2947: Return On Investment: How to Measure Your Life ROI by Amanda Wheeler with Mark Fisher Fitness

[00:00:00] Have you ever noticed how a calm mind can really set the stage for a good night's sleep? That's the idea behind our new podcast, Good Sleep. Greg, our host from Optimal Relationships Daily, is here to help ease you into a peaceful night's rest with some positive affirmations. And these affirmations aren't just comforting, they can help ease anxiety and nurture positive thoughts, setting you up for true good sleep.

[00:00:24] So, press play on Good Sleep tonight because a good tomorrow starts with a good night's sleep. Just search for Good Sleep in your podcast app and be sure to pick the one from Optimal Living Daily. This is Optimal Health Daily, Return On Investment, How to Measure Your Life ROI by Amanda Wheeler with markfisherfitness.com and I'm Dr. Neal Malik.

[00:00:50] Welcome back to Optimal Health Daily, where I read to you from some of the most popular health and fitness blogs out there, with permission from the websites of course, and always with a bit of my commentary at the end. And with that, let's keep this intro nice and short so we can get right to today's post as we optimize your life. Return On Investment, How to Measure Your Life ROI by Amanda Wheeler with markfisherfitness.com

[00:01:20] You've likely heard the term ROI when discussing money, but taking this concept and applying it to our energy and the choices we make is a way better use of the concept. What is ROI? ROI, or Return On Investment, measures the gain or loss generated on an investment relative to the amount of money invested.

[00:01:42] ROI is usually expressed as a percentage and is typically used for personal financial decisions to compare a company's profitability or to compare the efficiency of different investments. The return on investment formula is ROI equals net profit divided by cost of investment times 100. Here's an example.

[00:02:05] If an investor buys $1,000 worth of stocks and sells the shares two years later for $1,200, the net profit from the investment would be $200. And the ROI would be calculated as follows. ROI equals $200 divided by $1,000 times 100 equals 20%. Are you getting a good ROI on your life choices?

[00:02:36] Considering potential return on investment when investing money is super smart, because it would not be smart to invest in something that we know would give us a negative return on investment. In fact, you'd think someone was a little loose between the ears if they knew something was going to give them a negative return, but they chose to do it anyway. Yet, a lot of times, we choose things that will give us a negative return in life without batting an eye. Here's an example. How many hours a day do you spend on social media?

[00:03:05] And do you feel uplifted or connected or inspired afterward? Or do you feel drained or worse about the state of the world or like you're in the comparison trap afterward? If the answer is the latter, why are you choosing to invest your time there? And what is the return on investment? The return on investment is probably feeling anger or anxiety or thinking you aren't doing enough or that you aren't where you want to be.

[00:03:31] Those thoughts turn into feelings that turn into moods, which dictate your behaviors and how you show up in the world. Negative ROI in small choices permeates into everything else. It doesn't stay contained. ROI is everywhere. It's not just social media and obvious energy suckers. There is an ROI to everything we choose.

[00:03:55] It's things like the music we listen to, what we eat, who we hang out with, our commutes, our thoughts, how much we drink, and the list goes on and on. As I've gotten older, I've really started considering this concept with things like drinking or other party enhancing treats. When I was younger, I could pound drinks without considering the ramifications the next day. Now, if I have anything over two drinks, I know my following morning is shot. Four drinks? Count me out until noon.

[00:04:25] It's fun to keep the party going, but at what return on investment? I'll now ask myself, is having another drink and feeling drunk for another hour tonight worth feeling terribly for an additional two to three hours tomorrow? If the answer is no, and I'll lose two to three total hours the next morning to have one more hour of fun, I won't have another drink. How to measure positive ROI

[00:04:52] On the opposite end of the spectrum, let's take working out. I have to be completely honest. Most days, I don't feel like working out. I'm not someone that's eager to get in their training session on a daily basis, and I basically live at the most magical gym on earth. But, I know the return on investment on that 45 minutes to an hour will be positive to the nth degree. How do I know the return on investment is positive? I can tell by how I feel after I work out.

[00:05:22] Not only because of the obvious physical effects, but the endless mental and emotional effects. I will be less stressed afterward. My mental health will be better overall. I won't feel as annoyed or irritable when the train is delayed, or I spill coffee on my shirt. I will feel a sense of accomplishment. I'll feel confident. And, I'll show up differently in the world and in my relationships. Just like the negative returns permeate, so do the positive.

[00:05:52] I've never left a gym session feeling like I had a negative return on investment. It's positive 100% of the time. I've never regretted spending my time there. A million little choices. ROI of time and energy and attention can be tricky, because a lot of times it's the easy or mindless stuff that's fun in the moment, but provides a negative return on investment in the long run. And, it's the hard stuff.

[00:06:19] The stuff that we don't have time for, that provides a largely positive return on investment in the long run. There's an old saying that's something along the lines of, quote, Doing the easy things now makes life more difficult later. Doing the hard things now makes life easier later. End quote. What would the return on investment be if you spent five minutes a day meditating? What if you spent ten minutes packing your lunch in the morning?

[00:06:45] What about taking a moment to express gratitude towards someone who's important to you in your life? What if you actually did the five minutes of exercises your doctor prescribed to you? Whether you want it to or not, every choice we make has a return on investment. Very small amounts of time can reap largely negative or largely positive returns. It's up to you to decide if you want the kinds of returns you want. I encourage you to take some time to notice where you are putting your energy and attention this week,

[00:07:15] and see what returns you're getting. You just listened to the post titled, Return on Investment. How to measure your life ROI. By Amanda Wheeler with markfisherfitness.com. And I'll be right back with my commentary. When we started this podcast, it felt like diving into the deep end. Each day brought new challenges, and we were drowning in decisions. Finding the right tools became our lifeline.

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[00:09:10] Oikos triple zero can help build strength for every day. Oikos. Stronger makes everything better. Dr. Neil here for my commentary. In one of my previous lives, my job title was Occupational Wellness Specialist. That was a fancy way of saying that my job was to help employees feel their best. I was basically hired and getting paid by the company to help my fellow employees improve their health. The company felt that hiring someone to improve the health of other employees

[00:09:40] was worthwhile. Or, as today's author Amanda said, it was a good return on their investment. If they invested money by hiring me, they hoped that I could improve the health of other employees, which would hopefully lead to happier, more productive employees. Happier, more productive employees means greater profits. And one of the ways I would try to convince other employees that their health was worth their time and effort

[00:10:06] was by using the same concept of return on investment that Amanda described. But instead of the company profiting, I would describe to employees how they would win. I would say it's worth putting in the time and effort now to take care of yourself because it will give you the freedom to do the things you want later. Like walking your grandchildren down the aisle at their weddings, or being well enough to take that dream vacation,

[00:10:34] or enjoying a happy and healthy retirement. And again, just as Amanda said, I would remind them that it may seem difficult now because we may feel like we don't have the time to exercise, meditate, prep our meals, and so on. But trust me, it will pay off later. All right, that'll do it for today. Don't forget, I'll be back here tomorrow for our usual Friday Q&A, so definitely stay tuned for that. And I'll see you there where your optimal life awaits.

[00:11:04] Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go.