Poor financial health can deteriorate our ability to take care of ourselves, become educated, find work, maintain relationships and plan for our future.
By winter of 2020, like many around the world, our business was failing. The pandemic was particularly rough on our tiny gym. Right off the bat, we were forced to close our doors for 4 full months. For the next six months we were limited to only 6 people per hour. Our 10 year old gym was decimated. We lost 50 members in the first week. Most of them were older and when the CDC warned that older members of society were most at risk of dying from COVID-19, most of our clients over 50 were gone. Losing fifty members wouldn’t do much to the mega-gyms in our area, but our membership numbers always hovered around 150-200 members. 50 members quitting was a very big deal and was an extremely big hit to the gym financially. We were used to 20-30 members coming at a time. Scheduling a workout became a nightmare for our clients. Most of our members found this inconvenient. Many showed support and were generous beyond measure. Many more quit.
Struggling financially caused us to work extremely hard. Those hours weren’t productive. This caused me to stress out, think badly of myself and work even harder. This went round and round until, eventually the wheels came off.
Linds and I held the gym together by a thread until the summer of 2021. But then something broke inside of me. I just snapped.
At the time, I had been going through a bit of a revival of my soul. I had been studying spirituality and advocacy for a couple of years. Sparked by the equality movement in the summer of 2020 I became convinced I needed to speak up and start voicing my support of injustice as I saw it. Problem was I didn’t know how to get involved. Plus I never really had the guts to jump into the fight before.
All at once, I found the guts. Suddenly, in the summer of 2021 I decided to become a voice in the race for equality.
Let’s just say I wasn’t the most eloquent advocate. My choice to speak out added to the financial unraveling of our gym.
My very public actions alienated people. Alienating people caused relationships to end. These were relationships I cherished. Some of these I’d fostered and cared for over 20 years. Despite my apologies and attempts at reparations many of my cherished relationships were abruptly and unceremoniously ended. This had an even more damaging effect on my psyche and the gym. I lost 44 friends that day. Our gym lost 44 members and a lot of good will in the community.
I’m not sure why I allowed myself to be such an ass. All I can say is, poor financial health has far-reaching consequences. Financial instability can be a severe source of stress and is likely to show up negatively in many facets of our lives.
How to Improve Your Financial Health
Let’s keep this simple—because complicated is usually what got people into trouble in the first place.
Know Where Your Money Is Going
If you don’t have a handle on your cash flow, nothing else matters. Sit down and map it out—income, expenses, everything. Most people aren’t broke… they’re just unaware.
Kill the Bad Debt First
High-interest debt is financial quicksand. Credit cards, especially. Attack it aggressively. Every dollar you free up here is a dollar that can actually start working for you.
Build a Real Safety Net
Life happens—cars break, bodies break, jobs change. Have 3–6 months of expenses set aside so one bad month doesn’t turn into a bad year.
Make Saving Automatic
Don’t rely on willpower. Set it up so money moves into savings, retirement, and investments without you thinking about it. Boring wins here.
Invest Like You Plan to Live a Long Time
Because you probably will. Learn the basics or get help—but don’t sit on cash forever. Time is your biggest advantage, even starting later than you’d like.
Stop Trying to Look Rich
This one stings a little. Most people stay broke trying to impress other broke people. Live within your means. Quiet wealth beats loud spending every time.
Check In Regularly
Your finances aren’t “set it and forget it.” Review them. Adjust. Stay engaged. What worked 5 years ago might not work now.
Leading a healthy, happy and secure life inarguably has financial elements so we must pay close attention to it. I’m paying closer attention to my financial health these days. It has helped. The gym is bouncing back and our future looks much brighter than it has in a few years. I have become a better advocate too. For me, I have learned positivity is a much more effective way to affect the changes I'd like to see in the world and in my community.