Physical and Financial Fitness

I have been stumbling over this idea for a long time. Although it seems fairly intuitive, I struggle with the ability to tie these concepts together in a satisfying manner. Physical and financial fitness are connected. I’m sure of it. Yet, I can’t always delineate why. Why are so many in our community so active and health conscious? It would seem that the answer should be obvious.

Here are a few of my thoughts.

Mind Body Connection

Although we like to think of financial independence as an economic issue, I think we miss the point. Financial independence is a mental health issue. it always has been. The point of extirpating ourselves from W2 bondage is to release our minds from the torture of the non purposeful life. Or to release the tension and anxiety about risk mitigation and grab a hold of risk management. Either way, the point of pursuing this path is safety. Security. Happiness.

We want to clear our minds of the economic clutter.

So it’s not much of a stretch to consider that part of mental well being is embracing physical health. Physical and financial fitness go together. There is a mind body connection. In order to truly pursue one, one must be at least partially engaged in the other.

Economic Optimization

There is a belief system out there that if we take care of our bodies, we will spend less. This is especially claimed in regards to healthcare. Although nothing is going to minimize the cost of insurance, many believe being a good steward of physical fitness will mitigate out of pocket costs.

Whether this is true or not remains to be proven.. Being a physician, I have seen many sport and exercise related injuries that have required extensive physical therapy or even surgery.

But logically it makes sense.

Nutrition also falls under this category. Food is one of the larger expenses related to the monthly budget. Many pursue both physical and financial fitness by shopping locally, avoiding restaurants, and even turning towards veganism.

Type A Personality

There are certainly segments of the financial independence community that are typical type A personalities. We like to monitor. We like to set goals and revel in achievements. Financial independence itself is an audacious undertaking that many of us can’t wait to dig our claws into.

Physical fitness is much the same. Once we have extracted ourselves from the resume building business or work world, we need a new area of focus to expend our energy.

Physical and financial fitness are thus bound. Once we reach financial freedom, exercise and health are obvious activities to pivot towards.

Final Thoughts

There is an obvious connection between physical and financial fitness. The mind body connection is strong. We focus on finances as a mental health issue. We focus on our bodies for much the same reasons.

Physical fitness is believed to lead to economic advantages. Not only in avoiding the lifestyle diseases, but in also saving on the cost of food and restaurants.

Our type A personalities need an outlet. Once we have escaped the economic rat race, our bodies crave joining a very different type of race. The race towards physical fitness.