I’m going to take a wild guess: You’re looking at this topic and thinking, “Hmmm, this belongs in a finance blog as much as a snow shovel belongs in Florida.” In a way, you’d be right.
Why am I qualified to talk about health, nutrition, and exercise the way a doctor would? I’m not. However, as someone who has experienced 30 years of war stories from clients, I see the truth day in and day out: stress (self-generated worry and responses to financial problems) and poor health can ruin lives—not just through the most obvious means, but also in so many ancillary ways, ranging from damaging relationships to destroying wealth.
That’s why I believe I’m in a position to help you understand that wealth and health influence each other in a yin-yang kind of way.
I don’t have a prescription pad or a medical degree or any kind of stethoscope to gauge how well your anatomical ticker can handle the stock ticker. Still, I believe that I am qualified to take the position that many financial advisors won’t—that is, your health is as much of a contributor to your wealth as your investment portfolio.
How so? For starters, I hope you have learned my main thesis by now: Wealth is far more than the money in your bank or investment account. It’s also your quality of life and how much you’re able to enjoy and revel in the things you love, using the money that you’ve earned.
Wealth—as I define it—is as much about having quality time and making the time to enjoy it as it is about having quality capital gains. And that’s not even mentioning the fact that staying healthy allows you to do more, avoid medical expenses, and save time managing chronic diseases. The freedom you get from this—time-wise and money-wise—is enormous.
You’ve missed the boat if you find yourself, at 55 or 60 years old, with all the money in the world but hampered by heart disease, diabetes, high blood pressure, or other conditions that you may have been able to prevent. Just in the way that money can’t buy happiness, it can’t buy you a well-functioning body either.
- A stockpile of cash with a stockpile of health issues isn’t what we’re after.
However, if you find yourself in the position of having money and health, then you’ve figured out what matters. You can live life and bathe in all the goodness it has to offer. With security. With strength. With satisfaction. Anything less would mean you have missed the point of what it means to create wealth.
All it takes to get here is to think about your dreams, your desires, and the extraordinary things you want out of life. Maybe it’s taking a dream safari, starting a new hobby, spending quality time with your grandkids who may live a plane ride away, or taking a chance and starting the business of your dreams.
Let’s assume you’ve built the wealth to do the things that you want. That’s great. But how are those dreams affected if you have trouble walking around for more than a few minutes at a time, or if you don’t have the energy to travel across the globe or work long days in a dream job, or if your body simply can’t keep up with those dreams? That’s right. Money can’t make it all better.
That’s why I’m so passionate about trying to help people see that you must concentrate on both aspects of your life, and when you do—not to get all Disney on you—magical things can happen.
My friend Dr. Oz said, “Health and wealth are joined at the hip in so many ways.” The connection is real, and it is powerful.
The American Psychological Association’s study of stress found that 75 percent of Americans cited money as a significant source of stress; other money-related issues were also stress inducers, such as the economy, which stressed 67 percent, and job stability and housing costs, which caused stress responses or stress-like responses for 49 percent of Americans.
Chronic stress has been linked to both short-term ailments (irritability, fatigue, headaches) and more serious long-term diseases. I didn’t always understand this. When I turned 40, I almost felt embarrassed that I had reached that age – and I didn’t want to tell anyone. I wanted to keep it a secret that I was getting older. When I turned 50, things changed.
With age, I grew to appreciate the importance of maintaining my health. I wanted to tell the world that I hadn’t felt this good in years. I realized that I had to make health a priority—not just for myself, but also to help teach my kids about the importance of health in their lives as they grow up.
I believe there are five important principles you must embrace when it comes to getting healthy, using my own life as an example, as well as some of the information that is recommended by respected medical establishments.
1. Put Yourself Under the Microscope
Remember I talked about how finance is one of those personal things that we’re so afraid to talk about? It feels like it’s more taboo than an eyelid tattoo. That sort of privacy is the source of a lot of conflict within families. Because spouses aren’t honest about their finances and what their priorities are, they tend to hide, ignore, and shy away from the truth—and then conflict builds and builds until there’s a financial crisis.
The same holds true for our health. When we know we’re in a little trouble (say our pants aren’t quite fitting, or we took a look at the blood pressure and the numbers nearly broke the machine), we try to hide and ignore the clues that things aren’t going well. We shy away rather than confront them head-on.
That’s the worst thing you can do.
When I turned 50, I took the advice of a fellow CEO with whom I was taking a program called Strategic Coach. He suggested I get a full-scale, head-to-toe health evaluation to grasp fully what was going on inside my body. I decided on the Cooper Clinic in Dallas, and I was amazed at how successfully it worked. I was tested, prodded, poked, evaluated, measured, scanned, and everything else you can think of. I got a full health picture of where I was, how I needed to improve, and what my current risk and hereditary factors were, and was given up-to-date recommendations for making changes.
Boy, did that open my eyes! While I was in very good health, understanding heredity and lifestyle issues added greatly to my knowledge and my own life. By allowing myself to have an honest assessment, I could think about honest answers—answers that would make me healthier and happier. I’ve gone back every year since that first time because one of the most important parts of health diagnostics isn’t just one set of numbers or tests, but how they change over time. I have to tell you: It’s probably the most important investment I’ve ever made.
These executive diagnostics can be expensive. Mine cost me $3,600, which is a lot of money. However, the knowledge I gain and the potential early detection that may arise, as well as the costs it may save because of that early detection, more than justify the price. I would also make the argument that many of us could shift funds to cover those costs.
For example, I’d rather have a less expensive car and use the money in this arena to extend both the quality and the longevity of my life. The benefits are wonderful. One of the things I get is a small data stick drive that allows me to carry my full health data with me in case of an emergency, rather than relying on different hospitals to communicate with each other’s systems, especially if it’s a time-sensitive situation.
Still, you don’t have to have this full-scale assessment to reap the benefits of putting yourself under the metaphorical microscope. At the very least, just having an annual physical and bloodwork can help. You need to have your blood pressure measured and your cholesterol levels checked.
Getting on the scale regularly may help prevent weight gain by giving you some accountability. This process of learning about your body isn’t about embarrassing you, trying to scare you, or making you feel bad if you’re not in magazine-cover shape. It’s about learning about your body so you can make appropriate changes if necessary—just in the way you would do with a portfolio. If you saw a stock was tanking, you’d probably think about what changes you need to make to save your portfolio.
- Do the same for your body, because what you save is much more valuable than any share of stock.
For me, it came down to two things that I gained out of doing this yearly assessment. One, it certainly gives me loads of data about my body, how it changes over time, and what I need to concentrate on when it comes to health, fitness, and nutrition. For example, if my bloodwork notes that my mercury levels are up, I can make efforts to avoid fish with mercury in them, like tuna, tilefish, mackerel, and swordfish. If a certain part of my body shows more weakness than others, I can include exercises that address those weaknesses.
That information, especially as it’s tracked over time, is invaluable—a true (and very tangible) preventative prescription.
Two, I gained something less tangible but just as vital: self-confidence. After my first assessment, the confidence that I gained knowing that I was in good shape gave me a new excitement about my life—with my work, with my family, with my leisure time, and with all of my relationships. That boost of faith—inspiration, really—is something we all can use when trying to create the wealth and financial freedom we all are looking for.
2. Nourish Yourself With Nature’s Most Important Fuel: Food
Yes, it’s the subject of every diet book around—how to eat better and how to exercise more.
There’s plenty of quality nutrition and exercise information out there. However, I recommend the nutrition prescriptions from Dr. Oz and Dr. Michael Roizen, chief wellness officer of the Cleveland Clinic.
I don’t want to spend too much time talking about polyphenols and protein and cardiovascular exercise and the like, but I will tell you this:
- The main principle that has worked for me is that I learned to listen to my body.
That is, how do I like to feel—and not just in the moment, but in the hours after I eat as well? What foods and activities make me feel good, give me energy, help me manage my stress, and allow me to best handle the ups and downs of life? I have found that as I make healthier food choices and eliminate foods that make me feel sluggish, my palate has changed significantly.
I now crave the good stuff: greens, fruits, nuts, grains, and heart-healthy veggies Drs. Oz and Roizen recommend.
The specific answers, of course, may vary for everyone, but I think the real message is that even though pumpkin pie and watching TV on a swallow-you-up couch may feel delightful in the short term, the real energy sources come from eating whole, clean, less processed foods and getting in a regular amount of exercise daily. That’s what leaves you feeling invigorated.
When I eat a salad with some raw walnuts, avocado, and fruit, I feel wonderful.
When I slip into splurging on a burger and fries, I always end up feeling like the gum on the bottom of a shoe—flattened out, stampeded, crusty, and nasty. So what did I learn? I didn’t want to feel like junk, so I stopped eating junk.
I also fill up on the vegetables, salads, and fruits before I eat the less essential pastas, meats, or sauce-laden additions to most meals served at restaurants. Then there is less room in your stomach for less healthy and processed foods.
Despite what the energy drink industry might lead you to believe (and what you may give into as a daily crutch), the real energy sources come from natural and less processed foods, which get our bodies moving.
The Healthier You Are, The More You Can Enjoy Your Wealth
This concept goes back to what I said about being healthy so you can enjoy the wealth you’ve created. But more so, this natural, healthy energy that you get throughout the day better feeds your mind to be able to make smart money decisions, handle stress, and just plain old be better equipped to think about the tough subject of money.
I can’t pretend that a few paragraphs here will help you flip the switch overnight if you’re overweight or having trouble eating well, but I do hope that I’ve convinced you why it’s so important about your wealth.
- Dr. Roizen says it doesn’t take all that much to get started.
As far as activity, the best thing you can do is commit to taking 10,000 steps every day (all you need is a simple pedometer, app, or device that can track steps once you program it to fit your profile). That activity level, along with the intangible things that come along with it (goal-setting, for example), seems to be the magic activity that can improve your health.
Of course, you can integrate more or different activities as well, depending on your interest levels, but those 10,000 steps are a key benchmark, especially for those just getting started.
As far as the food picture goes, that, of course, is a much more difficult task, since that tends to be where most people have their downfalls that lead to poor health outcomes such as obesity and diabetes. So addressing the nutrition issue isn’t an easy one for many people, but as Roizen says, it comes down to changing the environments around you—making sure good foods are around you at home and that you know the best things to order when you’re out.
The simple formula goes like this:
- Eat your meals based on healthy ingredients like lean protein (think chicken or fish), lots of fruits and vegetables, healthy fats (think avocados and nuts), and 100 percent whole grains. Avoid processed foods, excess sugar, refined carbohydrates, and trans fats as much as you can.
If you’d like to see my typical eating and exercise plans, here’s what they look like. I love them. I enjoy the food I eat. Better yet, I enjoy the way it fuels me to live and love my life.
3. Manage Financial Stress to Ease Your Other Stress
There is no health subject more directly tied to wealth than that of stress. Simply, when we don’t have our finances in order, our bodies are a mess, our minds are a mess, and our lives feel like a mess. It’s no secret that financial problems take a huge toll.
You know what? I’m a realist. I’m not going to tell you that a twelve-hand massage and a morning bout of meditation are going to take your troubles away. I can tell you that so-called “stress-busters” may help you feel a little better acutely, but you’ll never feel better chronically if you can’t figure your way out of your financial issues.
The answer to how to de-stress doesn’t lie in punching-bag sessions and candlelight dinners, though they can help.
Instead, the real answer is to get rid of the issues that are stressing you, whether it’s having too much debt or too little savings. Once these big-picture issues are solved, you’ll better manage your stress.
Just as the vicious cycle works in a bad way–the worse your problems, the more you’re stressed–you can reverse it. The better you control your finances, the better you’ll feel. So let this serve as my plea to improve your health by tackling your problems head-on and getting professional financial help if you need it.
- When you work out many of your money issues, some of your body issues will follow.
One thing that does help me is spending some quiet time in the morning by myself. I wake up stress-free, but then I have a little gratitude time—a few moments in prayer and focusing on being grateful for another day of life and what I have to look forward to. Once I establish that, I take some time to establish my priorities for the day; I develop the three most important things I have to do. No matter what else happens, I know that those three things must get done.
I believe this same line of thinking can apply to you whether you’re the CEO or not; all of us in our work lives have to deal not only with our typical tasks but other things that just “come up” during the day.
Prioritizing that list helps take some of the stress away because it permits you to not feel as if you have to finish everything. You tackle what you can, and then move on to the next set of priorities. Of course, it’s very hard for me to generalize since everybody’s work situations (and bosses) are different.
For me, life is about finding a structure that helps you manage the stresses, take care of responsibilities, and win the day.
- Give yourself the time (and resources) to take care of your tasks.
Consider using a tool called WinStreak, which is a simple app to document the three most significant wins from yesterday and plan for the three most important wins for tomorrow. I think you’ll find that stress management is in some ways enhanced by time management.
4. Talk Money To Your Partner
I see this firsthand all the time. Couples who aren’t close are destined for financial failure because they can’t communicate, they can’t articulate their priorities, and they can’t be united. They just fight and fight—or worse—ignore and ignore. The health of your body, mind, and portfolio depends on open and honest communication with your partner. When you do this, you solve problems, prioritize your desires, and work out sticking points.
By extension, your relationship, as well as your wealth, will improve. By developing more intimacy about financial issues, you’ll develop more intimacy in other ways too. Assuming you’re in a partnership in which you share your finances with your partner, you two need to be allies when it comes to finances.
Why? Because the evidence is clear about the risks of not being aligned. If it’s difficult for you or don’t know where to start, here are some strategies to help open up the lines of communication and instill a little more closeness in your life.
5. Your Other Important Docs Are Documents
Much of what we talk about in the health field is about how to prevent problems. That’s for good reason. We’d all rather stop something from getting serious than have to deal with the serious consequences on the back end. Not all of us do it, but that’s the ideal situation.
- Preventing the wound from happening is preferable to treating the wound after it does.
Life, as we all know, is as unpredictable as the mouth of a good comedian. For that reason, we all need to be able to protect our bodies and our estates in the case of an emergency. So when it comes to health, my final recommendation is that you spend time getting all of your important health-related documents together.
I’m talking about more than just insurance policies and the like. I’m talking about wills, your car insurance (how much is covered in the event of the accident), umbrella coverage, long-term care, healthcare directives, and things like long-term disability insurance in case you or your partner are hurt and cannot work, which would significantly change your income, earnings, and wealth.
I should also say that not only is preparing the documents important but so is making sure you have them securely stored. Some choose old-fashioned safety-deposit vaults at banks. Some use secure online systems, while others choose to make sure that their wealth advisors or lawyers have an updated copy. I recommend the latter, and you should also tell your loved ones who have them.
The main question applies not only to those documents but to anything when it comes to health: What have you done to prepare for the vulnerabilities in your life?
The Million-Dollar Body Workout
I like the idea of integrating a weights workout into my routine a couple of days a week because it helps me stay strong, and burn fat.
Muscle helps use more energy so that less of what you eat can turn to fat and helps you avoid injury.
Below is a sample of how you can start lifting some weights, using light dumbbells or resistance bands, if you like. It’s a variation of the programs the head exercise physiologist at The Cooper Clinic designed for me.
Planks
This exercise works your core, specifically the muscles in your abdominals and lower back:
- Get on your toes and elbows and hold your body in a stable position, keeping your back straight.
- Hold for 45 to 60 seconds.
- Repeat three times.
Bridges
This exercise works your core, specifically the muscles in your hips and butt:
- Lie on your back with knees in the air and feet flat on the floor.
- Keep your arms to your sides.
- Raise your hips and butt off the ground, keeping your feet and upper body on the ground.
- Return to the starting position and repeat.
- Do three sets of twelve repetitions.
Ball Squat
This exercise works your legs:
- Place a stability ball against the wall and stand with your back against the ball.
- Lower yourself into a squat, making sure you don’t go lower than your thighs being parallel to the ground.
- Stand back up.
- Do 3 sets of 12 repetitions.
You can do this while holding dumbbells in each hand, also. If you don’t have a ball, do the squats away from the wall, holding the weights.
Shoulder Press
This exercise works your shoulders:
- Standing tall with your feet shoulder-width apart, hold two dumbbells at shoulder height.
- Press them straight up into the air and then lower them.
- Do 3 sets of 12 repetitions.
Ball Lawnmower Rows
This exercise works your back:
- With a medicine ball, stand tall and pull the ball from your waist up toward your shoulder, like starting a lawnmower, but using both hands.
- Do 3 sets of 12 repetitions, alternating which side you pull toward.
Push-ups
This exercise works your chest, arms, shoulders, and core:
- You can perform standard push-ups or on your knees instead of your toes if you can’t do traditional ones.
- Do 3 sets of 12 repetitions.
Curls
This exercise works your biceps:
- Stand holding dumbbells in each hand to your side.
- Curl one weight up so that your elbow stays in the position and the weight comes near your chest.
- Lower the weight, then alternate.
- Repeat so you do 3 sets of 12 repetitions on each arm.
Final Thoughts
None of my advice is meant to substitute for the advice of healthcare pros, but there are some overriding themes that you should consider as you embark on your wealth-creating journey. After all—and I’ll be blunt—your pile of money will be useful for your heirs, but wouldn’t it be better if you could enjoy a good chunk of it with them?
I want nothing more than for all of you to have sufficient financial gain so you can live with the more holistic definition of wealth that I use. One part of that equation is about the foods you eat, the care you have for your body, the communication you’re able to have with your partner, and all of the things that influence your physical and mental health.
Stay healthy, stay wealthy – both in your personal life and your financial one.