The Highest Form of Wealth Money Can’t Buy
Health determines our wealth
Picture this. You are a young 10-11 year old. Your sweet tooth is rampant and anytime, you can get your hands on a sweet you happily indulge. Your parents run a pretty tight ship and you get the occasional sweet, nothing wrong with this at all because it’s that, a treat.
One day, you walk into the kitchen. Today is a different day than most because you walk into the kitchen and there lies brownies. Mom has made brownies. You double-check to make sure no one is around and you won’t get caught with your hand in the cookie jar. You pick up a brownie and sink your teeth into the chocolate goodness. Except, it isn’t chocolate goodness. No, these brownies are made of something else.
Black beans. The brownies are made of black beans.
You can’t get it out of your mouth fast enough. What prank did you just fall for? What viral video are you about to be in?
The One Good Thing About Black Bean Brownies
This is all based on a true story. One time, my mom made black bean brownies. However, not all hope was lost.
I was incredibly lucky to grow up in a family where health was a top priority. Yes, the black bean brownies were terrible but it was one of the many ways my parents tried to optimize our health. Trying to satisfy the sweet tooth but make it just a little healthier. Not all hope was lost with the brownies as they were just part of a larger habit of largely eating clean and eating healthy. Which in turn then fed into a larger habit of prioritizing my health at all costs.
To be quite frank, this may be the best lesson my parents have ever taught me. No money habit, no housekeeping habit, or even the value of manners comes remotely close. If you don’t have good health nothing else largely matters. Prioritize your health.
Optimize Your Health to Optimize Your Wealth
“A healthy man wants a thousand things. A sick man wants one.”
Whenever we are sick, we just want one thing, to be healthy again. We can have all the money in the world but none of that matters if we aren’t healthy. Sickness is crippling. It is debilitating.
Often, we see money as the ultimate enabler and disabler. It tells us what we can and can’t do. It tells us what we can and can’t wear. It tells us where we can and can’t travel. However, lurking below the surface of our wealth is our health.
You could afford to fly privately around the world. You could afford to wear a Richard Mille or a Rolex. You could afford to travel to Bora Bora or the Swiss Alps. You can afford to do all of this but if you aren’t in good health, none of that matters. Your health would need to be tended to before you could ever worry about taking advantage of the benefits your wealth provides. The highest form of wealth is in fact, good health.
Unfortunately, the world is continuing to become unhealthier. Obesity is more prevalent than ever before. It nearly tripled from 1975 to 2016 and by 2030, the number of obese people is expected to exceed 1 billion. Not great but not all hope is lost.
Never have we optimized so much for comfort. We are immune to discomfort. The unfortunate thing, some may say, about a lot of exercise is it is uncomfortable. It forces you to not only push the limits of the body but the mind. You must push beyond the boundaries of comfort.
Exercise is necessary. It is an investment in yourself and an investment in your future. It is one of the highest ROIs currently out there. No crypto, no NFT, no penny stock comes remotely close. It is an investment that your future self will thank you for.
3x Your Investment
Think about this. What if I told you, you could easily 2x-5x your income? Too good to be true, right? Most of the time that is the case but here, it is quite the contrary.
The years of life can be viewed monetarily. Each year on this earth is another year of income from the salary of life. Another year of good health is another year of experiences, memories, moments to cherish, and happiness. It is hard to beat those times.
As humans, we are always looking to optimize and extend those moments in time. We need more. We want more years of life. The beauty of it is there are some simple things we can do to help ourselves and extend those moments.
Peter Attia is a world-renowned physician. He is known for his work on longevity and people’s overall health. Peter recently made an appearance on The Diary of A CEO and talked about health and longevity. He talked about the hazard ratio.
“A hazard ratio is a mathematical derivation that comes from looking at a group of people following them prospectively, following them into the future, and looking at the rate at which they die. So a hazard ratio is a number. If that number is 1.5, there's a 50% increase in the risk of death for one group versus the other.”
For example, the hazard ratio of a smoker to a non-smoker for lung cancer is 10. You’re 10 times more likely to get lung cancer if you’re a smoker than if you’re a non-smoker. Makes sense. Pretty simple, if you don’t want lung cancer you can really help yourself by not smoking.
Here are a few more.
Going from zero activity to just 90 minutes a week is about a 15% reduction in mortality. You are 15% less likely to die just by going from completely sedentary to just doing 90 minutes of activity a week.
Pick any age. Pick any sex. The top 15-20% in strength versus the bottom 15-20% in strength for that age and sex, the hazard ratio is three. There’s a 200% difference in all-cause mortality. The chance of death goes down by 200% if you are in the top 15-20% versus the bottom 15-20%
The hazard ratio of someone at the top 2.5% to the bottom 25% in terms of VO2 max is 5. 400% difference in all-cause mortality when comparing the fittest 2.5% to the least fittest 25%.
All it takes is just 90 minutes a week. That’s 30 minutes three times a week or it can be as simple as 13 minutes a day.
Imagine if someone told you you could return 15% on your portfolio in a year. Most would jump on that investment. The typical money market account offers no more than 5% a year. 90 minutes a week offers a 15% decrease in your chances of dying. It is a small investment that yields a very high return. A 15% jump in the income of life.
Activity and exercise are addicting endeavors. That 90 minutes quickly turns into 180 minutes and then 360 minutes and so on. It is just a matter of creating the habit and letting it naturally compound. Before you know it, you could have a 200% return and be in the top 15-20% in strength. A 200% increase in the income of life. Nothing can beat those returns.
The beauty of this world we exist in is there is something for everyone. Pickleball, hiking, CrossFit, mountain biking, you name it, someone does it. Activity and exercise are very broad terms and apply to so many things. Do you like dancing? Try Zumba. Do you find it fun to climb mountains? Go hiking. There is something for everyone.
Parting Words
Everyone can take advantage of those gains and find something that truly works for them. It is sobering to realize we are given one try at this game called Life. Sadly, we haven’t figured out how to reverse aging. We are already here so we might as well make the best of what we are given.
Focus on the quality of life during the time that we are provided. Invest in your quality of life. Seek a return on the time of life. It is one of the greatest investments we can make to build our wealth. Without health, our wealth is nothing. Just remember, our health ultimately determines what we can do with our wealth.
Thanks for reading.
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