If you’re like me, there are two factors which are squeezing our budget harder and harder: The ever-rising cost of energy and health care. I won’t get into energy right now - that is a different topic altogether - but I do want to talk about health care some:

We far outspend people from any other country in the world when it come to health care, yet globally we are at or near the top on Obesity, Heart Disease, Osteoporosis, Depression, Attention Deficit Disorder, certain Cancers, Diabetes, and dependence on medications in general. How can that be? Where did we go wrong?

Consider this for a moment: In many traditional cultures, doctors moved from town to town, talking to patients and using all their senses to diagnose potential problems and then make subtle recommendations. Usually, they were not paid for this service but given generous gifts on the occasion of their next visit if the patient had stayed healthy. Contrast this with modern medicine: Our entire health care industry is focused on and being rewarded (paid) for treating illnesses, not keeping us healthy.

Obviously, Modern Medicine has done some wonderful things for us: It has eradicated many infectious diseases and introduced invaluable instruments and procedures for diagnosis and treatment of many afflictions. Yet, it has failed us by not motivating us to stay healthy in the first place. Perhaps the rising cost of Health Care can convince us to finally take charge of our own well-being.

What exactly can we do to take charge of our body, mind and spirit? In attempting to prevent a wide variety of illnesses and afflictions, there are 5 critical factors we find ourselves confronted with over and over, all of which we can control, at least to a large degree:

1. What goes into our body: The things we eat and drink, the medications and drugs we take, and the environmental factors we are exposed to.

2. How much exercise we get: This includes athletics but also lifestyle-exercise such as walking to the store or across the parking lot etc. (This also helps with the high cost of energy, doesn’t it?)

3. Our relationships: Our close friends and family, and how we get along with others at work.

4. A sense of purpose: We all want for our life to make a difference, to have a meaning. This may include our spirituality, as well as accomplishments at work and family.

5. Control over our emotions: We need to learn ways of keeping a check on feelings such as anxiety, depression, anger, or boredom, rather than allowing them to make our life-decisions for us.

Paying closer attention to these factors in our lives is not always easy; along the way we are constantly fighting our own habits, motivational forces, and instincts. However, those who have gone down this road consistently tell us how incredibly rewarding this journey is ……. and that they are saving a bunch of money.

Dr. Michael Affemann is a Life Coach, Executive Coach, International Consultant, Psychologist, and Founder of the Island-Time Institute, a Center for Alternative Medicine and Life-Coaching in the Heart of Pleasure Island.