Unhealthy Habits.
We all do it. We all have them. I know I do…
This unhealthy habit cost me $3000 & a lot of pain.
I avoided going to the dentist in college for whatever reason. When I got out of college at 23, I had free dental insurance with my job, so I started making appointments regularly.
To my surprise, I had a lot of cavities. They told me it would be $500 to fix my teeth and that they could fit me in that day! Smile 🙂
WAIT, WHAT?!?! I decided to hold off.
Six months later, I scheduled my next cleaning with a new job in a new city.
Not to my surprise, they told me I had cavities and that it would be $800, and I would also need a root canal on one of them, which would need to be performed on by a specialist, which would be around $2000 more on top of the $800.
Avoiding It Cost Me
UGHHHHHH – this was painful for me at the time. A dull roar in my mouth that I ignored and pretended wasn’t there.
If I were to avoid it, the problem would only get more expensive and painful, so I decided to move forward with filling all of the cavities and the root canal procedure.
Years and thousands of dollars later, I go to the dentist every six months. I get a clean bill of health, it costs me nothing more than the cleaning, and I get sent home with a goodie bag. 🙂
The only issue is, I haven’t been wearing my retainer. The last time I went in, I admitted to wearing it only 50% of the time 🙁 I promised I would wear it 100% of the time but guess what? I didn’t….
Yesterday while I was at the dentist, he asked me about my retainer habit. I told him that I wear it two nights per week. “My teeth are straight,” I told him. “It never hurts to put in my retainer. Do I really need to wear it every night,” I asked?
He then explained that I was a teeth grinder and that if I didn’t wear the retainer, I would risk cracking a tooth and ultimately would have to get more dental work done in the future…
Unhealthy Habits Can Cost You Big Time
His words pierced my soul like a drill in my tooth. I could feel a similar pain in my body as I remembered swiping my card for nearly $3,000 as a 24-year-old fresh out of college.
Spending money on my teeth is a total drag to me….It’s annoying, and I can think of a million other things I’d do instead with $3000 than spend it on dental work. Like renting a yacht for the day, or traveling somewhere for a week, or paying off the remaining balance of my car…
Sometimes to stop a bad habit (like not wearing a damn retainer to bed) is to identify a demotivator, aka a consequence.
Not wearing my retainer would eventually lead to more dental work.
Wearing my retainer to bed would equal a clean bill of health, and in my case, more boats, beaches, and airplanes.
Did I wear my retainer to bed last night? YUP!
Will I wear it tonight? You betcha!
The Cost Of Unhealthy Habits
Have you ever wondered how much a less than healthy habit is really taking from you both in dollars and in effects to your health?
We can easily analyze a cost when it’s in a common metric like dollars and cents. However, when it’s in the form of stress, sadness, self-judgement, toxic relationships with family, immune system wear, chronic pain, and loss of productivity… the cost becomes difficult to properly assess.
We often fail to assess how much it’s costing us NOT to change.
Ask yourself this:
One – Where in your life are your habits costing you?
Hint- it isn’t always money.
- Fitness – Your energy, confidence, aesthetics, inability to go out or leave the house
- Family – Can’t be present with family
- Finances – How much is this costing you? Dining out, pain from not being able to work, brain fog, costing you commissions
- Fun – Sitting inside, justify not traveling, not in shape, missing out on experiences
- Fornication – How’s your sex life?
- Faith – Spirituality, connection to spirit, mindfulness techniques, stress management, ability to stay centered
- Friends – How is this affecting your social life? Do you feel like you have to justify yourself? You can’t keep up with friends on a hiking trip? How is your social circle right now? Do you love hanging out with your friends?
- The Future – What if you can’t reach those goals?
Two – How can you turn this pain into a motivator to do the opposite?
It’s the small choices or exceptions we make each day that make us who we are.
Three – Who do you want to be?
Remember that it’s actually much harder on your wallet AND your mindset to let unhealthy habits remain in your comfort zone.
Krista
PS. To learn about how you can change your habits, please get on my waitlist by clicking on this link right here!