Saving You Time and Money

Today a colleague asked me, "What do you think are the main things that keep people from doing the things they know are healthy for them?"  We talked about it for awhile, and for her it boiled down to two things- time and money. 

I've seen it at work in my practice- people won't go to counseling because "I don't have the time," or "it's too expensive."  Just like working out, eating healthy, meditating, or healthy relating- one of those two things gets in the way.

It takes time to do the healthy things and sometimes it also takes money (just look at how much more expensive it is to actually eat healthily!)  However, have you thought about the cost of remaining unhealthy?

Look at it this way-

• How much time do you spend in disconnect from your partner?  
• How many hours a week are you unhappy about your relationship?  
• How many times are you wasting precious hours arguing over something you could have talked about and cleared (with healthy communication skills) in a few minutes?  

Take a few moments to truly consider how much time in a week you spend in an unhealthy place with your partner.  Try to add it up.

Now, consider if those disconnects cost you money-

• Do you or your spouse buy gifts to "make up?"  Or because you feel guilty?  
• Do you go on more expensive vacations because you want to assure your partner things are okay?  
• Do either of you make bad money decisions in those times when you are in disconnect from your spouse?  
• Are you folks refraining from talking about money because of unhealthy communication skills and thus losing money?  
• Do you or your spouse purchase things to "feel better" when you are in disharmony? (shopping therapy)

Not doing the healthy things (or learning how to do the healthy things) actually costs you time and money- the very reasons you may be using to not go for help.  In fact, going to a coach or counselor will probably save you money overall!

I can speak for myself, the more I use healthy skills with my husband, the less time he and I spend unhealthy (saving me time.)  That balanced and centered way I feel also helps me in developing and taking care of my practice (thus saving both time and money.)  I make better decisions and can go to him for support and help because we are connected through our healthy interactions.  It is a win-win tangibly (in money and time) and intangibly (in how good we both feel.)

There is one rub- often when we start the healthy things they do take a bit more money or time.  Remember to view this in not only short term but for the long haul.  As you make being healthy a part of your life, the time/money costs fall off.  And in the long term, unhealthy gets more costly.

So, your courageous work is to look at the healthy things you are not doing because of time or money.  I mean more than therapy; look at all the things for your physical, emotional, mental, and relationship health.  Then honestly ask how much not being healthy is costing you in time and money.  Then ask yourself how much you would save and gain by doing healthy things.  Decide which side of the balance sheet you want to be on and do some work.

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