Get healthy, grow wealthy

Last week, I wrote about Daily Worth, a great new site that I’ve been reading that helps women take charge of their finances. Today, MSN MoneyCentral’s MP Dunleavey mentioned them in her call-to-action article for women to take control of their finances.

Why am I writing about money on health blog? I believe that health and wealth are closely related.

Women are terrific caregivers to others – but they frequently forget to give to themselves. They’re looking out for their spouses, children, parents and friends, but they barely have time to relax and do something for their own good health.

The same goes with money. Most women put careers on hold to take care of children or ailing parents. They happily give gifts to relatives, children, friends and neighbors. They donate money, goods and time to charity when not having enough time (or money) to extra take good care of themselves.

What does your look say about how well you take care of your health? Do you have circles under your eyes, a permafrown, or deepening worry lines in your forehead? Or are you well rested, smiling, high energy and have more laugh lines? Compare it to your money outlook – What does your bank or investment statement say about how you take care of your wealth? Is your balance negative? Do your credit card balances grow bigger by the month? Or is your savings or investing account growing bigger (despite downturns)?

There’s an expression – How you do anything is how you do everything.

If you have chaos in one part of your life, you’re likely to find it in other parts too. But when you start paying attention to one area of your life – like your eating and health habits -it’s likely that you’ll begin to improve in other areas of your life. In other words, bringing awareness to your health and building healthy habits helps you build healthy habits in all areas of your life.

How you do you get started on living a deliciously healthy life?

Start by reading my posts, asking me questions and reaching out for help. If you leave me a comment I will answer you either in another post or in the comments section.

Read books on healthy topics that you need help with. I am constantly on the lookout for new resources. Check out my side bar – that’s where I usually add in things that I like. Books that I’m reading now that I’m really enjoying:

Victoria Moran’s Love Powered Diet – great if you’re dealing with disordered eating
Elson Haas’ Staying Healthy With The Seasons – a perrenial favorite
Laura Day’s Practical Intuition – yes, what you think it is. Tapping into your own intuition allows you see into the future and access the answers that you already have.

Join a community – there are plenty of communities out there that can help you get healthier. I have my own Facebook page and newsletter – which I invite you to join. I am in the process of building my own community – if you’re interested in that please let me know. There are also plenty of community sites that can help – SparkPeople helps you track you weight loss and exercise goals and connect with others on the same mission.
FitDay is also a good way to track your health goals.

How to get started on your fiscal fitness? MP Dunleavey writes:

* Join the Women in Red message board. The Women in Red motto — “Financial sanity through community” — works. Together, women learn to save, pay off debt (more than $4 million and counting) and tackle daily money problems in order to create enduring financial stability.

* Talk about money. Talk about spending, about saving, about how you want the future to unfold. Don’t be afraid to ask questions.

* Take small steps. Rome wasn’t built in a day, and my own financial journey has taken thousands of steps over the years. Keep moving.

* Learn. There are hundreds of financial resources — Web sites, blogs, books — many of them written in plain English. A new favorite of mine (short and easy to digest): money tips from DailyWorth.

One of the best resources I have personally found is T. Harv Eker’s Millionaire Mind Intensive course. I took it a few years ago and  completely changed my thinking around money – I highly recommend it.