Self-Improvement Month: How To Improve Your Health, Finances and Insurance Coverage

Self-Improvement Month, which promotes continued personal development and achieving your lifestyle goals, is a great time to take advantage of your health insurance. Health insurance covers many forms of preventive care and mental health services, helping remove financial obstacles that may be getting in the way of becoming the best version of yourself.

Self-Improvement Month is observed every September, making it an ideal time to take advantage of preventive health benefits, improve your mental health and make progress toward short- or long-term personal goals.

If you’re looking to improve your habits and personal development, read on to learn more about Self-Improvement Month, including how health insurance can help you achieve your goals.

On This Page

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  What Is Self-Improvement Month?

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  When Is Self-Improvement Month?

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  Self-Improvement Month History

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  Why Health Insurance Is Part of Self-Improvement

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  7 Ways To Improve Yourself During Self-Improvement Month

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  Health Insurance Checklist for Self-Improvement Month

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  Self-Improvement Month at a Glance

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  How To Review Your Health Insurance Policy for Self-Improvement Month

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  Frequently Asked Questions

What Is Self-Improvement Month?

Self-Improvement Month is an unofficial, monthlong annual observance that celebrates personal development and encourages better habits to support your health and wellness.^[1] Think of Self-Improvement Month as an annual checkpoint to review your life over the past year, celebrate positive changes and plan how you’d like to further your personal evolution.

When Is Self-Improvement Month?

Self-Improvement Month is observed every September.^[1] Since September marks the transition from summer to fall, it can be an excellent time to reflect on your personal growth and set new goals you’d like to achieve in the coming year.

Self-Improvement Month History

While the practice of continual personal development and “knowing thyself” has been a concept since at least the eras of ancient philosophers like Confucius and Socrates, the modern version of Self-Improvement Month is more recent.^[1] Various organizations began acknowledging the concept of a national Self-Improvement Month in the 1980s and promoted it by hosting seminars and distributing books and informational pamphlets. It became a more formalized celebration by 1988, taking place nationwide in September.^[2]

Why Health Insurance Is Part of Self-Improvement

Health insurance can support self-improvement by helping cover costs for physical care and mental health services.^[3][4] Not only can improving health and wellness serve as a self-improvement goal, but health insurance can also remove financial obstacles that stand in the way of other forms of personal development. For example, chronic pain or severe stress could be preventing you from taking up a healthy hobby you want, like hiking or swimming, but health insurance could help reduce or eliminate the costs of treatment and therapy so you can start your self-improvement journey.

7 Ways To Improve Yourself During Self-Improvement Month

You’ll need to take action to achieve your self-improvement goals, ranging from making that doctor’s appointment you’ve been procrastinating on to starting the new hobby you feel will enrich your life. Below are a few ways you can progress your personal development during Self-Improvement Month.

Schedule Your Annual Wellness Visit

Making an appointment with your doctor for an annual wellness visit can help you get a health risk assessment, receive personalized health advice and review your medications to ensure they’re providing the right support. These visits let you discuss specific goals for your health journey and learn more about potential health hazards you may face, so you can minimize their impact. Annual wellness visits are considered preventive care and typically have no out-of-pocket costs when received from an in-network provider.^[5]

Review Your Health Insurance Benefits

Your health insurance may cover services that you’re not aware of, giving you access to care that can help you achieve your personal goals related to health or remove health obstacles. Most health insurance plans will cover various forms of preventive care and mental health services, including:^[3][4][6][7]

• Immunizations, such as the flu, measles and shingles
• Behavioral health and substance abuse treatments
• Counseling related to alcohol misuse, diet and obesity screening
• Health risk assessments

Understand Your Deductible and Copays

Your health insurance deductible is the amount you’ll need to pay out of pocket for medical services during the policy period before your health insurance plan starts covering costs. Your deductible can vary by plan. However, many preventive services are covered by health insurance plans regardless of whether you’ve met your deductible amount, giving you an opportunity to proactively care for your health without significantly paying out of pocket.^[3]

Copayments serve as the flat fee that you’ll pay when you see your doctor, get a prescription filled or receive other forms of health care. These amounts can vary by service and health care plan, so it's essential to know how much you might pay before you make an appointment. However, preventive care services often waive these copayment fees, depending on the service.^[3]

Prioritize Mental Health

You should try to keep your mental health in good condition to improve your quality of life on a daily basis and lower the amount you spend on mental health care services like therapy. Actions that can have a positive impact on your mental well-being include the following:^[8][9][10]

• Exercising for around 30 minutes a day, as physical health is often a factor in improving your mental health
• Staying hydrated and eating healthy meals on a regular schedule
• Sticking to a consistent sleep schedule and minimizing your exposure to blue light before you go to bed
• Engaging in relaxing hobbies like learning a new skill, meditating, listening to music, reading or spending time in nature
• Prioritizing the most important things in your life while being willing to turn down things that aren’t necessary
• Focusing on the things in your life that you’re grateful for
• Making a conscious effort to challenge negative thoughts
• Fostering healthy relationships with others by keeping in touch with friends, family members and other people who can provide you with emotional support
• Decluttering your spaces to help reduce stress and overstimulation
• Incorporating mindfulness exercises and meditation into your daily routine to improve your emotional clarity and response to stress

Step Out of Your Comfort Zone

Often, achieving self-improvement goals requires stepping outside your comfort zone by breaking bad habits and starting new ones. For many, a routine change may feel difficult or frightening, but facing your fears can help you discover new aspects of your personality. For example, someone who prefers to self-isolate but wants to make more friends may enjoy starting a new hobby in a shared space, like going to the gym or becoming more engaged with their existing social circle.

Set Goals

To keep yourself focused on your personal or professional goals and give yourself the best chance of accomplishing them, consider following the five aspects of the SMART formula, a means of achieving an objective within an anticipated timeframe, when establishing goals:^[11]

• Specific: Establish a clear objective at the outset. For example, instead of coming up with a general goal of losing weight, you could set a specific goal of losing 15 pounds.
• Measurable: Make sure your goal is based on something you can readily measure so you can track your progress. For example, if your goal is to eat in a calorie deficit to help you lose weight, tracking what you eat using a food journal or a health app will help you stay accountable.
• Achievable: Make sure your objective is realistic so you aren’t setting yourself up for failure. For example, if you’ve never run a long distance before, it might make more sense to set an initial goal of completing a 5,000-meter run rather than a marathon.
• Relevant: The best goals fit within your overall vision for how you want to develop as a person. For example, if you feel you aren’t spending enough time with your friends and family in person, setting a goal to increase your social media followers may be counterproductive.
• Time-bound: Set a timeline for when you want to complete your goal to make sure you are progressing at an appropriate pace. If you have a long-term goal in mind, consider dividing it into several smaller goals with more manageable timelines to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Complete Recommended Preventive Screenings

Getting screened for various chronic health concerns can help you avoid more pressing health issues later on by catching them early, which supports your overall self-improvement health goals. Numerous preventive screenings are recommended for those with specific health concerns or those at certain ages, many of which are covered by your health insurance at no copayment or coinsurance cost, even if you haven’t yet met your annual deductible. Some of these preventive care benefits for adults include:^[3]

• Blood pressure screening
• Cholesterol screening
• Depression screening
• Type 2 diabetes screening
• Hepatitis B and C screenings
• HIV screenings
• Syphilis screening
• Tuberculosis screening

Ensure you check with your health insurance provider to see what screenings you’re covered for before you schedule an appointment with your primary care physician.

Health Insurance Checklist for Self-Improvement Month

Below is a simple checklist on how you can utilize your health insurance during Self-Improvement Month:

• Make an appointment with your primary care provider for an annual wellness visit.
• Check whether there are any immunizations you qualify for and haven’t received.
• Determine whether therapy or covered counseling services could benefit you.
• Schedule any preventive screenings for health concerns you may be at risk for.

Self-Improvement Month at a Glance

Here is the essential information you should know about Self-Improvement Month:

• Self-Improvement Month is an annual unofficial observance throughout September that encourages you to set and meet new goals to further your personal development.
• Working to better manage stress, getting out of your comfort zone and establishing achievable goals are all ways to celebrate Self-Improvement Month.
• Health insurance can often help cover preventive care and mental health services with no out-of-pocket costs, helping you achieve your physical and mental health goals.
• Be sure to review your deductible amounts and regular copayment costs.
• If your health insurance doesn’t meet your needs, it may be worth switching to a different plan during the open enrollment period.

How To Review Your Health Insurance Policy for Self-Improvement Month

Self-Improvement Month occurs shortly before the typical open enrollment period for health insurance renewal, making it a good time to review your existing policy and see whether it met your needs and goals for the previous year.^[12] If you find there are changes you’d like to make to your health coverage, taking the time to review your options now can save you from headaches in the future.

• Decide whether you're happy with your coverage or want to make changes, such as adding benefits.
• Compare health insurance costs between various plans, including deductibles, premiums, prescription costs and out-of-pocket maximums.
• Check whether your preferred doctors are in network, and choose plans that include them to reduce your costs.
• If you plan to switch plans, make sure your prescriptions will still be covered.
• Consider whether you enjoyed the customer service experience with your health insurance company, regardless of cost and convenience.