3 Steps To Lose Weight & Get Rich

I sense you’ll be asking yourself… Why is Matt writing a blog about money?

Here's the thing… I’ve spent the best part of 20 years building a health and fitness business.

The fitness bit has always come easy but out of necessity I’ve had to learn a lot about personal and professional finance in order to sustain and build a business.

And what I’ve come to realise is that losing weight and creating financial security fundamentally require the same approach.

And more to the point the negative actions, habits and temptations that prevent weight loss are the same that prevent wealth creation.

Here are 3 steps to lose weight and build wealth and the lessons I’ve learnt along the way:

#Step 1 The Fundamentals

To lose weight you must be in a calorie deficit

To build wealth you must spend less money than you earn

The longer you can eat in a calorie deficit the more weight you’ll lose and the longer you commit to spending less than you earn the more money you will have.

But in order to get the body you want and the level of wealth you want there are a two more steps:

#Step 2 Build An Engine

To build a great looking body it’s important to lift weights to build muscle. By doing so your body will be better at maintaining a lower level of body fat.

To build wealth it’s important to build a money management system. By doing so will allow your money to multiply faster with less effort.

#Step 3 Fuel Your Engine

To accelerate weight loss you can increase the amount of energy you expend each day (calories out - Total Daily Energy Expenditure) - using methods like HIIT training for example.

To accelerate your wealth you can increase the amount of money you earn - by making yourself more valuable to your current employer or working longer hours for example.

IMPORTANT NOTE: If all you do is focus on burning more calories and earning more money without getting the first two steps right you won’t lose weight and you won’t get rich. For example, if you burn 500 extra calories but also eat 500 extra calories you will not lose weight. And if you earn £50k per year but spend £50k per year you will not create wealth.

So if it’s as simple as a 3 step process why do so many people struggle to lose weight and/or build wealth?

I believe it’s much more to do with what we truly want rather than the steps required to lose weight and get rich.

If someone was in a calorie deficit, lifted weights 3-4x per week and walked 10k steps per day consistently for 10 years it’s reasonable to suggest they would look incredible.

And if someone saved and invested 66% of their monthly income every month for 10 years the passive income they’d earn from their investments would replace their monthly income meaning they would not have to work another day of their life.

So why isn’t everyone doing both these things?

Is it because consistently committing is hard? Probably but probably not.

Is it because life is not that easy to organise? Probably but also probably not.

Is it because life is full of temptations throwing you off track? Highly likely but also probably not.

From what I’ve observed it’s because deep down I don’t actually think people want to lose weight or create wealth quite as much as they think they do.

I think people want to be happy.

To live your life in a calorie deficit to lose weight or to consistently save and invest 66% of your income to become financially free might not, in fact make you happy.

You'll never have enough of something you don't need.

I’m not going to pretend I have a process to achieve happiness because I don’t.

But I do think it’s a good thought experiment.

One that might help you think differently about your own health, wealth and happiness, how you might want to approach it and maybe even help you reconsider the importance you place on losing weight and money.

Matt