If you want to be rich, you would do well to study the mindset of wealthy people. If you examine carefully, you will discover that wealthy people actually think differently about money and business than people who are bankrupt or who simply live paycheck to paycheck, which is nearly half of America.
If you want to be thin, you would do well to study the mindset of people who are naturally slim. If you study carefully, you will find that they are not constantly on a diet. While they exercise regularly, they generally don’t overexercise and they don’t alternate between bingeing and starving. They have a healthy relationship with food. They have non-food methods of dealing with their emotions. You can take them anywhere – on vacation or to a five-star restaurant – and they won’t overeat. They think very differently than the 35 percent of American adults who are obese.
If you want to be healthy, part of what is necessary and helpful, I feel, is to develop the mindset of a naturally healthy person.
I feel that this is an overlooked step that would turn so many people’s lives around if they only wrapped their head around it.
Why do I feel this is so important?
I see so many clients who are currently suffering from some disease. Their mindset is to do what is necessary to overcome the cancer, the diabetes, the broken bones, the hip pain – and then to go back to their old ways. They take their drugs, do the surgery and then go back to overeating, under exercising and generally ignoring their body’s cries for water, rest, nutrition or attention.
When you have a healthy mindset, as I do, it is often shocking how little so many people appreciate basic things about their health.
I see so many clients with a serious diagnosis from their medical doctor – Parkinson’s, fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, adrenal burnout, diabetes, hip pain and back pain for starters – whose entire life could be totally turned around – physically, mentally, emotionally, energetically and spiritually – if they simply thought differently and took advantage of holistic alternative medicine.
Part of what I have to do when working with my clients is to empower them to appreciate the benefits of being healthy and feeling great. This is often like taking people on a trip to a country they have never actually visited before. They simply have no clue because they have never been there.
I see so many people who make decisions based on short-term cost rather than long-term benefit.
An obvious example of this is people who live on fast food because it’s cheap but who do not add up the long-term cost of the money they then have to spend on drugs, doctors and surgery to compensate for their “cheap” eating. Here’s a few sobering statistics to make you recognize why this choice is just plain dumb:
In the state of Georgia, the average cost for a one-day hospital stay:
- State/local government hospitals — $840
- Non-profit hospitals — $1,602
- For-profit hospitals — $1,139
United States
• State/local government hospitals — $1,625
• Non-profit hospitals — $2,025
• For-profit hospitals — $1,629
It used to be that I would discuss the cost-benefit ratio with clients and I would often hear, “Well if I have a heart attack, my insurance will just pay for it.” Now with the health care landscape changing dramatically, I feel it’s more important than ever to change this attitude.
What is the mindset of a naturally healthy person?
Here are my observations:
- Naturally healthy people begin by making the assumption that they are going to live a long time. This is an important place to begin because all their thinking is long-term thinking. When you think long-term, you are able to forgo short-term gratification for long-term benefits. In fact, one of my best friends says the difference between high class and low class people is this very ability to defer short-term gratification for long-term payoffs. Just as wealthy people have a long-term strategy for saving and investing to support their lifestyle, naturally healthy people have a long-term plan for staying healthy.
- Because they assume they are going to live well into their 90s or even reach 100 years of age, they exercise in ways that will keep their body mobile, strong and resilient. That means they don’t do exercise that is damaging, such as triathlons. They choose an exercise regime that they can keep up every day and every week because they recognize that they will be needing to work out every week for the rest of their lives. Just as wealthy people have investment vehicles that make them money day in and week out, healthy people have exercise programs and often personal trainers or exercise classes they belong to that keep their bodies working through their 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s.
- Because they recognize that the food they eat literally builds their body or destroys it, they eat moderately. They choose a wide range of nutrient dense foods so that they can feed their brains, muscles and bones forever. They generally have educated themselves about nutrition and know about what foods are actually healthy. Just as wealthy people have educated themselves about different kinds of investments, healthy people know what different foods do for their bodies.
- Healthy people have created a lifestyle for themselves that balances work, rest and play. They challenge themselves and give their souls opportunities to continue to grow, but they also make daily stress management and weekly rest a major priority. In short, they don’t blow themselves out. They have hobbies and non-work activities that make them happy. Just as wealthy people have a diversified investment portfolio, healthy people have made a conscious choice to integrate their lives in ways that will keep them happy and healthy through the seasons and ages of their lives.
- Healthy people have health-investment advisors who can keep them up to date on the latest information. These are generally alternative medicine practitioners who teach them what they themselves can do. Just as wealthy people have investment advisors with whom they can discuss strategies and keep becoming wealthier and wealthier, health afficionados know the people who can keep them up to date with the latest health information and who can help them keep taking their nutrition, exercise and self care to the next level so that they can keep becoming healthier and healthier.
- Healthy people spend the money on nutritious food and on the exercise regimes that keep them feeling great. They recognize that eating their fruits and vegetables is cheaper in the long run than spending money on drugs and doctors. They budget for their exercise to heal themselves rather than wasting time interviewing 20 different back surgeons or hip surgeons. They recognize that their body is not like a car, which can be replaced every 7 to 10 years. In this way, healthy people are like wealthy people who value sound advice and quality investments that will last a lifetime.
- Finally, healthy people take responsibility. They don’t expect drugs or doctors to fix them, they recognize that it’s an inside job. Just as wealthy people recognize that if they are going to have the money to fund an enjoyable life well into retirement, they have to start planning and acting now, healthy people ask themselves what they can do right now, today, to feel great and what they can do right now, today, so that they can continue to feel fabulous when they are 60, 70, 80 and 90.
I truly believe it is no longer possible to follow the consensus trance and be either healthy or wealthy.
Those of us who take the time to think differently will be the ones laughing and dancing and looking fabulous on our way to the bank well into our aging years.
What is healing? Healing happens when we cast aside group-think and discover what actually works to be healthy and happy.
