We are bombarded by messages every day that claim to be on the lookout for our health and well-being, and while many want to do better, we are sometimes deterred from doing the right thing in favor of cheaper or less time-consuming activities that aren't good for us; let alone those bad habits that are a time and money waster.Take smoking for example. Hopefully by now everyone knows that there is nothing redeemable about that addiction. It's a time hog because with nation-wide designated areas for smoking, you must stop what you are doing to go enjoy a drag. It's costly both in the moment you buy them and the long-term effects on your health. It's as viable a solution for appetite suppression as the tapeworm was.
At my last job, smokers were allowed to take two 15-minute smoke breaks per day, then a half hour lunch (non-smokers had the option of an hour lunch instead). Most in our office used part of lunch as their third smoke break for the day. Assuming they ONLY took three smoke breaks per work day, that adds up to 195 hours that you could have been doing or enjoying something else (3 x 15min x 5 days x 52 weeks/60 min). And let's be honest. The average smoker smokes one pack per day. 20 cigarettes. The average time to smoke is just 5 minutes. That equals 608+ hours (or 25+ days) that you could have been doing something more productive, healthier, or more soul-satisfying. What would you do if you had an extra month each year?
Even though most of us reading this blog are probably not smokers, the concept about time and money exchanging still applies. Let's start adding up other "bad habits" in time and money. How much TV do you watch (the national average is between 4-6 hours). How about soda drunk? I knew of a family of five that visited the local filling station at least twice a day for a 32-oz soda that cost $1.49 in the soda alone (not to mention the gas and time spent getting there). Just in upfront costs they were spending about $3,874 per year (a conservative estimate at five days per week) to drink something that has zero health benefit - and in fact is proving to be detrimental to your health.
So, before you think you don't have enough time or money to make some much needed changes in your life, consider the following quotes from Dr. Mark Hyman, MD:
"...ask yourself if your time and money are best spent as you are spending them now. Think of money as your life energy. It represents your time in a monetary way. How do you want to spend this life energy? Do you want to spend more of it creating health and vitality? We are so overworked, overstressed, and overtaxed. Even so, there are ways of making choices that give us more resources."What do you want your life to be in five years? If you keep doing what you are doing, will you reach your goals and achieve your dreams?
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