A Banker’s Guide to Healthy Wealth Series – Eat Better
As 2018 becomes a thing of the past, becoming smaller and smaller in our rearview mirror, it’s still an excellent opportunity to look forward into 2019 and make sure that you’re on track to achieving your goals for the months ahead. Inevitably, whether at the coffee shop, the dinner table, or heck even articles like this; you’ve likely heard someone’s personal resolutions for the New Year. You know what I mean- eat healthier, exercise, lose 10 lbs, payoff a credit card or debt, save for a vacation, etc.
While these are all wonderful goals and I truly hope everyone can achieve their mission to better themselves, what if, we are thinking too small? Of course, most all of us would like to lose 10 lbs. and make a new notch in our belts as we tighten them across our shrinking midsection. Except that is, for the handful of you that need to eat a couple of hamburgers or risk being blown away in the Kansas wind. While I do not want to curtail the importance of personal health, as it benefits your physical, mental and social well-being in powerful ways, I would ask why do we stop with just personal resolutions?
The beginning of a new year is just as good a time as any to take a deep look into your business resolutions as well. In fact, the resolutions tend to be pretty similar. In this series, there are top 5 personal resolutions we will be mentioning. According to YouGov.com, this is the first one:
Eat Better
Eating better has a number of benefits. Depending on your specific diet you can gain more energy, have better mental focus, lower your cholesterol and more. In short, we want to become healthier. We’ve all heard the old adage, “you are what you eat.” Nutrients from the foods you eat provide the foundation, function and integrity of every cell in your body including those that build your bones, muscles, digestive and immune systems. The beauty of this resolution is that it has the capacity to be measurable. With today’s apps, there isn’t an excuse to not be able to track what you are putting into your body and give an indication of your overall health if that was the goal of your choosing.
Does your business need to “eat better?”
Yeah, that might need some explaining. Maybe a better way to word it is to ask how is your business’ overall health? Is your business receiving the nutrients that it needs to build the foundation of a long-time successful business that thrives until you hand the keys to the next leader Think of it this way, if you were to go on a dedicated diet, not only will you know the portion size, but you will you’ll know the exact calories, fat, carbs, and sodium because you read the nutritional facts before you ate it.
Maybe not as intuitive, but you will more than likely know what your next days’ meal will be because let’s face it, dieting takes planning. To eat better is to gather the information before you dine. So why would a business make decisions to grow a certain sector or cut expenses without first looking at their financial facts? Since the nutritional facts are accurate, you can make an informed decision on your diet that will positively affect the outcome.
If your bookkeeping/financials are not accurate, detailed, and on-time, then how can you be certain that any decision you make will not have the opposite affect you were hoping for? To make your business “eat better” make sure you have accurate and timely information that you review monthly at a minimum. Garbage in will be garbage out, but by reviewing precise financials, you will better make sound decisions that will have a positive impact on you and your business.
Now that you know eating better is the #1 resolution of the new year, what do you think #2 is? You have a little bit of time to brainstorm your ideas… Watch out for blog #2 of the “A Banker’s Guide to Healthy Wealth Series” to find out!