Wellbeing is a fuzzy concept that lacks a consensus definition. It is often described as a combination of happiness and life satisfaction, although some criticize the focus on feeling good as rather shallow, favoring instead a concept of wellbeing that recognizes the value of living a meaningful life. However, it may be too much to expect people to live both feel-good and meaningful lives. Sure, a good number do manage that trick (at least if you read their posts and obituaries) but many don’t - largely because what makes people happy and satisfied tends not to be what makes their lives meaningful. Here’s a summary of some relevant research:

Satisfying one’s needs and wants increased happiness but was largely irrelevant to meaningfulness. Happiness was largely present oriented, whereas meaningfulness involves integrating past, present, and future. For example, thinking about future and past was associated with high meaningfulness but low happiness. Happiness was linked to being a taker rather than a giver, whereas meaningfulness went with being a giver rather than a taker. Higher levels of worry, stress, and anxiety were linked to higher meaningfulness but lower happiness. Concerns with personal identity and expressing the self contributed to meaning but not happiness. - Baumeister, Vohs, et al. (2013). "Some key differences between a happy life and a meaningful life."

Let’s hope that wellbeing is never understood as a simple idea with clear implications for what individuals should want for themselves.  Wellbeing should never become a one-size-fits-all aspiration. That said, I do favor a particular approach to wellbeing, known as Self-Determination Theory (SDT), which is compatible with wellbeing as feel-good and wellbeing as living a meaningful life.  

According to SDT, three basic needs are essential to psychological wellbeing. These are autonomy (feeling agency, the ability to act on goals and values), competence (feeling able and effective), and relatedness (a sense of belonging and being connected to others).  Which brings us to engagement.

Per Collins Dictionary, if something engages you or your attention or interest, it keeps you interested in it and thinking about it. Engaging activities often feel both satisfying and meaningful - the best of both worlds! Plus, feelings of autonomy, competence, and relatedness tend to increase engagement, just as they do wellbeing. Not that engagement and wellbeing are exactly the same thing: spending several hours a day playing video games or checking one’s social media feed may be engaging, but over time would probably leave one feeling unfulfilled, anxious, lonely, unhappy, and without purpose. On the other hand, a life without engagement would be depressing. And a depressing life fits nobody’s idea of wellbeing.

Next: What makes a job more engaging?

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References

Baumeister, R. F., K. D. Vohs, et al. (2013). "Some key differences between a happy life and a meaningful life." The Journal of Positive Psychology 8(6): 505-516. DOI: 10.1080/17439760.2013.830764

Peters, D., R. A. Calvo, et al. (2018). "Designing for Motivation, Engagement and Wellbeing in Digital Experience." Frontiers in Psychology 9(797). https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.00797

Ryan, R. M., and Deci, E. L. (2017). Self-Determination Theory: Basic Psychological Needs in Motivation, Development, and Wellness. New York, NY: Guilford Press. ]