At Czajkowski Dumpel & Associates our focus is to help clients manage risk primarily as it presents itself in health care situations. Helping clients with claims is part of what we do, but the conversations we have about preventing the situations that can produce claims is much more enjoyable. We are happy to design plans to replace income, but creating disciplines that reduce the opportunity of suffering disability is much more valuable. Clients come to us with concerns about affording the cost of care as they age and we explore the healthy habits we can exercise to postpone these expenses as long as possible.
Healthy lifestyles focus on diet and exercise to keep stress at manageable levels. Yet, while experts lecture us about the sacrifices we should make for long term reward, the media cajoles us into feeling sorry for ourselves and we end up undoing anything positive we may have accomplished. We know we should control fat and sugar and yet the advertisers continue to show us thin and HAPPY people living in a world of fast food. I guess they know that we cannot see beyond the wonderful outfits and slim profiles to the arteries that are clogging and the sugar levels rising behind the airbrushing. We yoyo back and forth between the discipline of doing what is good for us and the binging we feel we deserve because we have been deprived. Those who can master the psychology of deprivation and help us keep the discipline we need to do what is good for us will be able to write a ticket for whatever reward they want.
Sadly the discipline / binging routine many of us experience is not only stressful to us physically, but also stressful psychologically. Losing lots of pounds only to have them return with additional weight puts great strain on our physical systems. Experiencing the joy of successful weight loss only to have the problem reappear can be profoundly depressing. Many insurance companies are putting great emphasis on wellness programs because they know that the good habits created today not only save on short term claims, but will also reap long term rewards through improved good health and a slowing of degenerative medical conditions. Reducing physical stress on our bodies while limiting the psychological stress of short term failure should be everyone’s goal. Stress is stress and not much of it is good for us.
The road to long term success in our personal health will take commitment to consistently good habits. When we stray we are benefited from having a pattern of good habits to remind us of what we need to start doing again.