The SDB 5 Points of Health

“Health is the greatest of human blessings.” – Hippocrates

When we are thinking about our future goals, it’s important to keep all aspects of your health in mind. The SDB 5 Points of Health is intended to be a guideline for singles to try to live a balanced life. Nobody can keep all of these in check at all times (least of all me), and there is no sense in beating yourself up over it. The basic idea is to not be completely engulfed one area, while neglecting other areas of your life.

As single people, it’s easy to overlook one or more areas of the SDB 5POH, and that’s OK. As long as it’s not for a long period of time, sacrifice might be required for change to happen. It’s up to you, as you trek on through your financial journey, to determine which areas need focus.

While on the path to financial independence, it’s easy to lose sight of the end game. It won’t make much sense to go overboard on saving money if it puts us in the psych ward; and it doesn’t help to have a million friends if we aren’t able to afford to do anything with them. The key here is to work on balance.

Let’s dive in!

“I thought this blog was for single people, what the hell are we talking about here?”

I’m so glad you asked! This one is addressed first on purpose. I feel like this can be the most over sought areas of our wellbeing as singles/solos. While our relational health can benefit from having a significant other, I want you to look at the bigger picture.

Close friends/family relationships are definitely key here; but also, the more lucid/acquaintance ones as well. Do you have a good relationship with your co-workers? How about the guy who makes your coffee every morning? Or how about the group of people you have seen at yoga class over and over?

Community involvement has proven to help mental health as well. This article has a pretty solid breakdown of cultivating a strong support system through relationships. Building a strong social network can also help in career growth.

We have all seen the person who got that high paying job because they happened to be friends with the right people. Has that person been you in the past? What can you do, moving forward, to open yourself up to new opportunities like that? This article explains effective strategies for career development through networking.

Just move to a new town? There are plenty of websites out there to meet new people in person, like meetup.com. I wouldn’t discount the idea of cultivating new relationships strictly online either. Discord and Facebook Groups are a great way to find an online community of people who have similar interests.

No matter how introverted you might be, it’s important to stretch the relationship muscle from time to time. Having more people in your network of contacts never hurts. You never know how beneficial a new relationship (romantic or otherwise) might be till you try it out!

SDB Tips:

• Start a conversation with the next person you are standing next to
• Think about a topic you love, check and see if there’s a Facebook group for that
• Make more of an effort to create connections with your boss/co-workers
• See if there are any volunteer opportunities at a charity that matters to you
• Never brush off a chance to meet someone new

“Eat right and exercise” – said by every doctor who ever lived.

I don’t have to tell you that there’s no point in creating a long-term financial plan if you aren’t going to live long enough to enjoy it. Developing good habits in this area early on (much like in finances), will have a long-lasting positive impact. Paul Reed, MD, discusses how increasing physical activity correlates to improved mental health as well in this article.

Up until my 30s, I never put enough focus in this area. I never really cared about how I looked, and quite frankly, it showed. Without getting into too many boring details, my physical health has a bit of a checkered history. I started going to the gym and eating better because I didn’t want wind up a 50-year-old man in constant pain.

The benefits of putting more of an emphasis in this area were pretty immediate for me. I started having more energy, am generally in a better mood, my chronic back pain is almost non-existent, and some would say I’m sexier than ever 😉.

The eating right part was a little more difficult. Who has time to cook dinner every night, especially when I live by myself? Start off simple and get more advanced with this when the creative juices start flowing. I usually cook a lot of chicken on Sunday night to create meals with throughout the week. Once I got into the swing of things, it really isn’t as hard as I made it out to be. Check out this article to get started when thinking up ideas.

I’ve heard people say that they don’t eat healthier because it’s more expensive. MALARKEY! Have you seen fruits and vegetables at the grocery store recently? They might as well be giving them out! Skinless chicken/turkey breast also isn’t breaking the bank. I don’t care if you lie to me, stop lying to yourself. Also, feel free to indulge in that pizza or that burger every once in a while. Eating healthy is not a life sentence.

SDB Tips:

• Come up with a workout schedule, either at home or an affordable gym
• Try to do a little more each time you work out, it’s amazing how far the body can go in a short amount of time
• Make sure your fridge is stocked with healthy snacks for in between meals (carrots, apples, bananas, and yogurt help tame my hunger)
• Check labels for fat/sugar content at the supermarket, you’ll be amazed what your favorite foods are costing you
• Celebrate your good habits at least once in a while with a cheat meal you love

Mental toughness is developed, not inherited.

I’ve always had relatively thick skin. That’s not to say my feelings have never been hurt, but I generally don’t let the opinions of others get into my psyche. This article is a great read for those who are looking to improve their mental resilience.

Failure is inevitable, the way you react to it is what future success is predicated on.

The good news about mental health is that it works a lot like physical health, at least for me. Things can be difficult at first, but after time and reps, it gets easier and easier. After a while, you’ll be able to handle more stress, and grow from there. I’ve had many points in my life where I reached the point of mental exhaustion. After some time to decompress and relax, I’ve always come out stronger because of it.

Alright, good ol’ Uncle Bill is off his high horse. While I do believe that, at times, mental health can get overstated these days; it certainly has been understated for a very long time. Constantly pushing yourself past the point of exhaustion without time to relax and reflect is not healthy. It’s not only detrimental on your personal wellbeing, but it negatively impacts the quality of your work as well.

Mental Health America found that roughly 23% of American adults have experienced mental illness in 2021-2022. The number of people who died by suicide in 2022 were the highest recorded in American history. Not to mention the stats on minors aren’t moving in the right direction either 😬. Despite all these stats, I encourage you to only worry about what’s going on under your own roof.

Ironically, I find that exercise helps more with my mental health than my physical health. On top of that, I now make sure to schedule a certain amount of time each week away from screens. It might only be an hour or so, but that short amount of time to ease the mind really helps melt the stress away.

Having someone to talk to about stressors is also really important. If you don’t have someone you can talk to (outside of work and family); I strongly encourage you to start working on improving your relational health habits. Having outside input on a personal situation can work wonders.

A licensed therapist or psychiatrist might be beneficial here as well. I’ve had many friends that this has worked wonders. Just a quick look at the stats show that many people aren’t taking this seriously enough. Therapists and psychiatrists aren’t cheap, but depending on your situation, it might be necessary. When deciding to hire a professional, make sure they are aligned with your core values.

I think it’s a great idea to take mental inventory from time to time. Take a look at what you accomplished over the past few months, and where you’d like to be over the next few. Take a little time to decide what factors in your life are needed, which factors are wanted, and the factors you would like less of. Start working up a plan and take action!

SDB Tips:

• Life is tough, but use it to your advantage and see what you are capable of
• Find time away from phones and screens
• Allow yourself time to relax and decompress when stress levels get high
• Talk to someone outside of work/family, it does wonders
• Consider speaking with a professional

“Emotions? Nah bro, not for me.” Yea bro… especially for you.

Emotional health will sometimes get tied in under the category of mental health. I agree that they are intertwined in a way, but it’s important to understand the differences. This article does a great job of diving deeper into this area.

The highly emotionally intelligent (EQ) individual is in tune with their own emotional states and will adjust their decisions to act accordingly. Everyone has negative thoughts/emotions that tend to creep in unexpectedly. The one with high EQ will notice it happening and take action to remedy based off a benefit/drawback ratio.

For example, a wallflower at a club might be feeling too embarrassed to hit the dance floor. If this person has high EQ, they will notice the feeling coming in, then weigh the options in front of them. Dancing at this moment might make them look like a fool, it could lead to insults, that’s not fun! Or, maybe dancing at this moment could encourage others to join in, which would be a lot of fun! There are several other factors to consider here, but ultimately the decision is made based off logic and what will benefit them the most.

Psychology Today has some excellent tactics on improving emotional intelligence. The ones with high EQ are generally more confident than average and can lead to better opportunities in the workplace as well. This article details the different attributes that one with high EQ brings, and how it can lead to more professional opportunities.

Spirituality and religion would fall under this category. Possibly even relational health as well, depending on how you look at it. Elizabeth Scott, PhD, delves into the impact of spirituality on one’s overall health in this article.

It’s emotions that introduce new feelings (welcome or not) into our psyche. We didn’t choose to feel a certain way, but its still up to us to respond. Those of us that are addicts, in particular, have the most difficult time in this area. This article outlines the roll of emotions lead to addictive tendencies.

One of the big keys here is to not let your emotions control your decisions. Nobody can turn them off (nor would we want to); but letting emotions drive the bus alone will end in catastrophe. Stoicism in personal finance is going to be a strong theme throughout this blog.

SDB Tips:

• Get enough sleep
• Dance like nobody’s watching
• Limit substance use when applicable
• Try yoga and/or meditation
• Plan a vacation, having something to look forward to generally keeps spirits up

THIS IS WHY WE ARE HERE!

Financial health for singles is the heart of this blog. Money may not buy you happiness, not directly at least, but enough of it will buy you freedom. That freedom has the potential to create unbelievable returns of happiness if you play the game correctly.

What would your life look like if you had absolutely no financial obligations? Sure, at first, you are going to hit all those bucket list items. You might go sky diving, eat at that famous overpriced steak house, and even schedule a trip to Europe. What about after that? More importantly, why aren’t you doing some of those things now?

Being financially healthy doesn’t necessarily mean you have $10,000,000 in the bank. It means there’s enough income (active and/or passive) to cover the cost of needs and wants. Financial freedom is when the time spent on healthy income doesn’t interfere with the time spent on core values.

It’s extremely challenging to focus on other areas of health when your financial health is in the dumps. It’s the goal of this blog to help you come up with a plan to better your financial situation, thus, giving you the freedom to improve your overall health.

SDB Tips:

• Read the Single Dollar Bill Blog!

Time and money are a fickle beast. At times it feels like they are working against each other. The intention here is to ultimately have them both working for you to achieve your goals.

After reading this you might be anxious, you might be motivated, or you might be anxiously motivated to give me the finger. All are warranted. That said, can you honestly say that there isn’t room for improvement in one or more of these areas of your life? I know I can’t.

I wanted to at least touch on these topics so that you understand where I’m coming from. Yes, this is a personal finance blog for singles, but it’s important for us to cover the big overarching theme early on so we can start to develop our core values. The road to financial freedom can be an arduous one, particularly if we don’t have a strong WHY to back it up.

My advice is to not live and die by the 5POH. It’s intended to be used as a basic guideline to help balance things out. You can utilize it for something as simple as what to have for lunch; but the intention is for utilization on the much larger decisions in life.

Deciding to purchase a new vehicle, start a new saving strategy, or to go on a mini retirement are going to shift the scales on the 5POH pretty drastically. Make sure it’s in line with your core values, and the returns will be extraordinary.

Stay classy solos! ✌️