The many similarities between becoming wealthy and healthy
After recently reading Becoming Rich: One step at a time, a friend of mine, Jenni, noted that when she read the advice regarding saving money and building wealth, she was constantly making the link to dieting.
And, the more I think about it, the stronger the link becomes.
Let’s break it down, stage by stage.
Goal setting
Saving: Short-term and medium-term goals tend to involve increasing our net wealth by X%, decreasing our monthly spending by Y pounds or saving up for a specific one-off event (such as a holiday or wedding).
Dieting: Similarly, goals with dieting involve increasing our fitness levels by X%, decreasing our weight by Y pounds or working towards a specific one-off event (such as a sponsored run or cycle).
Planning
Saving: Now that we have a goal, we need to plan how we intend to reach this goal. We may need to reduce our spending on specific items, spend more of our time earning additional income or find better investments to help our money grow.
Dieting: Once we have our dieting goal set, we may plan to reach these goals by reducing our consumption of a certain group of foods, spend more of our time exercising or find alternative exercises or activities that can help our fitness levels grow.
Progress
Saving: Next, we need to keep track of our progress. We may notice that after a week, we have saved 100 pounds and moved further towards our goal. If we haven’t progressed well, we need to determine where we have gone wrong and modify our plan accordingly.
Dieting: We may have lost 2 pounds and moved towards our goal. Otherwise, we need to revisit our actions to determine why we aren’t moving closer to that goal.
Falling off the wagon
Saving: Jenni particularly noted the similarities here. What do we do if we fall off the wagon? We should understand why, and fix the factors which may cause us to have spent more this month. Most importantly, we mustn’t fall foul of “compound errors” (the evil twin of compound interest) which I will make a full post on later in the week.
Dieting: Yep, you guessed it! Same approach required. We may have been out 3 times this week with friends for pizza. It is important to address why we have done this and determine how we can avoid it in the future. Don’t compound the error by thinking “well, I’ve already had three pizzas this week, what harm can a fourth one do!!”.
Achieving your goals
Saving: Great, we’ve achieved our targets. What do we do now? For starters, celebrate a little. Then, set new goals to reach a new level of net wealth.
Dieting: Same again. We celebrate reaching our target and then we set new targets to become even fitter and healthier.
Ultimate success
Saving: In an attempt to increase net wealth, it isn’t short term improvements that will eventually make you wealthy. It’s a way of life. It’s a change in the way we think.
Dieting: Equally, yo-yo dieters are never really successful in becoming fit and healthy. This isn’t a short-term think – we need to change our attitude in the long-term.
So, do you agree with Jenni that there is a strong link between saving and dieting? Are there any other similarities you have noticed? How about any differences?
Hayley @ A Disease Called Debt says
Yeah – I think there’s a link there in that the required attitudes to achieve both goals are pretty much the same. They both evoke the same mindset in that quick fixes can be short lived and may even land you back at square 1. But continually chipping away at your goal over a long period of time whilst keeping motivated will ensure better results eventually!
moneystepper says
Agreed Hayley! Its all about the long path to the ultimate goal rather than focussing only on the short-term.
dojo says
I don’t personally believe in diets, I think it’s a new lifestyle we need to get, same with saving. It’s indeed a similar situation and both require a lot of willpower and consistency. Really good points you made 🙂
moneystepper says
So, are you against “spending freezes”? Is this the equivalent of fad dieting…?
dojo says
I never did this and will surely never do it.
I am all for spending money smart and stop wasting it for junk. I do occasionally do stupid things (we’re not perfect anyway :)), but I never entered any ‘freeze’. Just as I wouldn’t starve myself to lose some lbs.
Budget and the Beach says
Absolutely! I think there is a strong link between the two. Funny though I had the healthy one down for years before the financial good habits started. But when I need to “tighten the belt” when I’m feeling more lethargic or my pants are tighter, I know that cutting certain things from my diet like wine, chocolate, and other unnecessary items will help my wallet and my waistline.
moneystepper says
Yeah, great point. There is an even greater link between the two whereby as you perform actions to focus on losing weight, this helps you save money, and vice versa.
Jane Savers @ Solving The Money Puzzle says
Dieting and finances are so similar. It is Canadian Thanksgiving today and I fell off the budget and diet wagon again this weekend. Both have left me feeling very uncomfortable and unhappy with myself.
moneystepper says
Often a hiccup in one is automatically a hiccup in the other! Back on track tomorrow…!!
DC @ Young Adult Money says
There definitely are similarities! I think Jenni covered most of them pretty well. I think the biggest thing is that becoming wealthy and being healthy both require a lot of time and effort.
moneystepper says
I’ve passed on your feedback and Jenni is proud of her work!!:)
Great point – they both require effort, but are both something that a lot of people just assume will come to them without really planning and trying to reach a goal!
Martin says
I agree with what you are saying within this article. There are some similarities, I also feel that the effect of one leads to the other: if you are not wealthy then you wont be healthy because of the stress this causes.
moneystepper says
Interesting point. Thanks for the comment Martin.
kelly @stayingonbudget says
Totally agree there is a link. If you are disciplined in one area, it will probably have a good chance of carrying over to other areas. It’s all the same math–more of one than another. (More income than expenses, or exercise than cheesecake!)
moneystepper says
Haha – I love it. I think that “more income than expenses, more exercise than cheesecake” is going to be my life motto!!
Charles@gettingarichlife says
Little steps add up and wealth is built for the long term. The key is when you get off track not to let it derail you.
Clarrise @ Make Money Your Way says
Yes for me there is a link for being a wealthy and healthy. If you really want to be healthy you have goals and for you to achieve that one you will make sure to it that you’re doing the right track also for if you want to be wealthy you also set your goals on how to be financially stable and how to save more.
Laurie @thefrugalfarmer says
As someone who recently added “lose 20 pounds” to her goal of “get out of debt”, I totally agree that there are huge similarities here! It’s kind of fun, in fact, to work the goals simultaneously and watch the progression on both sides. Great post!
Girl Meets Debt says
I totally agree that there is a correlation between the two! If only I was as successful at dieting like I am at paying down debt! 😛
Simon @ Modest Money says
I certainly agree with Jenni, there is a correlation between building wealth and dieting…they require almost the same emotional constitution and character traits such as discipline and consistency. One also has to make sacrifices to make any of the two a reality. No shortcuts!
Barbara Friedberg says
As a formerly fat adolescent, I couldn’t agree more. Discipline translates across one’s life!