Healthy, Wealthy & Wise - 4 ways to prioritize your health to maximize your wealth

As women we fill many roles in today’s world – business owner, stay-at-home wife and mother, single mother, college student, etc. One thing we all have in common is basic needs and most likely some more than basic wants. With everything we see in the media or even at our next door neighbor’s house, it’s easy for us to get confused about what makes us wealthy.

Most of us spend each day pursuing some of these needs and wants, whether it is a long-term dream, some material possession or a paycheck to make the light bill at the end of the month. Just as we pursue these things, we need to pursue good health. After all, what good are these things if we do not have the energy, stamina, or desire to enjoy them? Here are my recommendations for making your health your greatest wealth.

1. Prioritize your health – Make your health a priority above all else. Develop a healthy lifestyle and schedule around it rather than trying to fit it in at the end of a busy day. 
2. Schedule your workouts – Mark out at least 30 minutes a day, 3 days a week to do some form of moderate exercise. If this means getting up 30 minutes earlier each day, do so. 
3. Prepare your meals in advance – Being prepared is the key to success in all things, including a healthy lifestyle. Take time to prepare your menus and meals ahead of time.  This is especially important for busy people. Our tendency to grab something on the go has led to 69% of Americans over 20 being overweight or obese. If you don’t have time to do this, hire someone to do it for you. It is that important to your success.
4. Get an adequate amount of sleep each night – We’ve all heard the old saying, “Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.” More and more studies show that the average adult needs 7 hours of sleep each night. Anything less leads to added stress, weight gain and other related health issues. 

I often remind my clients about a very important life lesson taught on commercial airplanes – “secure your own mask first”. If you’ve ever traveled on a commercial airline, you‘ve heard the attendant say something like this, “In the event of decompression, an oxygen mask will drop down in front of you. If you are traveling with children or seated next to someone who needs assistance, secure your own mask before assisting others.” Just like we are useless to others if we cannot breath, we cannot adequately pursue our needs and wants when we are not taking proper care of ourselves.  

I challenge you this month to put these principles into practice. I guarantee you will find that you are more productive and energized as a result.