It is that time of the year now that we are (and rightfully should be) less focused on the markets and take a break from everything to be with friends and families. The weather where I am now in the UAE is very conducive, good for the season’s festivities and ushering in the New Year.
It will be also nice to introspect at what is indeed true wealth. In my opinion, there can be no true wealth without good health. At the risk of sounding like a broken record, a healthy diet, regular exercise, spiritual outlook, sufficient sleep and good human connections should surely improve the quality of our lives and give us something to look forward to every day. It is easier said than done. You ignore one of the above and at some point, the debt accumulates and you have to pay a price for it. I will be the first to admit that I am guilty of that myself.
With all the technological advancements, many wonder wistfully for a magic pill that will help us lose weight, swap our fat for muscles, strengthen our bones, fortify our immune system, prevents heart disease, cancer, stroke, relieves our stress, improve our mood, helps us sleep better, improve mental acuity, makes us look younger and increase our lifespan.
Unfortunately, there is no such medical solution as yet. However, the good news is that you can improve on all the above wishlists with just 30 minutes of regular exercise every day (disclaimer: I’m not a qualified medical practitioner, please do not take this as professional health advice).
We all know that physical activity is good for us. A sedentary life can cause irreparable damage to our bodies. Exercises slow or reverse muscle loss, weight gain, artery hardening and joint stiffening. Regular physical activity cuts our lifetime general risk of dementia by half. It makes us much smarter. Many studies have proven that it helps our reasoning, attention, long-term memory and problem-solving tasks. All these above qualities are vital to if you are an investor or trader.
Anthropologists say our ancestors on the plains of Serengeti covered a lot of ground on a daily basis walking as much as 12 miles a day. Of course, they had to find new food sources, avoid predators and escape enemies, none of which are a matter of concern to us today.
The truth is our brains and bodies crave exercise but we ignore it or postpone it. Everything from diabetes to high blood pressure, heart attack to arthritis can be reduced by 70% by regular exercise.
Researchers are asking us to spare only 30 minutes a day of regular exercise. If it can be mixed with some weight training and bodyweight exercises all the better. When it comes to exercise, I am a very self-motivated person. I don’t need any external encouragement as I was always involved in one sport or the other from early childhood. In Australia, I used to take long walks with the backdrop of greenery while listening to podcasts or music playlists.
That all changed when I was cooked up in India with Covid restrictions and torrential rains. I am not giving excuses, if I really wanted to I could have found other ways to stay fit but I didn’t. Luckily all this time, I didn’t gain any weight.
To cut the long story short, this non-exercise of all most 8 months took its toll on me culminating in a medical emergency for me. Since the last two days, I am back to exercising again and I am feeling much better and confident. So, I encourage all of you to stay the course and keep moving.
I have a lot of themes on my mind to write about in the new year - emerging technologies, macro economics and psychology. I feel the new year will be very challenging in many other ways than 2021. I’m looking forward to it.
Wish you all good celebrations for the festive season and a happy new year 2022. God bless you all and stay safe!
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Abraham George is a seasoned investment manager with more than 40 years of experience in trading & investment and multi-billion dollar portfolio management spanning diverse environments like banks (HSBC, ADCB), sovereign wealth fund (ADIA), a royal family office and a hedge fund. Currently, he is setting up a hedge fund where foreign citizens can invest in Indian growth stocks like Tanla operating in hyper-growth markets like CPaaS.