Money in the Bank

By Krystal Quagliara

“It’s like money in the bank…” Might be a strange phrase to think of in relation to your health and wellness goals. While it may not be true that you can make one big deposit into your health and it will stay there for all time… it may be helpful to compare your actual bank account transactions to the transactions of your daily health habits.

Deposits Vs. Withdrawals  

With your monetary bank account, you can make withdrawals and deposits. Most people’s goal  is to make more deposits than withdrawals, which leads to savings, investments, compounded interest and eventually financial stability and independence. 

Your “Wellness Bank” account has deposits and withdrawals as well. Here are some examples of a typical day’s transactions: 

Deposit: Work out for 20 minutes

Deposit: Eat a healthy breakfast

Withdrawal: Candy bar for a mid-morning snack

Deposit: Limit phone/social media time

Withdrawal: Get sucked into gossip at work

Deposit: Eat a healthy meal for lunch

Deposit: Eat a healthy meal for dinner

Withdrawal: Stay up late watching Netflix 

You can see how throughout the day, our choices are either Deposits or Withdrawals through your Wellness Bank. Each time you make a choice to deposit into your Wellness Bank, you are helping grow the overall balance - strength, vitality, energy, mental clarity, spiritual peace, healthy weight management, lower cholesterol and blood sugar, longevity, etc. 

Likewise, each withdrawal diminishes the overall “balance” you are accumulating for your wellness (physical, mental and spiritual). While eating that piece of cake, skipping one morning workout, or staying up late one night to binge a show may not “bankrupt” your account immediately, it does have an overall effect on the future outcome. When you can look back on your week and see more Deposits than Withdrawals, you can build confidence that you are moving in the right direction towards long-lasting success with your health. 

Making Investments

Our Wellness Account or “Wellness Net Worth” can grow also through the same principles of investments and compounding interest. 

For example, hiring a wellness coach or a personal trainer can yield quicker and bigger returns for your goals. Investing in meal prep services, protein meal replacements, gym memberships and even cognitive therapy can also lead to greater benefits for your longevity and long-term health. Investing time into journaling, meditation, and gratitude practices can also help you gain momentum in the other areas of your health and wellness. 

Compounding Interest

There is a great book titled “The Compound Effect” by Darren Hardy. In it, Hardy talks about how you may not realize how little decisions everyday add up in big ways. Oftentimes, when it comes to changing our health habits like going to the gym, healthier eating, limiting social media, meditating or even honoring a bedtime, we do not see immediate results. There is a delayed gratification of the decisions we make in the moment. 

However, flash forward 3 weeks, 3 months or even 3 years down the road. The decisions you make today will affect that future version of yourself whether you are aware of it or not. 10 minutes on the treadmill today might not seem like a grand gesture on the road to your health goals. But, over time, the habits created through your commitment to that 10 minutes, along with consistency and growth in that positive direction will have profound results for you.

Take Action 

I invite you to take inspired action today. Take a page in your journal, create a Google Doc, or find a piece of paper on your desk to start an account statement for your “Wellness Bank” account. At the end of each day, tally up your Deposits and Withdrawals for the day. At the end of the week, reflect and compare them. It is a great way to determine whether you are making more deposits or withdrawals. Consider resources such as a Coach (Wellness Advisor), gym membership, meal prep service, or an accountability group to help you turn around your bank account so you can enjoy freedom and prosperity in your health for many many years to come!  

www.krystalizedhealthadvisors.com