Health Vs. Wealth
Health vs wealth; an age-old debate. Where do your priorities stand?
A lot of us say we prioritize our health over wealth but we aren’t always living that way.
Some ask, “Don’t you need wealth in order to afford health?” And, “Can you be healthy without spending a ton of money?”
In this blog, I debate these concerns and conclude with a simple strategy for prioritizing what matters when it comes to your health and well being.
Let’s get into the discussion…
If you have enough wealth you can just buy good health, right?
Ok, so… to an extent wealth can buy health.
If you have enough money you can certainly afford to spend more on your health.
You could buy better quality organic foods at your local market.
You could buy high-quality whole food supplements like a good multivitamin, probiotic, protein powder, magnesium, zinc, and everything else you need.
You could afford to get massages often and work with a personal sports physical therapist or fitness coach.
All of these things are more accessible if your income is more expendable.
You can hire the professionals, buy the quality food, but you still have to put in the work.
There’s nothing wrong with any of these things. In fact, they can be great things to spend money on. But you don’t NEED all of these things; especially when you are just starting out or have been out of the game for awhile. There are plenty of things you can do that are relatively inexpensive or even free.
You don’t have to be wealthy to be healthy
Walking is free.
Bodyweight exercise is free.
And you will likely save money by preparing food at home as opposed to eating out.
The way I like to think of it is-
So what you have wealth if you are sick, have low energy, and can’t enjoy it.
In my opinion, health comes first and you can’t have wealth without it.
I’ve been asking this question of health vs. wealth a lot lately and the majority say they prioritize their health over wealth.
A lot of us say we prioritize our health first but we don’t always act on it.
We stay up late and sacrifice sleep for work.
We often work long hours without giving ourselves a mental break.
We work so hard and so much that we neglect to plan and prepare healthy meals and we end up picking up some crappy food because it’s cheap and convenient.
Some days we end up sitting at a desk for hours on end and don’t give ourselves a break to get up and get some fresh air. We get so caught up in the day to day busyness that our health takes a place or two beneath our work prioritizes.
I understand the hustle, I understand that some days that’s just the way it is. As busy professionals, it may not be realistic to workout 5 days per week, get 7-9 hours of sleep each night, and eat only healthy meals throughout the week.
But if we say we prioritize our health before wealth then there need to be clear signs of action towards that on a regular basis. We can’t do it all but we should have some sort of standard that we can fall back on.
My advice is this-
Put together a reasonable list of all of the things that are important to you when it comes to your health.
Take that list and cross off everything that is a little ambiguous or unrealistic right now. You want to shorten it to the things that are specific and realistic to accomplish on a weekly basis. And if you go through your list during the week and feel overwhelmed and you aren’t accomplishing them all, then I suggest shortening and simplifying it even more until you are actively accomplishing your list each week.
Doing this will help you prioritize the healthy habits that matter most to you so you can spend more time on them. Your list will likely change over time so keep updating it as new goals and agendas arise.
Closing thoughts
It is true that having more wealth can give you access to more healthy resources. But I’d say most of us aren’t utilizing and prioritizing the resources we already have.
If we say we prioritize our health, it should show in our daily lives. It may be helpful to come up with a list of everything that matters to us when it comes to health-
Exercising X numbers of days per week
Eating mostly locally and unprocessed foods
Getting X number of hours of sleep each night
And anything else we decide is important to us
Take your list and prioritize what is most important and strive to hit those goals on a weekly basis.
If you prioritize your health by exercising, eating well, and getting enough sleep, you will be more efficient with your work, you will have more energy, and ultimately, you can earn more wealth.
You can always make more money but we have one physical body to live in for the rest of our lives. Treat it well and it will treat you well for years to come.