Healthy Lifestyle: How to Balance the 7 Pillars of Your Life
Only about 4.3% of all people on the planet are healthy. Which means very likely, you aren’t. But you probably want to be. No one wants to be unhealthy. So what can you do to balance a healthy lifestyle? What areas need work, and how can you create that progress?
We cover the seven pillars of a healthy life, and what you can do to be healthier every day.
Take Care of Your Money
Unfortunately in today’s society, you need money to do anything else. Therefore a vital pillar of a healthy balanced life is to take proper care of your finances. When it comes to your money, there are four separate categories you need to consider to keep your Financial Pillar in line. We’ll look at them each individually.
Debt
For most people with consumer debt, debt eats up the money that you should be able to dedicate elsewhere. It isn’t the debt itself that is inherently bad, but the effect that debt has on you. American households each carry a median of $67,000 in consumer debt. These are things like credit cards, car payments, and payment plans. Many households also carry a mortgage and college loans. These payments come up to about 8.69% of household income. Assuming a monthly income of about $5,500, that’s almost $500 a month that could be going elsewhere.
Today, write down all the debts you have and come up with a plan to either pay them off or get rid of them. If you can’t afford to pay off your debts, it may be time to consider filing bankruptcy. Bankruptcy is never a fun choice, but it gives you a fresh start, so you can properly rebuild your healthy lifestyle pillars.
Savings
While you likely have debt, you may not have savings. Good saving practices are vital to a healthy financial future. In a perfect world, you’d have six months of expenses saved up, plus your retirement account. But the world isn’t perfect. What’s important is you start where you can.
As you save, remember you’re not saving just so you can fill a swimming pool with cash. There are things you want and things you want to do in your life. Saving for them lets you enjoy them guilt-free, and without debt. So a big vacation, a new tattoo or piece of furniture, or a shopping spree. When you save money, you’re making sure it goes where you want it most.
Today, tally up your savings to see how much you have. As a base, build up a $1000 emergency fund and save at least 3% of your next paycheck. As you build your financial stability, bump your savings up to 10% or even 20%.
Investing
The rate of inflation and the low APR in savings accounts means that investing is the only way you can guarantee your money against loss. Even then it’s not a guarantee.
Nonetheless, investing is vital to your financial health. It makes your money work for you, and you can grow your wealth just by having it in the right account. No investing is complete without risks, but there are some tried and true methods to help you build wealth with low risks.
Make sure you have a retirement account that can grow until you’re old. If you can, an HSA (health saving account) is another good investment tool.
You can start investing today with only $5 with apps like Robinhood, Stash, Webull, or Acorns.
Budgeting
Finally, you need a budget. This doesn’t need to be a zero-based budget where you track every expense if that doesn’t work for you – a zero-based budget doesn’t work for most people.
A budget is just a method of organizing your money. It makes sure you get paid, you save for what’s important for you, your bills get paid on time, and you don’t go into debt. Finding the right budget with good flexibility that fit’s your lifestyle takes work, but it’s a vital step in taking care of your financial health.
Take Care of Your Brain
There are over ten million new cases of dementia worldwide every year. There’s still a lot we don’t know about the disease, what causes it, and how it works, but there are some things we do know. Most importantly, we know you need to take care of your brain. There are a few things you can do to limit your risk of dementia as you age, and live a longer, healthier life.
Feed it Right
There are some foods your brain likes better than others. Make sure you get plenty of Omega 3s and antioxidants like blueberries.
Make sure you’re eating plenty of fish, blueberries, broccoli, coffee (not the one that’s mostly sugar), and dark chocolate. Keep your brain hydrated too. Staying hydrated alleviates headaches, prevents brain fog, and boosts your mood too!
Keep Learning
Learning a language is one of the best things you can do to keep your brain young. Solving any problem encourages your brain to build new synapses and keep it healthy.
Find a Brain Hobby
Take up Sudoku, crossword puzzles, or something else to challenge your brain. You can pick up puzzle books at many grocery stores and gas stations, and work on them with your morning cup of coffee. Your brain will thank you.
Take Care of Your Social Self
Humans are social creatures. Studies prove that keeping a well-rounded social life full of meaningful connections is vital for living a healthy life.
Friends
Your friends are a vital part of your well-being, so choose them wisely. Your friends should support you, help you grow, and healthily challenge your views.
In your life, dedicate time to your friends. Get coffee, call an old friend, go out for drinks, or go for a hike. These connections will make your life more fulfilling.
Family
Not everyone has healthy family relations. If that applies to you, that’s okay. You should never try to stay in a toxic relationship just because you’re related by blood.
But if you have a family that loves and supports you, that’s amazing. Make sure to keep them in your life.
Life Partner
The life partner you choose will be the most influential element of your life. Choose your life partner with care and make sure they can nurture and support you just as much as you do for them.
Your Environment Should Help You Grow
Where do you live? Do you like it? Are you safe? Can you grow here?
Many times the failings we see in ourselves have nothing to do with us, but everything to do with the environment in which we find ourselves. If our environment isn’t conducive to growth, you cannot grow.
Safety
Wherever you are, you should be safe. In your home, in your car, at work, around the people in your life, you should feel safe. If not, why? And what can you do to change that?
Home
Do you like your home? Is it practical for the way you live your life? Can you safely grow and pursue your passions here? Does it make you happy to be here?
Community
Are there people you can reach out to in times of trouble? Do you like your neighbors? Is there a way you can give back to your community?
Your Emotions Are Asking For Your Attention
What do you feel right now? Because you’re supposed to feel your emotions. What you feel is a guide to what needs to be fixed. Acknowledging emotions isn’t a popular practice in American culture. Many people live their lives with their emotions trapped inside. But there’s a reason you feel the way you do.
Open up, let everything you feel flow through you. It’s there to teach you something important, help you heal, and help you grow.
Stress
77% of Americans feel stress to the point where it causes health concerns. That’s a huge problem if you’re trying to live a healthy lifestyle!.
Instead, you need ways to help you manage your stress. Meditation, exercise, and journaling are always good, frequently recommended, suggestions.
But there are more options than that. Call a friend or loved one, pick up a new hobby, or address the stress at its root cause.
You may want to consider a CBD tincture. CBD is a hemp-derived product that has helped many people heal otherwise untreatable diseases, like epilepsy. CBD works with your endocannabinoid system and can help relieve stress and anxiety.
Do your research to ensure you’re investing in a quality CBD product, as not all CBD is created equally. You can see our list of CBD products here.
It may take tweaking before you finally find a way to cope with the stress that works best for you, but doing so will be key in helping you create a long, healthy life.
Contentment
We think we’re supposed to be happy, but that’s not quite right. Happy is more the opposite of depression than an achievable daily goal.
Thinking you’re supposed to be happy every day – and then realizing you’re not – can make your mental health worse. You might feel “broken” in a world where happiness is the only choice.
Those times when you feel happy are great but don’t expect you’re supposed to always feel that way. Instead, we’re supposed to feel content. Try to find joy in the little parts of your daily life, and find peace in what you do day today.
Take Care of Your Body
You can’t make it far in a healthy balanced life without taking care of your body. Your body enables you to do everything you do each day, and without proper care, more of your time and energy gets sucked away.
Cardio
Cardio training is one of the most important things for your body because it strengthens your heart and lungs. Heart disease is the most common cause of death in the U.S.
Cardio, therefore, is vital to keeping a healthy long life. But it’s not the only thing. Aim for 150 hours of moderate exercise a week, or 75 minutes of intense exercise a week.
Strength
Strength training is just as important as cardio for your health. Your ability to lift and move will keep you strong and capable well into old age. It takes twice as long to lose muscle as it does to build it, so the effort you do today will last. Keeping track of your workout stats can help you stay motivated and find your strength training rewarding.
Flexibility
Flexibility has just recently started to get more attention in the fitness industry. You must maintain your flexibility too. Start practicing yoga or put together a flexibility training routine so you can stay nimble your whole life.
Doctors
If you have a health concern, you should see a doctor about it as soon as possible. Early detection can mean life or death with many diseases.
That’s why it’s also important you never skip your annual checkups for any of your main areas of health. These include eyesight, dentistry, or your annual wellness exam. If you don’t currently have these appointments scheduled, schedule them today.
Nutrition
What you feed your body fuels you, and you can make that good fuel or bad. Information in the nutrition industry is always changing because we’re always learning more.
It may seem hard to stay on top of these changes, but fortunately, a few easy-to-follow rules are all you need to start making healthier choices.
Eat more plants. Eat less processed foods. That’s it.
Take Care of Your Soul
Our spiritual growth, personal development, and identity are often overlooked when it comes to leading a healthy lifestyle, but they shouldn’t be. You’re the main character in your life. You’ll face trials and hardships. You’ll have to grow. You need a belief that connects you with the rest of the planet. Take time to get to know you. What do you believe? What do you value? What do you want to create with your life?
Living a Healthy Lifestyle Takes Effort
There’s a reason that only a tiny fraction of the human population is healthy – it takes work and resources. If you’re willing to dedicate time to living your best life, you’ll join their numbers. These seven pillars should be the foundation to help you build a healthy lifestyle. Take care of your body, finances, and environment, and they’ll take care of you.
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