Having a money mindset when it comes to fitness is incredibly beneficial as both of these different areas of life have interconnecting concepts that help to reinforce one another. As Einstein has put it, “Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understand it, earns it… he who doesn’t… pays it”. As it turns out, compounding and the pitfalls associated with it are extremely relevant to cultivating wealth and health, and by applying these principles to both areas of life, they work in unison to greatly benefit your life.
Compounding Health and Wealth
Compounding is simply doing little steps that build and grow off the previous over time, leading to a greatly improved outcome. In terms of money, compound interest works over time to build your wealth. If you invested your $100 and received 10% per year, by the following year, your $100 would turn into $110, but the year after would grow to $121. Each increase builds of the last.
In terms of fitness, spending the energy by doing exercise or sport at that moment leaves you exhausted, but over time your energy improves incrementally with your fitness, it builds like compound interest! This is also applicable when it comes to health, as each step you make to improve your health slows and minimizes the negative effects of life and aging. The World Health Organisation states, “Regular physical activity reduces risk of many types of cancer by 8-28%; heart disease and stroke by 19%; diabetes by 17%, depression and dementia by 28-32%”. So just like investing your money, investing your time into physical activity can lead to compounding benefits for your future self.
The Same Struggles
Compounding wealth and health in your life both have the same struggles and the same pitfalls. The biggest issue people experience when it comes to compounding is consistency, having the mental fortitude to continue with something you only see small incremental improvements in. In terms of money, receiving minimal ‘extra’ return in the beginning of the journey can be discouraging, but if you stop then, you’ll never see the true power once your portfolio starts to gain big momentum. The same can be said for fitness, if you’re starting your journey with a low level of fitness, in the beginning it can seem like a struggle, and many people will never last long enough to see the compounding of their energy and health.
Compounding both also has the pitfalls of falling off the wagon, delaying gratification, and splurging for mental health. Once you’ve broken your consistency (by eating terribly, skipping exercise/sport, or avoiding saving/investing), or ‘fell off the wagon’, getting back into routine is substantially harder. At that point you’ve stopped your own momentum, and the mental toll to get back into routine can be a significant obstacle. The same can be said for delaying gratification. You need to become comfortable with delaying immediate gratification otherwise eating that terrible meal, skipping that workout, or spending that money of an impulse purchase, will deteriorate your momentum. You need to stay strong and avoid temptation, especially when your mental health is bad and you seek comfort in food or purchases to act as a crutch.
The End Goal
Ideally, by being consistent with both investing and getting fit, they both complement one another at the end goal. By investing your money and time into fitness, in the future there will be a point where your investments have grown to your desired goal (assuming you have a set goal and not let lifestyle inflation push it into perpetuity), and your fitness allows you to have the energy and health to enjoy the fruits of your labor and not be worn down by lack of fitness and poor health. By working towards improving your patience, having a long term perspective, and avoiding the pitfalls, you can greatly improve your life all by the power of compounding. If you’d like a brief overview of how to improve your fitness or lose weight, or to build your wealth, please feel free to check out my other posts!
