Last week, we spoke of similarities we found between accounting and personal finance. This week, we extend this comparison to another subject – comparing physical well being with financial well being. In the modern day world, many people associate a gymnasium or fitness centre when they think of maintaining physical well being. Although hitting the gym has become a fashion statement for some, it cannot be denied that being physically fit helps your body in more ways than one.

Therefore, we have chosen to name this blog as Health Gym vs. Money Gym to draw a parallel between the two subjects. By ‘Health Gym’, we mean the gymnasium you and I talk of in common parlance and other related health activities. And by ‘Money Gym’, we mean the act of financial planning and other best practices in personal finance. Here are some similarities between the two:

Do it because you want to do it:

• To start off, you will agree that one cannot be forced to visit the health gym. If this is done, it is often seen that people eventually drop out in three months or six months. Further, visiting the health gym forcefully will not really give you the results, unless you put your heart and soul into it. 
• Similarly, if you are undertaking financial planning forcefully, you will not achieve the desired results. You may save for a month or two and have more money in your pocket for investing. But if you don’t realize the importance of doing this and are cutting back expenses just because someone is forcing you to do it, sooner or later, you will get back to being reckless in your money matters. So irrespective of whether you are using the health gym or the money gym, remember that you should do it on your own volition.

Start now and start smart:

• So it is easy to say become fit, but it is equally difficult to get there. If you are physically unfit or obese, it is important to plan your health carefully. Once you have set the intent of becoming fit, do not delay or procrastinate. Start with small steps rather than trying everything at once. Hitting the gym may not be suitable or affordable for everyone. You can start with a daily walk and maintaining your diet, before moving on to more difficult practices. 
• Likewise, if your financial situation is a mess, you must immediately start putting things in order. Start with baby steps and take care of fundamentals first. Set up an emergency corpus, buy adequate health and life insurance cover, start investing for your critical goals and write your Will. If you are high on debt or are servicing expensive loans, then you must take care of these liabilities first. Once these essentials are in place, you can think of expanding your risk cover or focusing on the less important goals. 

Be regular, even if everything is hunky-dory:

• Now let’s talk about people who are already physically fit, either by design or by their hard work. Most people in this situation think it is not important to exercise or eat healthy, since they are not unfit. However, it is essential to be active, eat right and exercise regularly to maintain the good health. Visiting the health gym is one of the ways to maintain your physical well being. So to continue enjoying this healthiness, you will need to take the above steps and not remain idle.
• Similarly, people who are well-to-do financially should not think that this situation will always exist even if they do not pay attention to their money matters. It takes several years to build your wealth, but a single foolish step can wipe it all away. Therefore, even if you are rich, you need to be proactive in planning your finances. If you have the essentials in place, explore how you can make your money work more for you. Can you use part of the surplus in enhancing your skills? Can you give back to the society? Working out such details, while at the same time continuing to follow personal finance best practices can go a long way in making your life financially fulfilling.  

Supplement with other activities:

• You can achieve good health by a variety of ways. Experts recommend atleast 30 minutes of brisk walk everyday combined with a more rigorous regime of cardio exercises and weights training. Not to forget that eating right and healthy should go hand in hand. Will it work if you only visit the gym or only pay attention to what you eat? May be, may not be. While not all of us can do all of this, it is needless to say that a healthy mix of diet and exercise will make achieving your goal easier. 
• In the same way, when it comes to financial well being, engaging in a financial planning activity may alone not suffice. One must also inculcate best practices in personal finance on a regular basis – read personal finance books and magazines, attend seminars which are conducted in your city and subscribe to personal finance newsletters. This can not only increase awareness, but will also help in dealing with money matters easier. 

Have you started down the path of being physically and financially fit? If not, what are you waiting for? Start today!