It’s very difficult to build wealth in a cardiac recovery room.
It’s very difficult to build wealth if your blood sugar is more volatile that the stock market.
It’s very difficult to build wealth while on various medications each with their own side effects to correct the downsides of the previously added prescription.
It’s very difficult to build wealth if you don’t have any energy.
It’s very difficult to build wealth with failing lungs.
It’s very difficult to build wealth with a liver that has been pickled.
It’s very difficult to build wealth if you are dead…
Longevity is a secret to success. Some may argue along the lines of, “Oh who wants to live to be 80 anyways?” I suppose it may do them good to meet a healthy and active 80 year old that could kick their 62 year old ass.
With age, comes wisdom if you are living a good life. With age, comes the opportunity to use all of the cumulative knowledge and understanding that you have obtained over years and decades. Some of your greatest work, achievements and personal breakthroughs can occur when you are in your 50’s and 60’s because you have assembled the foundations of success that just took time to acquire. Extending your health as long as possible gives you the greatest probabilities of achieving success and happiness.
But what would happen if you reach your peak wisdom years and you don’t have the physical tools to capitalize on those prized assets? What if you are too tired to keep working? What if you can’t think straight? What if you are jacked up on so many prescription medications that your brain function is compromised from creating wonderful and unique thoughts?
If you ignore your health, it will eventually ignore you. That’s just how it works. Take care of the body that takes care of you. It is your greatest asset. Protect it. Nourish it. Strengthen it. Make it more robust. Rest it. Prepare it for the long haul because if you do things right, your long haul can be filled with years of reaping the fruits of all the previous planting seasons.
Our “golden years” should be just that – loaded with gold. Not just financially (although that could easily be part of it too if you work towards it) but the opportunity to create wonderful experiences because you set yourself up for just such a mission. How much fun could you have for decades once you put in the efforts to lay down the foundations of success?
Your future is completely contingent upon your ability to capitalize on it. That means your health will be a make or break item at some point. Life is hard enough as it is. There is no need to expedite your own demise by punishing your greatest asset.
How are you monitoring your greatest asset? How would you answer the following;
- Can you even run a mile anymore? How fast or slow?
- Can you still do pushups? How many?
- Can you bend over and touch your toes with straight legs?
- What are your cholesterol levels?
- How is your blood sugar?
- What body mass index do you have?
- How clean are your arteries and lungs?
- How often do you use substances that are known to harm the human body?
- How many fruits and vegetables do you eat on a regular basis?
- How much processed foods and sugar do you consume?
- How much sleep do you get each night?
- How much stress and anxiety do you absorb day after day?
- How sharp is your mind?
- How much fresh air do you get each day?
- How much sunshine do you expose yourself to?
It is very easy to fool ourselves on our health especially when we are extremely busy, feel very important, have a tremendous amount of responsibilities, and are pushing a pace that is difficult to consistently maintain. Money alone cannot assure you of health. You have to do the basics like everybody else and truth be told, sometimes it is easier to do the basics when we aren’t pursuing hyper paced personal growth in areas like our careers or chasing dollar signs.
We just want to ensure that we aren’t building all of our wealth at the expense of our health so that we could use it down the road to rebuild the very health that we destroyed in pursuit of the wealth. Balance is a key factor that has to be taken seriously.
Good habits lead to good behaviors. Good behaviors lead to good decisions. Good decisions lead to a good life. Live by principles and choose wisely.
Nobody likes Mr. Crabby Pants – so don’t be him. Be happy.