Over the past year I interviewed 50 successful people for my forthcoming annual research paper, “Health is Wealth: What’s Your Healthiest Habit?”
Many interviewees were candid about the triggers that had led them to a greater awareness of health issues. The most common were illness (personally or in the family) or a desire to lose weight. Others included a desire to perform well at a sport, a need to defuse severe work stress or a way to adapt to a shift in life circumstances such as a pregnancy, a new baby or a relationship breakup.
We know that wealth alone isn’t necessarily the key to happiness, especially if you don’t take proper care of yourself. Here are seven habits of seven successful people.
Daniel Labrecque
Chairman and CEO of DNA Capital, an investment banking firm in Montreal
“I was fortunate to attend College Notre Dame, a high school that prioritized healthy habits. From age 13, every single day we had one hour of exercise in the morning and another hour of exercise in the afternoon. I remember going running around the beautiful Westmount neighbourhood and thinking to myself, ‘One day I’m going to own one of these houses.’
“In business you are brought up not to show emotion. It is all about facts, analysis and rationale. I think my healthiest habit is that I’m also a musician: I play guitar, sing and compose. There is no cost to this habit, and it provides another array of joy, friendship and activity outside of the business world. When you sing without emotion, it’s like dictating your grocery list—super boring.”
Sylvia Solit
Senior advisor and CIO at Prime Quadrant, a multi-family office, Miami
“My father was a biochemist—I grew up hearing about organic ingredients, pesticides and additives. I always had compassion for animals, so it was an easy choice for me to become a vegetarian at a young age. Later, in college, I attended a talk about veganism and at about 18 I became a militant vegan. This involved super-extreme thinking: Dairy was bad for you, only raw food was okay, and no ghee!
“My healthiest habit is my mindset; this is the operating system of the body. When I was a vegan my mind was so controlled … I was extreme with yoga and extreme with eating. For a full year I stopped menstruating because there was no cholesterol in my body. I have now happily put aside those extreme views, especially those that come from outside. I embrace a curious mindset—one in which you become our own pharmacy. I’ve developed tools to reframe everything happening to me in a conscious way.”
Maria Rengefors
Former head of Nordea Funds, Swedish branch, Stockholm
“Growing up, I played volleyball in the national league, in the lower levels; I’ve slept on floors in many schools in this country! I continued playing until we were in our early 30s. I always loved that feeling of working hard at a sport and being super sweaty. Now that my two daughters are adults, and I’ve recently retired from an active career, I’m coming back to that great feeling.
“My healthiest habit is working on my social network. I had an uncle who lived well into his 90s and when various people asked him for his secret to success he would say, ‘You always have to work on your social network.’ He said this over and over again. I took note!”
Eddie Wong
Residential director, The World: Residences at Sea (a private residential cruise ship), Sydney
“Growing up, I loved kids food like McDonald’s, but for my entire youth I was into sports, and over time I understood that staying in top shape was paramount. I went from playing rep football to playing professional football for several teams in Australia. This was a big motivator to eat properly and to take care of myself.
“My healthiest habit is being a big calisthenics body-weight exerciser. Every day I do 150 push-ups; this keeps body definition. I do sets of 60/50/40 with a one-minute break between sets. I hate the gym and never do weights.”
Grace Di Meo
Executive director, Investment Specialist Canada, Unified Global Alternatives (UGA), UBS Asset Management, Montreal
“In my early teens, my mom was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes, but she didn’t take it seriously. She neglected her health and I saw the effects. When I was 17, I became very focused on fitness, and at 19 I joined a gym. This was back in the days of Jane Fonda, when workouts were a mix of fashion and fitness: I wore the leg warmers and flashy tights! I started forming my healthiest habit back then and I’ve never looked back.
“My No. 1 strength is my discipline, consistency and perseverance in physical training. I love dance classes, Pilates, yoga, weight training—you name it. Even when I’m travelling for business, I stick to my routine. And even during COVID I found ways to stay fit. Post-COVID, I’ve been going to my club five out of seven days a week: I feed off the energy of like-minded, fit people with similar lifestyles to my own.”
Neha Rathi
RFP and investment associate, UTI International Ltd., Singapore
“Growing up in India, the underlying message I absorbed was that building wealth came first—health could be dealt with later. But my perspective began to shift while I was working in finance in Paris during the COVID period. Being desk-bound with a less-than-ideal ergonomic home setup, I faced a heavy workload and relentless deadlines. Over the course of 10 months, I endured persistent back pain. After all my tests, the doctors concluded that I had accumulated a lot of stress, and this was the primary cause. The key message was that I needed to keep my body moving.
“My healthiest habit is doing a 21-minute daily breathing-based meditation practice every morning. Two years ago, I took a three-day meditation course from a guru in India, and since that time I’ve been practicing this routine daily. You can’t see the difference overnight, but over time I definitely feel much calmer and more conscious in my life.”
Johan Malan
Head of Bordeaux, Investments and Brokerage, Wine Cellar, a fine wine merchant in Cape Town, S. Africa
“My parents had a very natural approach to doing healthy things with their three kids. We would regularly go on three-, four-, or five-day-long hikes and sleep in the mountains in the Drakensberg area. We also went camping a lot and did safaris—we would drive into the bush to watch the animals. Enjoying the outdoors was just part of our overall upbringing.
“I work in the wine business; I love the taste of things and I like the delicacies of life. My wife always prepared our meals using the freshest ingredients. What else do I do that I consider healthy? A couple of years ago, my brother signed me up to run the Addo Elephant Trail Run, a marathon in a big wildlife park. My healthiest habit is that I take a holistic view on health. I’m continuously reminding myself that I’m not self-sufficient in this world … I am dependent on God.”
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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