LIFESTYLE NEWS - Maintaining a healthy balance in life through good habits and wise decisions has life-long impacts on people's physical, emotional and financial well-being.

At an exclusive event hosted by Discovery at the Hawthorn Boutique Hotel on Thursday 30 October, this truth was explored by three experts from different industries who gave their take on the theme 'Predictable Success: The Power of Balanced Behaviour'.

Using data collected over decades from Discovery clients, Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner gave an insightful take on how the company's strategy of encouraging and incentivising good habits among its members paid off, creating a win-win situation in which the members benefit from better health, longevity and savings through rewards programmes, and the company enjoys the advantage of lower costs.

Kallner said Discovery's health data prove the power of good habits. For example, there are four 'controllable behaviours' in healthcare that generate the four primary diseases responsible for 60% of deaths. Where these behaviours - nutrition, physical activity, illness screening and not smoking - are controlled, a significant improvement in longevity results.

Step counting to measure clients' progress demonstrates the impact. When someone moves from a sedentary to a moderately active lifestyle through increasing their steps to a certain level, there is a 35% reduction in mortality. In the next phase of further increasing the number of steps to between 5 000 and 7 500, a further 15% reduction in mortality is noted.

Kallner said the biggest behaviour change is making a start. In the beginning, the intensity of the effort is high, but as time goes by and the frequency of the good behaviour (eg, running) builds up, effort is reduced. Once a habit is established, it is easier to maintain. Discovery has found that the adage that you can't teach an old dog new tricks is false - old age and gender are not excuses.

Dr Dané van den Berg, a general practitioner, confirmed the importance of healthy habits. She said true health is about physical, emotional and mental balance, which is rooted in prevention, lifestyle and the small choices we make daily.

The three preventable risk factors for ill health are smoking, high blood pressure and being overweight.

She illustrated how reducing these risk factors improve people's health.

Janine van Jaarsveld handed over an antique scale to Discovery Bank CEO Hylton Kallner in the spirit of the theme of the evening.

Balancing finances

Janine van Jaarsveld, a master tax practitioner and business strategist of We Balance Accounting, said true success in managing one's finances lies in maintaining balance between personal and business finance, compliance and growth.

One of the most important tasks every person has in life is to prepare themselves for life's financial uncertainties.

The only thing we can control is how well we prepare. It starts with decisionmaking - especially when choosing the right financial protection. "Discovery's offering is data-driven, personalised and holistic and enables clients to make a quality decision based on accu-rate information."

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