Over the past year I interviewed 50 successful people for my research paper “Health is Wealth: What’s Your Healthiest Habit?”
The interviewees were candid about the triggers that led them to greater health awareness, whether it was to cope with illness, lose weight or deal with workplace stress. (Click here to see Part 1 in this series for Canadian Family Offices.)
Among the pricier healthy habits were adventure travel, intensive therapy sessions and bird photography, for which one spent US$10,000 for a high-end telephoto lens.
But cost isn’t the main concern for these high achievers. What is top of mind is the benefit: the fact that feeling great is priceless.
Here are seven habits of seven successful people.
Sévrine Labelle
Managing director, Thrive Lab and Thrive Entrepreneurship Through Acquisition Fund, BDC Capital, Montreal
“Although I stayed in touch with my father over the years, it was my mother who raised me. Mom didn’t ever smoke or drink and as a baby I never ate store-bought baby food, only homemade puree. I was not allowed to have sugar until I reached a certain age. To the contrary, my dad was diabetic, had heart surgery at age 45, never worked afterward and eventually died of colon cancer at age 67. I was pretty sure I had bad genes, so I decided to help my odds by doing some research. When I was 39 I watched a documentary about the benefits of a whole-food, plant-based diet, and I decided at that time to go vegan.
“When I look in my refrigerator I realize I am a privileged person with all my colourful and sometimes expensive fresh food. I have the responsibility to lead some intense work projects, and I feel that my way of eating gives me the energy I need to thrive. Eating a plant-rich diet is my healthiest habit. I see this as an investment!”
Gunilla Hellqvist
Senior vice-president, European markets, Nasdaq, Stockholm
“In our Swedish culture, good health is the norm—people take their bikes everywhere. In school you have the opportunity to test out all sorts of types of physical exercise, and I had a lot of fun playing squash. There are so many great squash players in Linköping that it is known as ‘Squash City.’
“Doing healthy things should start with doing what you like. Growing up in the 1980s and 1990s I did aerobics classes. I loved the combination of movement and music. This gave me extra energy, and I still do it today. These days I have a gym membership, which costs about 800 SEK (US$86) per month. I make sure to go three times a week to take an exercise class or to participate in padel lessons. My healthiest habit is this consistency around fitness.”
Silvano Joly
Director, business advisory, Deloitte, Turin
“I was born in Turin (Italians call it Torino), a city in the northwest of Italy not far from the border with France. My roots have kept me here. Growing up, my parents encouraged me to engage in sports, and in summer we would swim together. In the early ‘70s, due to the petrol shortage, it was forbidden to drive your car on certain Sundays, so this was a good occasion for bicycles. I have fond memories of being seven years old biking with my parents along our city’s beautiful big boulevards.
Sadly, when she was 67 my mom died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage, and this got me thinking about the precariousness of life.
Cheryl Evans, director at the Milken Institute
“When I was young, as with most Italian men, I smoked 10 to 20 cigarettes daily. But when I started working for an American company they had a no-smoking policy. I knew that this wasn’t an intelligent habit, and it was also a costly one: I was spending around €1,000 yearly on cigarettes. By quitting I would smell better, I wouldn’t have to interrupt meetings to take smoke breaks, and I wouldn’t have to invest in incidentals such as perfume for the house. Not to mention ash burns can damage your car seat … fire is dangerous. My healthiest habit is not smoking!”
Andreas Dal Santo
Partner, BlueVal Group, a business valuation firm in New York
“I was born in an area of northeastern Italy that was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the 20th century. When I moved to Milan, I determined that I needed two activities to survive the financial industry’s work style: swimming and Latin American dancing, which helped me meet my now-wife. Neither of these evolved from learning into developing healthy sport habits, as I had to prioritize work and professional education. I am somewhat of a workaholic, and over the years, life got in the way, and I became even less consistent about exercise. This led to a drop in my energy levels.
“About a year and a half ago, I decided to revisit my strategy of swimming, and now I go to the pool religiously every other day. I feel reborn! It’s also very inexpensive. As a CFA charter-holder, I love getting more for less. Swimming is my healthiest habit: I swim, strengthen my body and wash away my thoughts. It’s become a necessary condition for productive workdays.”
Cheryl Evans
Director, Milken Institute, a nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank in Washington, D.C.
“My parents were healthy eaters, and they were very focused on the value of eating vegetables and a balanced diet. I liked most vegetables except Brussels sprouts. My mother had a business degree but later planned to study nursing until she was injured, after passing the state nursing exam with the highest score. Since she was very interested in health and science, I could ask her medical questions, and because of her influence I know a lot about health. In fact, both of us became the person who answered medical questions from our friends. I have had to remind friends that I am an attorney and not a doctor.
“Sadly, when she was 67 my mom died suddenly of a brain hemorrhage, and this got me thinking about the precariousness of life. I did a lot of looking inward and I became even more focused on fitness and nutrition. My healthiest habit is being cognizant of what I eat—I try to take note of it every day. At times, I forgo eating things I like, but I try to maintain balance. I will eat dessert but try to do so right after a meal so that I don’t spike my blood sugar. I prepare food most days, and this can be time consuming. In terms of cost, I spend more money on high quality groceries, but then again, I eat out less frequently than most of my friends.”
David Lester
Financial literacy advocate and best-selling personal finance author, New York
“I was born and raised in Bramalea, Ontario—our family background is farming going back hundreds of years. My great aunt’s farm is now Pearson airport, and my great-grandfather’s farm is now a Brampton golf course. My parents didn’t talk directly about health with my older brother Gord and me, but they made sure that we were always on the go. We were both five-star Cubs, curling champs for our high school, we took riding lessons, swimming lessons, had our Bronze Crosses and we played hockey and baseball, and skied. Our pace was go-go-go.
“My healthiest habit is travel. I did a one-year exchange program at Örebro University, an international business school in Sweden, and now I have friends all over the world. Now, my ‘go-go-go’ involves visiting friends in Greece, Türkiye, Sweden, Italy, Switzerland—you name it. This is a rather costly habit in that even though I stay with people half of the time, I still spend between US$10,000 and $15,000 per month on travel. But life is one big adventure!”
Kelly Willis Green
Behavioural money coach, host of Serious Coin podcast, Toronto
“My parents modeled a generally healthy lifestyle—they didn’t drink much and neither smoked nor did drugs. As a family we would go hiking on weekends. My mother was a power walker, and back in the day she would work out to VHS tapes. My father belonged to the Fitness Institute and even joined
me for yoga classes. I was a very active child; I loved playing outdoors and was very sporty in my youth.
“My predisposition was always around self-optimization. In my mid-20s I went to see a naturopathic doctor to focus on how I could optimize my health and performance and prevent disease or illness.
“My healthiest habit is tennis; it is great for the heart and also the brain. I play singles tennis and, because I love it so much, I’m truly in the flow—mentally, physically and spiritually. The greatest joy for me is taking lessons and clinics, so there is definitely a cost to my healthiest habit. My husband and I belong to clubs in Ontario and also in California, where we spend some time every year. You may also want to know that tennis may be the healthiest sport in the world—a study found that recreational tennis players lived 9.7 years longer, the highest for any sport.”
Barbara Stewart is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 30+ years of investment industry experience: five years as a foreign currency trader, more than two decades as a portfolio manager for high-net-worth entrepreneurs, and for the past nine years doing interview-driven research for multiple global financial institutions. She is a keynote speaker for CFA Societies, banks, stock exchanges and industry conferences globally, and she is a columnist for CFA Institute, Canadian Family Offices and Canadian Money Saver magazine. She is on the Advisory Board of Kensington Capital Partners and also is the Ambassador for the Kensington Women’s Forum.
Fifteen years ago Barbara saw a need to challenge outdated financial industry stereotypes and share positive messages about women and money. Today, Barbara is recognized worldwide as one of the leading researchers in women and finance. Her Rich Thinking® global research papers quote smart women and men of all ages, professions and countries and are released annually on International Women’s Day, March 8. To find out more about Barbara’s research, visit www.barbarastewart.ca.
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