Stop Waiting for Monday, Build your Health Like Your Wealth

“I’ll start Monday.”

We’ve all said it at least once in response to a new hobby, obligation, goal, or task; whether or not it is something we truly want to do. This is not a matter of “right or wrong,” but rather: what is wrong with starting right now, or even tomorrow, at the latest?

Much of this may be rooted in the fantasy that some random chain of events must take place to ensure that when we finally get to it, it will be perfect and seamless. To be clear, this may not be a conscious motivation at all. Rather subconscious thoughts may be preventing us from getting started sooner rather than later.

Flat tires, broken refrigerators, and flooded basements. They happen in the moment and can’t wait till Monday, or even tomorrow, to be addressed.

Financially, we have been encouraged to prepare for such events so that they don’t become as much of an inconvenience. Yet, we have likely caught ourselves saying that we don’t have to save, or that we will get to it when…we make more money… create a budget…or things slow down.

But the joke is on us. Life is nothing but a series of unplanned events and imperfect happenings just strung together. We may envision the end result being some degree of perfection, but the ride to get there? Not so much. We must make peace with this if we are ever going to get to point Z.

Health is not so different.

While we’re waiting for the perfect time to start, it has already passed us by. The perfect time doesn’t look perfect: it’s messy, it’s new motherhood, it’s a new job, it’s the loss of a loved one.

Rather than seeing these moments as obstacles to progress, let’s view them as opportunities. These are opportunities to prove the internal perfectionist critic wrong. While we may not be able to do everything under every circumstance, we can often do something that moves us forward. Doing so helps quiet that internal critic.

This is not just a complete internal reframe - swapping obstacles for opportunities - but it is also a societal readjustment, which is perhaps the biggest struggle of all. When others around us model certain behaviors, such as “let’s start on Monday,” when a health recommendation has been made, it is hard to get away from this thinking, too.

The Fresh Start Effect

The Wharton School of Business has described this tendency as the “Fresh Start Effect” which is the motivation people feel when pursuing goals following a landmark, such as the start of the week, the month, the year or even a semester. This ideology is further supported by Google searches and gym attendance surrounding these specific landmarks.

While we can use these landmarks to support new goals, they can also be permission slips to delay action. Starting Monday may help get us to the starting line, but perhaps using the calendar as our friend and writing in such a priority for tomorrow, is more motivating.

The fresh start effect can be seen in our finances, too, when we tell ourselves that we will start saving in our next paycheck, the next month, or even after our tax returns.

Most high achievers get caught in the perfection trap, where we experience this “all or nothing” mentality. This rigid way of thinking makes it very hard to get out of our own way and truly reach our goals. When put in this position, we must ask ourselves, “Am I using this to create a successful start or maybe I’m just delaying for another reason?”

These circumstances are both very different and happen for different reasons. Therefore, when relegating our starts to an identified landmark (next Monday, next month, etc) we must identify if this is truly preparation for success or just postponing possible discomfort.

A fresh start may help with motivation, but it’s not doing the heavy lifting for us: getting to bed on time, eating three meals a day, improving our energy. That challenge brings us to the elephant in the room.

The elephant in the room

It is important to understand that many of the challenges involved in starting something new, especially healthier habits, have little to do with willpower or a lack of knowledge. Most people know sleep is important, they should move their bodies more, and to hydrate.

The problem is about trying to incorporate a new habit into an already established (and often chaotic) schedule and routine. While skipping breakfast became easy for us, given short mornings and long commutes, loss of hunger signals in the morning didn’t happen overnight; it happened gradually and subconsciously. When we consciously try to reintroduce breakfast, this may pose unforeseen challenges.

When reworking breakfast back into the routine, patients tell me all the time how hard it is, something they never imagined themselves saying. Health is more than the best supplement stack or the latest red light device; it’s about foundations that require consistent effort and work like when we started walking as a child. It is not sexy, but it sure is effective.

This is to say that starting healthier habits or taking better care of ourselves is rooted in a more realistic how, than choosing the perfect when or why.

Solution: Build your health like wealth

As previously mentioned, health is similar to finances, but more than you may realize. Just like in finance, we have health checking and savings accounts alongside health debt.

We can build savings while carrying debt, but if the underlying deficit continues to grow, those savings may eventually be consumed by it. Health works similarly: occasional supportive actions cannot fully offset a routine that continually depletes our reserves.

One of the most effective pieces of financial advice that I ever received was the one-percent method. The principle is simple: automatically place 1% of your income into savings, an amount so small that it is barely missed from the operating budget and unlikely to push you further into debt.

While it doesn’t create immediate wealth, eventually the operating budget works so well without that 1% that it gradually adjusts further, perhaps to 3% or 10%. Ultimately, you may be surprised with how much money you actually need day-to-day and let your wealth build.

I like using this method with health, too.

Start with a deposit so small you won’t notice or perceive it as a threat to your current lifestyle

I will get some kickback on this, because much like saving 1%, some people may think (to themselves or out loud), “what’s the point?”

This is the wrong attitude. The attitude should be focused on the cumulative effect, which is the habit building or including certain dietary or lifestyle patterns consciously on the daily to eventually be included in the day-to-day subconsciously.

1. If you are not currently exercising regularly, planning to work out every day this coming week is unlikely to be productive. Instead, aim for two or three intentional movement sessions. Establish that routine first, then increase it.
2. Add one new fruit or vegetable to your cart during this week’s grocery trip. If produce is not already a regular part of your routine, buying ten unfamiliar items you do not know how to prepare may simply lead to wasted food.
3. Take five minutes at the end of each day to review the good, bad, or otherwise. Notice what made you feel good and what you might do differently if given the opportunity again. This is not the same as creating a 30-minute journaling practice when no such routine currently exists.

You get the idea. Wealth is not built with one dramatic deposit, and health is not built with one perfect Monday. Both are created through small, repeated investments that gradually become part of the operating budget.