Your Health is Likely to Determine Your Ability to Build Wealth

Enjoy Better Health & Build Wealth

Kudos to American diplomat, politician, printer, inventor, author and physicist Benjamin Franklin who, at some point during his productive life (and before his death in 1790), shared his observation that, "Early to bed and early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise." Notice that Franklin mentioned being healthy before referring to having wealth or wisdom.

Enjoying Better Health

A popular wish in American society is to be "rich and famous," rather than "rich and healthy." Today, as many American citizens (male and female) work and aspire toward various levels of wealth, many of those same citizens take for granted a presumption of having good or "age-appropriate" health unless they have obvious challenges or have received a medical diagnosis confirming something else. And the World Health Organization -- an agency of the United Nations -- suggests that health is a state of complete physical and mental wellness, and not merely the absence of a frailty or illness. ¹

Do Better

Poet Maya Angelou and others have suggested, "If we knew better, we'd do better" with our life decisions in general. Optimistically, relevant links also have been highlighted by, for example, the array of public service announcements reminding us that smoking cigarettes has been proven to cause lung cancer. (Unfortunately, defenseless children of smokers often suffer different tragedies (asthma and more), especially when the parents are in denial.)

As with smoking (and, admittedly, to oversimplify), the U.S. government also has recognized obesity as another leading cause of preventable deaths. ²  Repeat: preventable.

Lifestyle Matters

Although, for example, you may have relatives with heart disease, your lifestyle has a greater impact than the effects of heredity, according to Professor Donald Lloyd-Jones who is the American Heart Association Physician of the Year for 2017.

Daily routines such as what you eat, levels of activity and whether you smoke matter for most people even more than inherited genes. A healthy lifestyle can lower the danger of heart attacks by up to 45%. ³  Similarly, individuals with a healthy diet, exercise and some weight loss have been known to decrease their risk of having type 2 diabetes, hypertension and high levels of cholesterol.

Does Health Get Enough Attention in Our Capitalistic Society?

Think about it. How does one enjoy better health while maximizing brainpower and stamina to accumulate wealth? Many adults in America understand that certain poor health outcomes are linked to poor health habits. Others do not make the connection. Many Americans go to work when they are sick to avoid losing money. Others call in sick when they are not, to avoid losing their allotted sick days.

Building Wealth

To some outsiders, if you were born in the United States, you already were born wealthy, as if you had already won a birthplace location lottery. Arguably, looking at severely impoverished locations around the world, those born in the United States are indeed fortunate, albeit some may argue the word fortune is misplaced.

The Answer

Aside from gifts, inheritances or lotteries, "the" answer of how to get rich quickly -- or even get rich at all -- remains elusive. Nevertheless, available advice on getting rich (or at least avoiding being poor) often includes some or all of the following investments of time and effort:

• Stop buying things that depreciate quickly
• Make saving a monthly habit, even if you have to start small
• Start a business that you plan to sell
• Stick to your savings plan
• Live cheaply: scrutinize and slash expenses
• Find a good start-up company to work for, and buy stock at employee rates
• Value how you spend your time and money.

Cosmetics entrepreneur Bobbi Brown launched her successful business by making cold calls. Daymond John is a fashion entrepreneur and appears regularly on the Shark Tank television series. John launched his multimillion-dollar enterprise by originally selling the men's clothing he designed from the trunk of his car. These are two of many who have succeeded by adding proverbial elbow grease and hustle.

Wealth has different meanings to different individuals. Generally, wealth is considered to be an abundance of cash or things that can be readily exchanged for cash when desired. For you, it may mean an abundant net worth, meaning you have quite a bit of remaining cash or valuables after every bill and/or debt has been paid.

Engineer and motorcyclist Charles Franklin once reminded society that "no one gets out of this life alive." Nevertheless, whether your lifestyle makes you a candidate for accidental death, natural death or early expiration, you are probably among the millions who work hard to avoid poverty. Ideally, you would appreciate useful and/or timely information on how to build wealth, especially if you are conscientious about the mental, physical and social well-being suitable to enjoy it all. Remember, as the saying goes, "Today is the first day of the rest of your life." Be it on a scale or at a bank, decide how to enjoy meeting your measurable objectives.

Cheers to your ever-improving health and wealth!!!