There are three areas of commerce on the internet that the best business coaches in the world all seem to agree on.
They are: health, wealth, and relationships.
People are going to always buy things that relate to one of these three things.
You have to admit that this covers quite a bit of ground, right?
An example: buying a home can cover facets of both relationships and wealth when you sit down and consider it.
You create a home by buying a house (an important distinction), with all the emotional and family aspects that this entails, but you’re also creating equity in an investment that grows over time.
The portion you actually own goes up, and so over time (in most areas) does the value of the property itself.
You’ll find that these three basic elements of commercial enterprise often do intermingle, and you may find cases where all three are addressed with a single product or service.
Are you familiar with the idea of macronutrients? The three main categories of nutrients in food are protein, carbs, and fats.
Are you feeling this similarity with me here?
The three macronutrients of modern commerce. There are others, but the big things boil down to one of these three.
I begin to see these little allegories around me, and they open up even more observations.
Which leads me today to ponder the question about health and wealth, and the relationship between the two.
Do you have to be healthy to be wealthy? Well, no…not really.
There are plenty of obese rich people. I’ve seen them with my own eyes, in pictures and in real life.
Do have to be wealthy to be healthy? Not necessarily, but arguably it helps.
I remember as I was entering that phase of life referred to by many as “middle-aged” that it always seems like it’s more expensive to buy healthy food than the full-on fat version of the same thing.
Do you ever notice that?
Then there’s this whole insane craze with the organic food.
I always find that to be a little hilarious anyway. The word “organic” simply means to me (or used to, anyway) something that is, or was once, alive.
At the grocery store though it means it was grown without pesticides or other unnatural fertilizers. Or for our animal friends that become food? No antibiotics or growth hormones.
It’s a strict distinction. Strict enough to make the price go up, some may say unreasonably so.
It can be said reasonably that it’s generally more expensive to eat healthy.
The antithesis of this statement, that it’s cheaper to eat unhealthy, is so true it’s almost a universal given.
Could we call it Eric’s Reflective Property of Modern Nutrition?
It’s a stretch. I get it.
McDonald’s comes to mind. Sorry, but it’s cheap food, and they don’t have a single thing on the menu I would be willing to put in my body.
Even the salads are served up with high sugar dressings. Unless of course you’re willing to eat them like a rabbit, dry.
But wait! What about boxed macaroni and cheese? (Cheap).
Or Top Ramen? (Very cheap).
And both full of senseless excess carbs, sodium, unpronounceable chemical ingredients designed to improve flavor and craving, and bring you back for more.
Big Food is nearly as shameless as Big Tobacco.
If you want to run lean and mean you have to read your labels, and choose the things that go into your mouth wisely.
Good advice, generally speaking.
Even the crap they put in food to make it taste better when they remove the fat is close to poison.
Beware!
Is it safe to say that if you worry less about money, and the cost of individual purchases, you’ll most likely make better choices at the grocery store?
In this author’s humble opinion, absolutely.
Greater wealth can translate, for those who care about such things, to greater health.
Consider the ease of affording your co-pays, or even your mandated insurance premiums with a level of business success.
Why This is Important
One of these days I’m going to write a song with all the rich repetition of a catchy hook.
It’s going to sound like this:
“The body feeds the mind feeds the body feeds the mind…” etc. etc. ad nauseum.
A healthy heart feeds a more healthy brain with more oxygen.
The brain works better, you work better, and you do yourself, your support staff, your customers, and the world more good.
No matter how busy we imagine our lives to be keep in mind you get the same 168 hours a week Warren Buffet does.
So if you tell me, “Yeah, but I have kids,” or, “Yeah but all this stuff came crashing down all at once,” I will sympathize.
But none of it sounds like a good enough reason to not take good care of your castle.
The magnificent body you have been provided, that has been forgiving you for all the horrible crap you’ve been doing to it and putting into it for decades.
Exercise is critical to survival.
However you might feel about the company Nike? The slogan “Just Do It” is golden.
Just do it.
While you’re at it, eat lean, to win. If you think you don’t need the second piece of cake you’re eyeballing, I promise you that you’re exactly right.
Have ever had to conquer a physical challenge?
An example from my own younger life comes to mind.
I joined the Army a couple of years after my first wife and I separated, and by then I was almost underweight from not having eaten properly for some time.
I had trouble doing 40 regulation push-ups during basic training until the eighth week and the final physical testing.
I was able to do the sit-ups and the two-mile run, no sweat.
In fact, I was one of the fastest runners in my platoon.
I had to work on my upper body strength. I HAD to.
Somehow, I made it happen.
I am telling you that you can do anything if you HAVE to do it badly enough.
Health. Wealth. Relationships.
If it’s important enough to you?
Do it like you have no choice.
Do it like you HAVE to.
Just do it.