What if we managed our health like our wealth?

Hi, welcome to newsletter #11.

Here’s a song that will go well with today’s read, tune in, and let’s begin.

What's inside :

• What if we managed our health like our wealth?

• What I learned this week

• Picture of the week

• Content summary of the week

Somehow I always seem to find parallels between wealth, business, and our health. I believe many of the concepts can be copied from the wealth management world into health management directly and vice versa.

the trouble is, we can see wealth and count money, we understand its importance and the hardship that comes with accumulating it. Hence we value it more than our life.

on the other hand, countless children are born every day with lots of time ahead of them, handed over, for free. Perhaps that’s why it’s hard to see the similarities.

However, once you start seeing the patterns of similarity, you see them everywhere.

Let me introduce you to a few of them.

The Calorie Bank

Whatever excess calories we consume we store in our tissues as fat (or adipose tissue as doctors call it). Just like extra money gets stored in the bank.

If we don’t invest it wisely, it will just rot away.

Similarly, these extra calories have to be put to use in a way that they make our health better, or else they will make us sick.

Setting Goals

Just like all the excess money we make is invested after much planning and caution, similarly extra calories should be burnt to get maximum returns.

for an obese 30-year-old, it may be losing 10 kgs, or for a weak 60-year-old it may be stronger muscles so he can walk properly

Assets and Liabilities.

In the world of money, anything that depreciates is a liability, and we are trained to minimize it.

In the world of health, any activity that causes harm to our body is our liability. unfortunately, we don’t see the harm immediately, so we don’t fear it.

Just like we won’t buy a car or a house carelessly, we shouldn’t take opportunities to work out, eat quality food, and nourish our relationships, casually. They are our assets.

Get Rich Quick Schemes

We all are aware of “paisa double” schemes and are well-trained to stay away from them.

However, when it comes to fad diets and supplements we often fall flat.

Any diet or supplement that promises unbelievable results generally has a trick up its sleeve that will leave you more sick than healthy.

Old is gold.

In the world of investment, the earlier you start your journey, the higher you go.

The same goes for our health.

The earlier we start taking care of it, the longer, happier, and healthier we live.

The 1000 rupee note.

We would be crazy to use a thousand rupee currency note today..! we can’t pay with lumps of salt or coins of copper silver and gold today.

but somehow we are convinced that the medical science of that era is the best solution for us in modern times.

I am not sure if it’s patriotism, tradition, religion, or education that makes us do it.

but I am very happy with our modern digital payment and the latest scientific research and innovations in the field of medicine.

SIPs and Habits

Habits eliminate the need to remember things.

Thankfully today can have our money invested automatically if we choose to do so. We need not depend on our memory or motivation. And any finance guru would tell you that SIP is the best thing to happen since the invention of money itself.

I wonder why most of us think hard before going for a run. We stare at the clock until we are late and then, suddenly, we are relieved that we couldn’t work out because we were late. It wasn’t our fault. Anyone can be late.

What if we wore our shoes, and got out there without overthinking? If nothing else, then we would save a lot on future hospital bills and have more money for our beloved SIPs.

Planning and Tracking

we rarely ever lose track of our money. We exactly know how much we spend on cabs, Netflix, eating, shopping, and everything. We may act careless but we know.

However, we rarely keep track of our calories and nutrients. Let alone planning your meals.

How about we plan and budget our calories and meals in advance? if I have to party tonight then maybe I should have just a banana for lunch. If I am planning to lift weights for the next few weeks then might as well add some eggs to my diet or order protein supplements.

That way we will know our caloric limits and can plan an escape well in advance.

Professional Guidance

I am yet to see a person coming to a doctor to file his taxes.

But I often see a person going to anybody but the doctor or the dietician when it comes to learning about diet and nutrition, diseases, and such.

when it comes to money we value it so much that we can’t risk it with amateur advice from a non-professional.

but when it comes to health, free and easy is good enough. I wonder if we hadn’t invented money, would we value our lives more?

Delayed Gratification

Our brain is designed for survival, not longevity. We are designed to save ourselves from the tiger (and our money) from the immediate danger of spending. so we are blind to delayed gratification by design.

But when it comes to our money, we have developed systems and habits that ensure we don’t have to depend on our poor judgment.

but modern-day man is living more than twice the age of his ancestors.

which means his poor decisions now have enough time to nurture into full-blown diseases later in life. And since we are blind to this magical delayed gratification insight, we only realize what a toll all those years of drinking and binging took on our health.

so that was the world of money from he lens of a doctor. what do you think?

I would like to hear from you.

Reply with a topic you’d like me to cover.

Cheers,

Dr. Vishal.