Morgan Housel is one of the most read voices in personal finance in recent times. He argued that the main goal of creating wealth is not money itself – it is freedom.1 The freedom to wake up every morning and choose how to spend your day, build relationships on your own terms, and live by your own values rather than someone else’s expectations.
Money is the idea of freedom that few people consider. Yet at a time when mental health has never been widely discussed, many of us never stop to ask the same question about our own psychological well-being. What is the true purpose of mental health? Is it just to prevent or treat the diagnosis, or is it something higher and more inspiring?
The answer, this blog post suggests, is the same as financial health: freedom. The freedom to be who you want to be, live your life the way you want, choose your own values, and have fulfilling relationships. In short, a self-determined life.
And if that premise rings true to you, then mental health, like personal finance, is probably not as mysterious as it’s often assumed. Instead, it can rely on a basic set of habits, like a financial plan, that almost anyone can start implementing. 2
What are the key components of a mental health plan, and what can the world of personal finance teach us about creating one?
Mental health plan
Just as financial health is not just the absence of poverty, mental health is not just the absence of poverty. stress or misfortune. Just as sound financial health reliably emerges over time from following basic principles—budgeting, saving, diversifying, setting goals, and so on—so psychological well-being is something that is actively built, by habit, by decision.
In the figure below, a direct comparison between financial health and mental health is made by comparing each mental health pillar to its financial equivalent.
Consider the following to help deepen communication in each area of the project.
Sleep similar to your daily emotional and energy budget. Better sleep? Bigger budget. Just as every effective financial plan begins with knowing what you have and what you spend, every effective day begins with sleep. Chronic lack of sleep is more than just fatigue and brain fog we experience. It routinely undermines all the other pillars of a mental health plan.3
Stress endurance it is your emotional liquidity. In finance, liquidity is the ability to absorb unexpected expenses without bankruptcy (for example, the availability of cash in case of unexpected expenses). Stress tolerance works exactly the same way on a biological level. This is a psychological reserve that allows you to respond to the inevitable problems of life and return to the basic state.4
Diversified execution becomes mandatory in our age addiction. A proper investment portfolio is never built around a single asset. Any financial advisor will tell you this is redundant concentration indicates excess risk. Yet most of us build our entire sense of meaning and well-being around narrow sources: a job, a relationship, a particular pursuit, a behavior, or a substance. When one thing fails, everything else collapses with it.
The modern addiction epidemic is, in many ways, the opposite of a diverse mental health portfolio. This happens when the brain’s reward system is focused on a single source. Unfortunately, in our modern times, it is more common than ever dopamine– hot media, entertainment, food and stuff. Diversification also increases our opportunities happiness and protects us from addiction.
Meaning and purpose like financial goals: Both reveal the personal why behind our actions. No good financial plan exists without knowing what you’re ultimately after. Research shows that people with a stronger sense of purpose not only report greater well-being, but also live longer.5 Without a life of purpose and values, the other pillars of mental health are neglected, encouraging directionless activity, aimless action, and fruitless action.
Essential readings of happiness
An underrated prospect
Borrowing from the world of personal finance allows me to offer an underappreciated perspective on mental health: Mental health is not the end. Not an address. And, of course, not only the absence of stress and struggle.
Like financial health, mental health is a path to freedom and self-determination. Like financial health, the path to mental health is based on a blueprint of basic principles that are available to almost anyone who wants to apply them. There are many private paths. The basic habits underlying them are universal. Consider starting with the latter.
