One of my favorite sayings is "do something today that your future self will thank you for". Looking back I can remember the first time this clicked for me. I was 19, I had dropped out of college (because the school was a really bad fit, not because I didn't want to go to college), I was broke and I found myself crying on the sidewalk because I couldn't afford a $10 shirt and still have money for my bills and food. I just knew there had to be a better way. I knew I had made a mistake and I knew I had to fix it. It took me a few months, but I was able to figure out a way to go back to school. I knew that I needed to be able to support myself for life and so I kept going, eventually earning my Ph.D. and working in cutting-edge labs that study genetics and epigenetics. That 19-year-old version of me, though flawed, was a smart cookie. She knew that her future self would be grateful that she went to school and invested in her future. Since that moment I haven't stopped. I've invested in my education and continued to invest in myself to keep leveling up.
When it came time to invest in my health, I was ready and I knew the formula. It started off with just investing in my healthcare. It took me a few visits to conventional doctors to realize that nobody was taking me seriously or able to help. I don't think it was because they didn't want to help, it's just that what I had going on wasn't able to be measured by their charts and tests. I knew something wasn't right and I wasn't giving up, even after 4 doctors turned me away. The best I got was the advice to do the Whole 30, but the other doctors either wanted to put me on birth control or just refused to do anything at all. That is when I knew there had to be a better way. It was a slow process (years not months), but I finally found my way to a functional medicine doctor, who helped me and got me on the right track by balancing my hormones, prescribing me the right supplements, and offering suggestions for ways I could rebuild my body (like hiring a pelvic floor physical therapist, seeing a good massage therapist and testing that would give us more data to work with). Insurance doesn't cover any of this, so I had to pay out of pocket. I remember thinking "this is a lot of money" and then thinking, "but I'm worth it. My health is worth it". This is the one body I get in this life and I want to live a long healthy life. Once I made that initial commitment and investment- which wasn't just the doctor's fee, but testing and supplements and other specialists- I could see the benefit within months. Remember, I'd been trying to figure this out for years, so seeing results in months was pretty much instant. That kept me going and thinking of other ways I could invest in my health and earn dividends in the form of increased healthspan.
Once my mindset started to shift, instead of seeing this as money spent I started thinking of it as an investment. I even sat down and figured out how much I spend on my "health span". Healthspan is the number of healthy years we live, not just the lifespan. I started thinking about it as an investment in my future self. I thought well if I invest 18% in my 401K and other savings, why is it not the same to invest say 8% in my future health? It's is exactly the same. In fact, that 8% could buy me even more years of earning potential. What if I could retire at 70 instead of 65, or 80 even? That's 5 or 10 or more years of earning potential, plus interest, and dividends accruing on my savings. When I think about it this way, it actually seems stupid to not invest in myself. Let's just say you spend $20,000 a year on your future health or let's even expand that to say investing in a better version of yourself. Conservatively that would mean another 5,10,15, and 20 years of earning, assuming a minimum of $250,000 (using an 8% investment in your health). That's $1.25-3.75 million. I'm not including inflation or all the interest I'd accrue on my 401K or other investments. If I live to 100 and from now until then I spend $20,000 on my health, that's $1M. If that investment gains me another $5M in wealth, I'd say it is well worth it. And this applies to everyone. I'm not saying you need to invest $20,000- I just used that as an easy number. But, my point is that we should be thinking about the investment in our health the same way we think about investing in a retirement fund. Do something that your future self would thank you for! I'm 100% sure my future self will approve.
When I recently invested in a fitness coach, I went through the budget that I had set for the year. I realized that I had improved in many areas and no longer needed to use some of the money on physical therapy, and testing and was moving to see my functional doctor once a year for maintenance. So while the initial price tag was a bit shocking, I was able to do the math and realize I was already spending this on my health and this was the next evolution. I can tell you, after only 8-weeks it has been the best investment so far and I plan to keep working with a fitness coach as long as I need to. I'm also looking to next year and planning how I can invest in other areas of my life. So far it has always been worth it.
I'm not a financial advisor or a medical doctor, so take this as my opinion. If you are already investing financially in your future, making investments in other areas will pay dividends. You can start off small, like a health tracker and some supplements, a gym membership, or a fitness app. Once you get used to spending on yourself and seeing it pay off, start adding it to your budget, and don't be stingy. It's your health and you are worth it!
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