 This is a guest post by Derek Notman, Financial Advisor. Can money buy you happiness? Can it buy you wealth?
Yes. But it can also take it away. Hey, I’m Derek. I’m a virtual CFP for self-minted millionaires, founder of a tech company, husband, father, and have made my fair share of financial and health mistakes. The most powerful tool in the world Money. It’s odd how powerful this tool we call money really is, yet we have virtually no formal education in how to use it. We use money for almost everything in our lives from providing food and a home for our families to investing for the future for things like retirement, travel, or even starting a business. Money is the mechanism for us to do all that is important to us, it can empower us, make dreams come true, but at the end of the day is a byproduct of providing value to others. Money can do a lot for us, if we use it correctly. But money can also bring us down, especially when it comes to our health. I think the lack of education, understanding, and appreciation of our wealth can directly effect our health. I should know, it happened to me. What I learned the hard way I used to think, most of us do, that I would be happier and healthier if I just had lots of money and stuff. I worked a lot of hours to make this money. I then bought a big house, lots of cars, etc. That’s what we are supposed to do, right, the American Dream? Don’t let the flash and façade mislead you, just because your neighbor has a bigger house and boat in the driveway doesn’t mean they are happy, they could be miserable but hey, gotta keep up with the Joneses I guess. So, what happened to me? I gained weight. I wasn’t able to sleep. I wasn’t healthy. I was working more to feed the beast and not getting any healthier in the process. Instead of pursuing more wealth I was dreading it. I had become a slave to it since I didn’t understand it. I didn’t understand how money truly worked and ended up paying the price for it. I learned that the stuff, the wealth, without my health and happiness was not worth it. What did I do to change course? I had to get real honest with myself. It was clear I was not able to enjoy the fruits of my labor given the decline in my health so something had to be done. I started by getting clear on what was important to me in life, what I wanted, the lifestyle I wanted, the relationships I wanted, etc. My wife and son and I all chatted about this together and what was important to them. We then created physical vision boards. What happened as a result? I lost weight. I am sleeping better than I ever have. I am making more money and working less. I am spending time helping others while also enjoying time with my family and pursuing my passions. I think I may just have found some balance. I used my money to get healthy, and I used my health to get more money. Health is Wealth We tend to think of our health as eating right, exercising, and so on. Which are certainly important but our health also is mental. If the mental isn’t right, then the physical can and will suffer. Clearly that was the case for me and so many others. Being healthy is arguably more important than being wealthy. Although they are not mutually exclusive one can make the argument that health without wealth is more important than wealth without health. If we are healthy and not wealthy we can still get up and go about our days with a smile. If we are wealthy but not healthy then we will not be able to enjoy our wealth, and even potentially ruin our wealth by spending our money on stuff to fill a void that cannot ever be filled. The quality of our entire life, mental and physical, simply is better when we focus on our health & wealth. They can and will support each other Living your best life today & tomorrow This is the motto I live by. This is the message I share with my clients and the advisors I support. What does it mean? It means to be intentional with how you live your live. It means to use your money as a tool to realize your hopes, dreams, and goals. It means getting crystal clear on what you want in life and then taking action to make it happen. It means finding balance to enjoy today while planning to enjoy all of your tomorrows. None of us knows when “our time” will come so it is important to make sure we are living a fulfilled life every day, not just something we are planning to do in the future. Money can buy happiness and health if the money if a byproduct of choosing to be happy and healthy. That’s a bit of a mouthful but I think you see just how powerful that statement is. Thanks for taking the time to ready this, I do hope it resonated with you and gave you some nuggets to help improve your life. Feel free to follow me on LinkedIn or send me an email if you would like to chat about how me and my firm could potentially help you realize your hopes, dreams, and goals through this thing we call money. Sending positive vibes your way, Derek Notman  Most people, especially those in the retirement industry, forget that there are TWO steps to prep for retirement. Step One Tom Hegna, author of the book "Don't Worry, Retire Happy" tells a story about the first step of retirement planning - having enough money. A couple is driving through the desert. 🌵 They’re having a great time until they notice their gas tank getting low. With a sinking heart, they realize they’re not going to make it to the next town. In his analogy, the gas is the money they saved for retirement. Not having enough creates stress as they know the end of their resources is coming. That's followed by disappointment because their fun trip is over when they run out of out of ‘gas.’ ⛽️ Step Two Taking this analogy one step further...what if the couple has a full gas tank and even a little pull behind trailer full of gas cans? They have all the gas they need to go wherever they want. But what if their car breaks down? What if they get a flat tire or their engine oil springs a leak? Then smoke starts billowing out of the front end & the car overheats. What then? They have plenty of gas, but no vehicle to get where they want to go. 🚘 In this case, their car represents their health. The couple has been so focused on having enough gas (wealth) for their trip that they neglected making repairs on their car (health). The result is stress & disappointment. They know it’s too late to repair the rusty frame and dry-rotted tires. They’re stranded. Moral of the Story There are TWO steps for retirement preparation. Step 1 - fill up your gas tank (wealth) Step 2 - take care of your car maintenance (health) You won’t get very far without BOTH. Just as people need help from a financial advisor to prepare for their financial future, many people need help preparing for the future of their health. Consider working with a ‘wellth’ advisor (I know a good one). My online wellness coaching program, the Wellth Academy™ is designed for smart investors who want to shed extra weight, shrink their waist, and reduce their number of risk factors so they don't get stranded on the side of the road. You can learn more about it HERE.
 Financial tax season comes around once every year. But did you know it’s tax season for your health everyday? Here’s what I mean. During financial tax season we examine our income, expenses, and investments to determine what taxes we’ll be responsible for paying. And if we have a good financial planner or CPA, they’re on the lookout for ways to reduce our tax bill so we don’t have to pay so much, right? The same is true with our health. We all have health income that fills up our wellness bank account. This includes things like water, nutrients, sunlight, and fresh air. We also have health expenses which can be things like illness, injury, stress, or high blood pressure. Our bodies are constantly trying to balance our income with our expenses so we can protect our assets. Our assets are things like a strong immune system, muscle, bone, and energy. But it’s hard to stay healthy when there are too many expenses taxing our systems. The body has to scramble to come up with enough resources to pay the tax and repair damage. So, what could have gone toward building a robust immune system to protect us from viruses or rogue cancer cells is being spent on more immediate needs. This over-spending adds up day after day until our healthy bodies become bankrupt. That’s when systems start to deteriorate and disease gets a foothold on your health. So, as you spend time in the coming weeks thinking about what’s taxing your your finances, take some time to consider what could be taxing your health, too, or as I like to call it, your WELLth. Here are 3 behaviors that could be taxing your health: 1. Too many late nights. Sleep is when cellular repairs are made. It’s also your fasting period when your body isn't actively digesting food, so resources are freed up to do other things. Not sleeping enough can cause weight gain, hormone issues, and premature aging. Reduce your tax burden by trying to sleep 7-9 hours a night with as many of those hours before midnight as possible to stay in alignment with the bodies natural circadian rhythms. 2. Chronic stress. Stress is one of the ‘great disruptors.’ It causes a lot of undetectable damage to the entire body. Although stress feels like a mental issue, it physically damages the body from hormones to immune functions to inflammation and weight gain. Stress is a part of our lives, but you can drop into a lower tax bracket by utilizing breathing techniques, meditation, massage, and mindset reframing. 3. Inflammatory foods. Food is designed to fuel the body with the nutrients it needs to make repairs and provide energy. However, eating foods that cause inflammation end up causing even more damage. It’s like pouring gas on a small fire. The fire gets bigger, so it requires more resources to put it out. Lower your taxes by eating real foods like the ones in the DailyDozen app, including cruciferous vegetables, dark berries, ground flaxseed, green leafy vegetables, and organic, range free, local food as much as possible. Consider working with a ‘wellth’ advisor (I know a good one) to lower your health taxes. My online wellness coaching program called the Wellth Academy™ is designed for smart investors who want to learn a system for earning back and maintaining their health with ease. You can learn more about it HERE.  Stevyn Guinnip, MS, CWC is a financial advisor's daughter and a 20-year veteran as an exercise physiologist and a wellness coach. She's the CEO & Wellth Advisor at Grow Wellthy™ and the creator of proprietary 12-week wellness coaching program called the Wellth Academy™. You can reach Stevyn for an application to the academy, podcast interviews, or speaking inquiries at stevyn@growwellthy.com.
Other ways to engage with Stevyn: 1. Join the free Facebook group: The Wellth Planners 2. Connect on LinkedIn Grow Wellthy™ Where smart investors invest in their health www.GrowWellthy.com  I'd like to share a realization with you. Exercise physiology was my jam for 20 years because I thought exercise was the main thing that would fix people's health. It doesn't, and I was wrong. In fact, sometimes exercise does more harm than good, at least until the other systems of the body are brought back into balance. I didn't realize the massive role that stress, hormones & the gut played in health (and weight loss). Seriously, guys...they can really wreak havoc on your body if left unchecked. You'd think that my master's program would've taught me all about this. It didn't. Or my post-graduate, highly-sought-after, 'gold standard' certification. Nope. Sure, I learned all about exercise prescription, training heart rates, and fat metabolism. But those things don't operate in a vacuum. And, honestly, most of the research out there is done on male college students. And they're probably the least impacted by the 'great disrupters' I mentioned above. I wish I could go back in time. It pains me to think back to some of the clients I worked with years ago when I first started - who struggled to lose weight with traditional approaches. I feel bad that I didn't have all the information or know the whole picture then, and I wish I could go back in time because I know I could help them now. Not knowing this information even affected my own health after I nearly died 5 years ago in Australia. You can read my post about it HERE. Thankfully, I was able to uncover the truth and innovate to better serve my clients. It's ok to be wrong as long as you're willing to change, right? That's why I've done a 180. A dozen other things. Exercise is no longer my main focus. In fact, there are literally a DOZEN other things I focus on first before I talk to my clients about working out. And they're seeing results without going to the gym and without hard, grueling workouts. Here's what a client said last week after he had just hit some major milestones in his progress: "...it just simply works! Nothing else has. I have the confidence for the first time ever and what I'm learning is sticking and becoming habit and more importantly becoming fun. Haven't counted a single calorie nor been to a gym and won't be either." In fact, much of what I teach now is around establishing new boundaries and behaviors to create balance. The body takes care of the rest naturally. We simply become aware of the behaviors that already exist and then remain curious about what doing something else would feel like. From there, new habits develop for an "autopilot" approach to health. It's so freeing and effective. Another client who lost 18 pounds around the halfway point in the academy sent me this chat message: "Huh, I don't feel like I'm doing that much but my weight is trending in the right direction. This seems to actually be working." A financial approach. This process is similar to how a financial advisor helps someone with retirement planning. They look at your goals 10 or 20 years from now, create a roadmap for success, and then work on developing the habits that will get you there. It should be the same for your health. The plan should be intentional and have a long term focus - not a quick fix. Quick fixes are too extreme on metabolism and cause more harm than good. This "financial approach" to wellness eliminates the gain-lose-gain yoyo. Once weight is gone, it's gone for good. That's why I call the process 'growing wellthy." Health is a form of wealth so it should be treated as if it were a valuable long term investment. One of my favorite quotes supporting this concept is, "Slow is smooth and smooth is fast." (Tim Ferriss) The bottom line is this...if you want to improve your health, don't start with exercise - or at least don't start with only exercise. Instead, find ways to improve how you spend your day. Try things like lowering your stress, getting better sleep, enjoying your relationships, moving at low levels at work, eating a diet that promotes great gut health with pre and probiotics, and breaking your fast everyday with intention. They will serve you far better than trying to get to the gym. Next Steps If you're ready to embark on your own health journey, I'm happy to send you the dozen "wellth" principles I mentioned above that I use with my clients. Just email me and I'll get them to you. If you're looking for more support in your health journey, The Wellth Academy™ might be a fit for you. Click here to go to an information page. Read it carefully. If interested, get the ball rolling with the wellness audit at the bottom of that page. Whatever route you choose, just keep growing wellthy! Stevyn  Stevyn Guinnip, MS, CWC is a financial advisor's daughter and a 20-year veteran as an exercise physiologist and a wellness coach. She's the CEO & Wellth Advisor at Grow Wellthy™ and the creator of proprietary 12-week wellness coaching program called the Wellth Academy™. You can reach Stevyn for an application to the academy, podcast interviews, or speaking inquiries at stevyn@growwellthy.com.
Other ways to engage with Stevyn: 1. Join the free Facebook group: The Wellth Planners 2. Connect on LinkedIn Grow Wellthy™ Where smart investors invest in their health www.GrowWellthy.com 1/29/2021 Did Your Parents Want a Boy? When I was a little girl, I hated my name. Roll call on the first day of school was embarrassing. Teachers stuttered and kids stared. I was shy and didn't like the attention. I would always come home and ask my mom and dad why they gave me a boy's name. The answer was always the same. "We liked it and had a different name picked out if you were a boy. Don't worry. It will build character." It never made me feel better, and I would dream of having a normal name like Jen, Whitney or Katy. Unlike today, in the 70's and 80's it was a cultural stretch to be a girl named Stevyn. But, I learned to deal with it and to even find humor in the struggle. When I turned 18, the government called to make sure I was enrolled in the draft. When I got into business, people were shocked when a woman walked in. The most common question I've been asked my whole life is, "Did your parents want a boy?" I would tell them the same thing my parents told me...my parents liked Stevyn for a girl and had a different name picked out for a boy. Over time, my life's theme song became "The Boy Named Sue" by Johnny Cash. Then my answer changed. A couple of years ago I learned more about the origin of my name. We were at my dad's 70th birthday party when someone came up and asked me a familiar question, "Did your parents want a boy?" My dad was standing right there, so I laughed and suggested that we get the answer from the source. To my amazement, I heard my dad tell a story that I had never heard before. It went something like this. While my mom was pregnant with me he was trying to make ends meet by selling insurance door-to-door. He knocked on one door, and a black woman answered. After talking to her briefly, he learned that she was a single working mother putting herself through college. He was impressed that she was working hard under very difficult circumstances to improve her life. The next words he said are seared in my mind. "She had grit and a winsome personality. Her name was Stevyn." Mic drop. I was floored. I had never heard this before in my 40+ years on this planet. So, I'm named after a strong, determined woman with a winsome personality. Whoever she is, hats off to her for making such an impression on my dad and for giving him the idea for my name. I think my parents were right. My name did play a vital role in who I am today. I'm all grown up, now, and no longer hate my name. I haven't for a long time. It's who I am. I'm the girl named Stevyn. *pronounced stee-ven
12/9/2020 Client Question: I know how to make money, but I don't know how to make my 42 inch waist shrink |
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2/21/2021
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