How to avoid becoming poor, fat, and stupid.
What percentage of people are either in financial trouble, unhealthy, or ignorant of basic information? Think of the people you know, and roughly calculate how many fit either one or more of those categories. Now, many who have one or more of these issues ended up there due to their own actions. This does not make them a bad person, just uninformed.
How many people in 1970 who got lung cancer from smoking were informed of the danger? The same logic holds true today for dangers from financial decisions, nutrition, and information. Much of the information needed to remain financially sound, physically healthy, and mentally intelligent is available to anyone who cares to know about it. So how does one be sure to be ahead of the pack?
It starts with thinking of the future before it happens. Foresight gives you a head start on resolving the answers to 
anticipated problems before they arise. When decisions need to be made, as they do each day, having considered your desired life plan in advance helps choose the right option. In the FastCompany article on Futures Thinking, the author notes that “the goal of structured futures thinking is to come up with a picture of possible futures that will help to inform strategic decisions.” This is a good way of putting it, and even helps when the problem is more of a dilemma, with no clear solution.
The Glittering Eye puts in another way, “many real-world problems just don’t have optimal solutions.” The author calls these “Wicked Problem,” and offers that the best strategy in these situations calls for more information. More information may have prevented the personal financial disasters many individuals are facing today, or will face soon. Regardless, more information will help reduce the severity of the crisis even if the intelligence gathering only begins now.
The World Bank has a strategy for disaster risk management, which includes First and foremost, each person needs to be risk aware, i.e. understand natural hazards and the vulnerabilities at their homes, school, work place, and community. This is crucial to understand, since it requires the person to learn about the risks they are actually taking on.
For example, the home buyer who purchased a house on a sub-prime or interest only loan was not just buying a residence, they were taking on the liability of extremely leveraged debt. The result could be a crushing financial blow, with no easy recovery. One couple with a $4200 a month mortgage payment saw the price of their home drop from $559,000 to $360,000, a loss of $200,000. “We don’t know how we can come back from a loss like that,” said Kajal Dharod, 29, a first-time homeowner. Being aware of the true nature of their action in advance may have prevented the life altering crisis.
The stress and financial strain of the recession is resulting in a second wave of bad decisions; eating choices. Time Magazine coined the phrase “recession obesity” defined as follows: ” People lose their jobs and health insurance. They don’t have money to pay for gym memberships. They hold off on medical care because they’re worried about the costs. They’re depressed, and eat more than they should. They also eat more fast food to fill up on the cheap. And the net result is that a lot of people have put on extra pounds and watched as their overall health has taken a sharp turn for the worse.”
The Wall Street Journal notes that the lack of awareness is causing those financially hit by the recession to regress in their eating habits: “many are turning to cheaper fare to better balance their budgets. That often means fast food and canned and frozen processed foods that are higher in fat and calories and are made with refined grains and sugars. The result: More Americans are getting fatter and becoming more at risk of getting illnesses such as diabetes.”Eating healthy has been one of the big casualties of this economic downturn,” says Harry Balzer, chief industry analyst at NPD Group.” In the studies cited in the WSJ story, potato-chip sales are up 22%, tortilla-chip sales are up 18%, and about 30% of meals prepared at home involve a microwave—up from 20% in recent years.
In good times, it is important to pay attention to the intelligence you have around you to make good decisions. In challenging times it is even more important, because a person can less afford self-inflicted financial setbacks or health problems.
