Have you ever noticed that good principles and lessons in one area of life often overlap and apply in many other areas as well? I believe that health and investing are two of those overlapping areas. Health isn’t a quick fix. It is a journey, a mindset, a choice. It’s a commitment. Yet sometimes what trips up so many of us is that we fall into the all-or-nothing approach. We get wrapped up in details, taking a snapshot of a moment in time and judging ourselves based on just that one moment. What we fail to remember in these self-critical moments is that health is like an investment strategy – the people who invest in stocks or businesses with a long-term plan tend to be the most successful investors.

A chat with the master

For example, if you were to sit down with Warren Buffett, the kingof investment strategy, and talk to him about investing, he is going to tell you that if you have good long-term expectations, the short-term ups and downs are virtually meaningless. The exact same philosophy applies in health. We tend to over-complicate health, especially us overachievers (yes… you). We do this by thinking that to achieve our health goals we need to be on a constant climb at all times. And, in order for us to be “good” or “on track” we must make every single decision according to our definition of “perfection.” The reality is, sometimes we need to loosen up a bit and not get bent out of shape if we decide to enjoy an ice cream cone or take a day or two off from working out. In the grand scheme of things, it’s not really that big of a deal. But our tendency is to worry about every detail along the way, and then when we have that dessert or the day off, the guilt from that one choice spirals into worse feelings and worse thoughts that take us farther away from our goal, and well… I’m sure you know (maybe first-hand) where the story goes from there. Now don’t get me wrong, setting goals and challenging ourselves can be very helpful and may be exactly what you need in order to stay inspired and focused. But the problem is when we use our goals to be really hard on ourselves (rather than the inspiration for which they are meant). When we find ourselves feeling guilty, bad, off-track, disappointed, or any other negative feelings related to our body and our health, because we measuring ourselves against the goals and not seeing the results we want, we are missing the point, keeping ourselves stuck in a cycle of un-healthiness and un-happiness.

Investing in your health

Long-term health, like long-term investing, requires a commitment to keeping the big picture plan as the main focus. When your focus is long-term health, you don’t use words like diet or binge or struggle. You realize that on the graph of health there will be ups and there will be downs, but it’s all part of the process, and overall the trend continues to favor sustainable health and ultimately, happiness. We don’t want health just to have “health,” we want health to feel happy, clear-headed, strong, fit, and ALIVE! So when you start to feel the negative creep coming on after a night out indulging with friends, or a rather uneventful, relaxing day at home, remind yourself that you are on the Warren Buffett plan for health and wellness – a long-term investment strategy designed to deliver real and lasting results. Can you relate? What’s your health investment strategy?