The Most Important Retirement Investment: Your Mental Health
You can sacrifice and scrimp and save for thirty or forty years and put every extra penny you can find into retirement investments. You can end up with several million dollars in a mutual fund that averages fifteen percent per year from the day you retire to the day you die.
But unless you are taking care of yourself, the day you die will come much sooner than it should.
Human beings were designed to live long lives - well over one hundred years - and die peacefully, without having their bodies riddled with degenerative diseases. But several components of our modern lifestyle have caused us to be a society of sick old people.
And if you're sick, you can't enjoy much from life.
One of the major causes of illness and disease is stress. Your body can handle the chemicals and hormones released when you're under stress, if the stress happens only occasionally. But these days, most people are constantly under stress. Your body, then, is basically toxifying itself by a continual secretion of stress-related chemicals.
That makes getting the state of your mental and emotional health under control a crucial retirement investment. But don't wait until you retire; by then it may be too late. Following are some ways to improve your mental and emotional health, which in turn can slow down aging.
1. Focus on the positive.
Yes, tragedy happens. We lose loved ones. We get into accidents. We lose jobs. But for every bad thing that happens, there are generally several good things that tip the balance of life in favor of the positive. Every morning, get up and force yourself to think of five positive things about yesterday, and five positive things about today. If the only thing you can think of is that you haven't been foreclosed on or that you can walk, so be it.
2. Take a Sabbath every week.
God knew what He was talking about when He commanded that people rest once a week. Now, this doesn't mean that you completely give up all activity, but you should schedule one day a week where you at least have no deadlines or no tasks that you dread to get done.
3. Have a network of friends.
Studies have shown that isolated people tend to be more sick and die younger. No matter how busy you are, make it a point to call and/or hang out with friends at least a couple times a month. Single people should do so more often.
4. Eat better.
Many of the chemicals in processed food have a negative impact on brain function, including causing depression. On the other hand, a diet focused on a variety of whole foods provide the nutrients necessary for better memory and concentration and an improved sense of well-being.
And don't leave out the saturated fat! Your brain cannot function properly without it. Who knew a couple pats of butter a day would be an essential retirement investment?
5. Get enough sleep.
You're a grown up. You know whether you do or not. So make it right.
Ensuring proper mental and emotional health is a great retirement investment. Take action today, and the return will be huge tomorrow.
But unless you are taking care of yourself, the day you die will come much sooner than it should.
Human beings were designed to live long lives - well over one hundred years - and die peacefully, without having their bodies riddled with degenerative diseases. But several components of our modern lifestyle have caused us to be a society of sick old people.
And if you're sick, you can't enjoy much from life.
One of the major causes of illness and disease is stress. Your body can handle the chemicals and hormones released when you're under stress, if the stress happens only occasionally. But these days, most people are constantly under stress. Your body, then, is basically toxifying itself by a continual secretion of stress-related chemicals.
That makes getting the state of your mental and emotional health under control a crucial retirement investment. But don't wait until you retire; by then it may be too late. Following are some ways to improve your mental and emotional health, which in turn can slow down aging.
1. Focus on the positive.
Yes, tragedy happens. We lose loved ones. We get into accidents. We lose jobs. But for every bad thing that happens, there are generally several good things that tip the balance of life in favor of the positive. Every morning, get up and force yourself to think of five positive things about yesterday, and five positive things about today. If the only thing you can think of is that you haven't been foreclosed on or that you can walk, so be it.
2. Take a Sabbath every week.
God knew what He was talking about when He commanded that people rest once a week. Now, this doesn't mean that you completely give up all activity, but you should schedule one day a week where you at least have no deadlines or no tasks that you dread to get done.
3. Have a network of friends.
Studies have shown that isolated people tend to be more sick and die younger. No matter how busy you are, make it a point to call and/or hang out with friends at least a couple times a month. Single people should do so more often.
4. Eat better.
Many of the chemicals in processed food have a negative impact on brain function, including causing depression. On the other hand, a diet focused on a variety of whole foods provide the nutrients necessary for better memory and concentration and an improved sense of well-being.
And don't leave out the saturated fat! Your brain cannot function properly without it. Who knew a couple pats of butter a day would be an essential retirement investment?
5. Get enough sleep.
You're a grown up. You know whether you do or not. So make it right.
Ensuring proper mental and emotional health is a great retirement investment. Take action today, and the return will be huge tomorrow.
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