MAKE YOUR HEALTH A PRIORITY

We save for uncertain times or for that one important thing we want to buy someday. For the kids' college tuition, a trip around the world, or maybe it sounds appealing to still invest the money you don't need right away in stocks. Ensuring emotional stability is important and it would be short-sighted to say that money does not play an important role. Yet,we often forget to look at the investment closest to us, which is cheap but offers great returns. The investment in physical capital, or your health.

The body is an amazing tool. Not like an expensive guitar hanging on the wall as a showpiece, but rather like an intensively used classic, which, if properly maintained, only becomes more beautiful and valuable through frequent use. Our bodies are made to overcome resistance. The simple concept of adapting and getting stronger through straining your body is as old as our nature.

We underload our bodies

Body and mind are more flexible than many people think. However, you may fall into the trap faster. The trap of constantly underloading your body. Daily life often lacks the need to take physical action. As smart as we are, we have scrapped all physical strain as much as possible from our modern lives. Where my grandmother used to take the cart to the market and sit on a small wooden stool to milk the cows, we join traffic jams and type our butts off behind our laptops and smartphones. Brains largely shut down when watching TV, lungs are in hibernation mode after a day at the office, and the tiny muscles around your spine weaken from sitting still in your office chair for hours.

The deterioration is slow

You don't realize that you are a mollusk slipping further and further away from the man who once hunted and gathered his living. Unfortunately, the positive effects of training and exercise remain short-lived. Everything you build up in short order can disappear like snow after a few weeks of doing nothing. That's not a motivating thought. So why even invest in your health?

Start prioritizing

The hidden problem is the illusion that you can become healthier by following a short schedule, exercising a few times, or testing a nutrition regimen for a few weeks. All nice to do, but the real gain is in persistence. It's in owning your behaviors, which you know are helpful. A healthy life doesn't start with a schedule, it starts with your list of priorities.

How important do you think your health is?

Do you agree that being healthy gives you more resistance to diseases? You have more energy for all the plans you have? Your brain functions better and you sleep more pleasantly? You are generally happier and more resilient? You are generally more mobile and energet?

You have to believe it yourself

I'm not going to quote the mountain of scientific research here that proves the above. These are cold numbers that hardly anyone checks and convince few people. What matters is that you believe it and that the above is important to you. Because only when you do, you make conscious choices to invest in it. You don't invest in something where the returns are minimal while the investment is high. It is only when you realize that by moving every day, moving weights regularly, and increasing your heart rate every now and then, you are making a small investment that will bring you great happiness and health in the long run,. That investment is a no-brainer.

A good health is your most valuable asset

Don't think of health as speculating on a stock that you hope will bring you huge returns in the short term. Think of it as a return that cannot be monetized. Just ask those currently suffering from a severe illness what the most valuable asset in their life is and they will answer: good health.

At the end of the day, we don't own everything in our lives. In fact, if you think about it, quite little. Even health is not something we own. It is something that happens to us and depends on many factors. But, you can influence those factors. The next time you're in doubt about buying stocks or setting up savings for that fancy trip, check first that you've already made the most important investment: in your health. Make it happen right away. Put it at the top of your priority list and enjoy your well-earned returns.