salary and undertake the same responsibilities, one may consider the remuneration adequate, whereas the other may not. People with a high level of professional well-being are generally more satisfied with their salaries than those with low salaries.

Decisions that are either clearly useful or clearly harmful accumulate over time and shape our lives. Ultimately, our life’s worth of events reflect not only on us, but also on our children and subsequent generations.

The well-being of one’s living environment can be the deciding factor between a good life and a wonderful one. It is not enough simply to settle in a suitable place, one must also participate in the life of the social community. Good deeds make life worthwhile.

Over the past decades, many studies have supported the notion that well-being affects workplace motivation. Further to this, a direct link has been drawn between well-being and business results.

Studies have shown that people with a high level of well-being:

- are full of energy and have positive emotions;

- are less likely to feel unwell;

- are less likely to miss work;

- deliver better performance;

- are less likely to seek new employment opportunities.

Why should I fill out a questionnaire?

We use the information you provide in the questionnaire to analyze key elements of your life. This allows us to provide you with information about your level of well-being and your strengths, along with any areas of risk or growth. Awareness will instigate change.

Our service extends beyond simply asking questions. Indeed, our questions form part of a broader well-being development platform. The questions help in developing awareness and increasing productivity. We seek not only to measure well-being, but develop it too, with our questionnaire being just one of a suite of the tools we employ .

The questionnaire itself contains a broad range of questions, which means that you will not have to complete separate surveys on stress, health, bad habits, activities and so forth, as we have found an innovative method for combining the most effective, accurate and comprehensive questions on each of the essential elements into one convenient tool.

I know what I need to do to improve my well-being, so can I manage it by myself?

We believe that without data, all you have is an opinion. Whilst your opinion is perfectly valid, it is entirely subjective and may therefore not correspond with reality. So, while you may think you know what you need, this is not necessarily the case. More importantly, blindly following an opinion has been shown to lead to short-term nonstability results, loss of time and money. To mitigate this, we strongly recommend you obtain credible, objective information regarding your level of well-being.

Why is your questionnaire better than others?

Our questionnaire contains approximately 200 questions, which allow us to assess the five elements of well-being in one easy to use tool. This number is significantly lower than comparable services, although it still delivers valid, objective results. To offer an example, in order to assess alcohol dependence, we use the scientifically-based CAGE, which encompasses the lowest number of questions of all available assessment methods (just four questions).

If you’re short on time, you don’t need to answer all the questions in one go. Simply complete the questionnaire at your convenience. You will be prompted to complete any outstanding questions via system-generated push notifications.

I have completed the questionnaires and received my Life Index. What’s next?

Thank you for your patience and for investing in knowledge! We hope that the process of completing the questionnaires has sparked your interest in improving your quality of life! This is where the personal Life Index comes in. This tool allows you to easily analyse where you currently stand in life. You can compare this information with others and determine where you’re doing well, and which aspects of life concern you. This will help you to adequately assess your priorities and place greater emphasis on areas in which you are lacking. To achieve this, we will help you to estimate the benefits of acting, and valuate “the price of doing nothing”. In addition, we will support you throughout all phases of change, in order to make notable improvements in your life. To help you in this journey, we have selected leading specialists in all areas of life, who will be able to help you secure a life balance that is right for you .

As you progress through the questions, the platform will interact with you; providing advice and recommendations which you can either accept or reject. The system will also provide additional materials, analyze your personal report and outline your strengths and ways in which to develop them.

How frequently do I need to complete the questionnaires, and what are the long-term benefits of your service?

We will determine this together. Depending on your specific situation and the actions you take, the frequency will vary from monthly to annually. However, we will provide you with recommendations on a regular basis, along with progress analyses. Following subsequent analyses, the system will self-learn and provide you with valuable recommendations and advice that is specific to you. Therefore, the value of the system will increase over time.

Who will I be compared to and why?

We provide you with an opportunity to benchmark your Index in relation to each area of life against other users. The system allows you to refine the benchmark by filtering by location, gender and age. Alternatively, you can compare the total level of well-being, or by the individual elements of well-being.

We believe that healthy competition is a powerful motivator, and comparing yourself to others provides perspective and challenges, whilst also helping to increase belief in yourself, which leads to conscious change. This way, one empowers themselves to improve their skills and facilitate self-development.

Do I need to complete all questionnaires to receive my Life Index?

Not necessarily. Your Index for a certain area of life will appear on the screen immediately after you have answered several critically important questions. This Index will initially have a low level of accuracy, though this will increase as you answer more questions. You will see the improvement in accuracy in a scalable form. It is likely to be of benefit to you if you answer as many questions as possible. Whilst this is due to a number of reasons, it is also the best way to ensure value for money - the more answers you provide, the more bonus points you will receive.

What kind of tool is the platform?

This is a cross-platform solution. The service is available on Ios (iPhone) and Android mobile applications, and also as a standard web-version.

Once you have signed in, you will be able to access the platform from anywhere, as all your data is saved and accessible at your convenience.

Are there any differences between the mobile application and the web-version?

Yes, there are. The main difference is that online recommendations (as push notifications) can only be sent to mobile applications. A questionnaire, personal indexes and a personal report order are all available via the site and application. The mobile applications also allow for additional dynamic advice and new questions.

Why should I trust you with my personal information, and what are your confidentiality and security practices when it comes to data storage and analysis?

The service does not require your personal data to run its processes. If you wish, you may remain completely anonymous and complete the data boxes with approximate values. For instance, the system allows you to select a username rather than using your real one.

We do realise, however, that in some cases we will require personal or re-identifiable information in order to provide our premium quality of service. To achieve this, we have developed all necessary processes and created optimal conditions to ensure the safe storage and analysis of your data. The conditions are all in compliance with current law.

Another factor to consider in trusting us with your confidential information is that we work independently of providers and sellers. In other words, we do not sell your data.

Are you licensed to provide regulated types of care, such as medical?

As outlined in our User Agreement, the Company does not provide any regulated services (including but not limited to medical care) that require any special form of registration, licensing, certification or governmental approval. In particular, we do not offer medical diagnostics, or provide compulsory recommendations and advice. Nor do we prescribe medications or perform any form of medical care that has to be licensed according to Russian law. The contents of any publicly displayed materials, including web sites and mobile apps, including but not limited to text, images and graphs, are for informational purposes only and cannot be used as a substitute for professional medical and other certified/licensed care, diagnostics or treatment.

How different are you from other services and trackers?

Very. We’ll outline some of the key differences below:

1. Our focus is on Life as a whole, not just separate components, such as nutrition, finance, fitness and so forth.

2. We use a unique, complex analysis system which generates an Index – for several life aspects!

3. We employ a unique system to benchmark the Indices.

4. Our pioneering hybrid system of advice and recommendations represents a symbiosis of human and artificial intelligence.

5. We merge the unique expertise of our founders with that of our engaged experts.

6. Aggregation of the best services and expertise for life and wealth.

How different is your service from coaching?

Coaching is a consulting and training method through which a coach supports the coachee to achieve a specific goal, living standard or profession. We, however, focus on your overall well-being, which may complement coaching. This means that our mentors will share their experience, knowledge and skills with you during your entire period of engagement.

What improvements and functionality can I expect from the service in the near future?

We hope to continue growing and evolving continuously. The next major improvements we hope to implement are:

1. Expanding the knowledge database.

2. A new area – “Personal development”.

3. A new area – “Conscious consumption”.

4. Webinars, seminars and other educational initiatives.

5. Opportunity to complete the best, internationally acclaimed psychology tests, including the renowned burnout tests.

6. Remote integration with employee support programs (EAP services).

Lifeaddwiser – add wisdom to your life.