you can't survive on $20k and free food

Imagine you’re applying for jobs and you get an offer for your dream job $20,000 a year. Would you take it? Heck no!


But wait. What if they give away free Astros tickets to employees and have a lounge stocked with unlimited drinks and snacks? And they have blowout parties throughout the year that people rave about. Would you take it now? Still, heck no!

Why? Because you can’t survive on $20,000 a year and snacks and Astros tickets.


It’s the same with our health. We have to give ourselves a living wage for health-supporting behaviors before we focus on adding in all those extra special things. Sure, those things are fun, but you can’t survive off of them.

You have to “pay” yourself enough through a healthful lifestyle — nourishing your body with movement, whole foods, quality sleep, positive relationships, and purposeful activities — to be able to feel satisfied and fulfilled in your life. When you don’t, you feel depleted, frustrated, aimless, hopeless, sick, achy, overwhelmed.

No matter what you throw at it — a spa day, a weekend away, a wellness retreat, a movie night —, it won’t cancel out the missing pieces.

When we have foundational wellness, we’re not living for the exercise and vegetables, are we? (I mean, maybe some people are, but I’m certainly not….) They’re not invigorating and exciting in the moment. But when you are well, those bonuses of a really special bath or a massage can take your life experience to a whole new level.

​The first step has to be getting your health foundations dialed in. Movement, nourishing food, quality sleep, an orderly environment, mental well-being, purposeful activities, community, and mindfulness.