Your Health Is Your Greatest Investment: Why Commitment Beats Discipline

If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that I’ve been on a mission to change my relationship, my stories and my patterns around money.

Like a lot of folks, when I need to work on a specific area, my knee-jerk reaction is to read about it.

I recently finished a book that helped me shift my entire paradigm about money, saving and, well… life.

The book is called Die With Zero by Bill Perkins.

The overarching message of the book is pretty simple: Don’t go on auto-pilot and play the whoever-dies-with-the-most-money-wins game.

Instead, start thinking about your life in terms of experiences.

Why Experiences Matter More Than Money

A few ideas that really stuck with me:

🔸 You retire on your memories. The experiences you have today become the memories you’ll carry with you. And the number of actual experiences available to you diminishes as you age.

🔸 Don’t finish rich in money and poor in enjoyable experiences. What’s the point of accumulating wealth if you never get around to enjoying it?

🔸 Rather than just surviving on autopilot, you need to stop driving aimlessly and actively steer your life in the direction you want it to go.

🔸 Don’t squander your life energy. You should aim to spend your money (on awesome experiences) before you die.

🔸 The senselessness of endlessly delaying gratification. Radical!

Anyhoo, without turning this into a full-blown book review, I think you get the picture.

Your Health Is More Valuable Than Money

One of the author’s points (that I, ahem, found very validating) was about the importance of taking care of your health.

“Nothing has a greater effect on your ability to enjoy experiences – at any age – than your health. In fact, health is actually a lot more valuable than money, because no amount of money can ever make up for very poor health.”

— Bill Perkins

Now, if your health story is like my money story used to be, that statement has probably triggered every one of your triggers. ⚡

Stay with me.

Working towards better health will always be a process.

We need to ditch the bro-culture approach of discipline, grind, no pain – no gain bullshit.

(Sorry gents.)

Why Commitment Beats Discipline When It Comes to Your Health

Over the past decade, I can’t think of a single client who needed more discipline.

Discipline, as we often think of it, is about punishing ourselves into doing the things we’ve set out to do. It keeps us stuck in shame and disconnected from our own power.

Not exactly a productive place to start.

Commitment, on the other hand, feels different…

Commitment calls you sweetheart and encourages you.

Discipline calls you lazy and then kicks you in the teeth.

I’ll take commitment, thank you very much.

Building Healthy Habits Through Self-Trust, Not Punishment

The approach that I’ve developed over the years relies on building your confidence around food and learning to trust yourself to make the choices that will support your goals.

It’s about getting curious about your body’s signals, understanding what works for you, and learning to make decisions that support both your health and your enjoyment of life.

It’s not about restriction, deprivation or white-knuckling your way through another attempt at getting healthy.

It’s about developing a healthier relationship with food, building sustainable habits and finding an approach that works for YOU.

If you’d like to learn more about my approach to health and sustainable change, reach out HERE.

A Little Challenge for You…

Have you ever wondered if you needed more discipline? Have you ever reprimanded yourself for your choices or felt like you’ve failed yourself because you didn’t follow through on a health goal?

If the answer is yes, here’s your homework:

The next time that inner critic pipes up, listen closely and then try reframing the message.

What would you say to someone you loved if they were struggling with the exact same thing?

Would you call them lazy, tell them they lack willpower or make them feel more shame?

Or would you offer up a little understanding and encouragement?

I’d love to hear your new, upgraded message. 💛

Kim,

ox