Penny for Your Health

During a conversation with a financial advisor a few years ago, he shared something with me that I have since adopted for health and well being.  We were chatting about ways to double investments when he told me the penny story. One penny, were it to double in value every day for 31 days would yield $10,737,418.24! He explained how, with consistent doubling of efforts, the lowly penny can potentially yield millions in its value, given the time and effort.

I went home and took out a piece of paper and calculated the daily doubling value of this penny and placed it on my wall to motivate me towards my goals. At the clinic one day, while encouraging a client to adopt healthy living for the long haul, the penny story popped in my mind. I went ahead and offered how the penny, doubling in its value daily, to yield a significant return, is similar to the value of daily healthful actions that yield comprehensive wellness results.

Often times we are overwhelmed by the thought of how much time it will take to achieve a health goal. The reality is we will spend the time anyway so we only need to focus on whether the time will be of benefit or a waste. By taking small consistent action, our daily healthful efforts double in their yields and within a short period of time, we can realize our health goal(s). 

FANNIE HURST DID IT!

Ever heard of Fannie Hurst?

If you’ve seen the movies, “Imitation of Life” (1934 and 1959) and Humoresque (1946), you’ve met Fannie Hurst through her stories.

Fannie Hurst, in her days, was a prolific writer and activist who refused to give up on her dreams. She moved to New York in 1915 to pursue her writing career. For four years, Ms. Fannie labored during the days and hoped at night. She repeatedly sent stories in to publishers even after being rejected. The Saturday Evening Post sent her thirty six-rejection slips before Ms. Fannie’s story broke the “ice” with them. For Fannie, when her efforts of being a successful writer didn’t immediately yield the desired result, she didn’t let the light of her hope dim. She didn’t say, “You win” to the despair of receiving another rejection letter from another publisher. She dug in her heels and probably said, “You may think you are winning but I am going to have the last laugh. I will persist until I force you to give in to my desires.”

Fannie Hurst kept on and pounded the proverbial doors of several publishers until they gave in and started to publish her stories. She became a successful writer whose stories earned a lot of money through motion picture rights in addition to publishing royalties.

Do you have the Fannie Hurst Persistence trait in you? When it comes to your health goals, how persistent are you in getting your results. Have you given up after two weeks at the gym didn’t give you the guns you wanted? Did you eat healthy for 3 days and decided it was a lost cause after you ate a pint of ice cream? Or are you thinking, “it’s going to be a very long time to get back my health so why bother.” Whatever your excuse may be today, I implore you to model Fannie Hurst’s persistence for your health goals. You can crawl, walk, trot, jog, run your way to your desired health goals; just do not give up on your health. Whenever you find your hope growing dim, charge back with, “I will persist until I succeed!” and keep going.

Very soon, like Fannie Hurst, your efforts will pay you richly!