Health is probably our most precious commodity. Yet, we tend to take it for granted and spend too much time and energy focusing on all sort of other so-called important life matters.

Most people work very hard to increase their revenues, purchase a bigger house, travel to dream locations, or provide for family needs and desires. But when you look at all these goals, they are mostly linked to accumulating more wealth and purchasing power. Now, there is nothing wrong with ambition and having a whole set of plans in life, but following the wrong dreams can lead you to a swift spiritual and physical death. And the mistake most of us are doing is classifying health as a secondary objective, whereas it should be our top priority.

#1: No more excuses

When you ask people why they don’t strive more to have a healthier life, you will likely hear tons of different “busyness” excuses. People spend countless hours on social media, playing games, or watching TV. They can easily use a bit of this wasted time to improve their wellness. Instead, they will come up with the usual “I am too busy at work and have no time to exercise or prepare healthy dishes”, or “I would have loved to go for a run but it’s too cold outside”, or “I have no choice but to sacrifice my health to provide more for my family”. But is this sacrifice really worth it? Do we really make more money in the long run by sacrificing our health?

Human beings are short-sighted animals, and many cannot figure out how important health is, until they are faced with illness. We all remember when our body told us to slow down and decided to get sick. We all felt miserable having to waste our sick days being sick, and we would have given all our savings just to have our moms around us. No one cares about anything when struck by illness. So, let’s not repeat the same mistakes and value our heath long before sickness comes.

“Health is a crown that the healthy wear, but only the sick can see it.”

– Ash-Shâfi’î

#2: Health is Wealth

You must truly understand that “health-is-wealth” is not an overstatement. Otherwise, you will never be able to reach a perfectly balanced life, which is fundamentally key for happiness. Many of us are enthusiastic people who spend countless hours at work trying to reach all sorts of challenging targets. Sometimes, we come back home late and completely exhausted. And since we don’t have time, we usually order some fast food or microwave frozen food and watch TV or other screens till we go to sleep. If this becomes your routine, then you probably live a very unhealthy lifestyle. The great wealth-related achievements you are looking for will certainly cost you much more in the future.

#3: A balanced life will take you further

Mental and physical exhaustion are usually accompanied by a significant decrease in motivation and creativity. What is important for success is performance and efficiency and not the simple presence at the office. Unfortunately, a lot of people are living similar poorly balanced lifestyles where they kill themselves at work at the expense of their health. This is where they become easy preys to depression and burnout.

They might have spent all their time working for promotions or building a new business, and they will spend much more time and money healing from all different sorts of cognitive and physical symptoms. It’s important you understand that a defective body is a heavy burden with expensive and recurring maintenance needs. Again, life is a marathon and if you neglect your health, you might go faster the first five kilometers, but you will certainly not finish the race.