The difference between a successful person and one who is not successful is the accumulation of habits they have picked up through their lives. This applies to almost all elements in our lives.
Let’s look at a few habits that can create a huge impact on our life.
Money
I have said it a million times by now. To have money is not a question of talent, smarts, connections, or even education. It’s a question of habits. You don’t have to be freaking smart to figure out that if you spend less, you will have more money in your pocket. If you earn more you will have more money in your pocket. The math is not that difficult.
Nicotine/alcohol/drugs
We fall behind when we get involved in non-productive habits. Take for example smoking cigarettes. This is a huge drain in someone’s pocket for as long as they are addicted. But the same can be said about drinking alcohol or taking drugs. You will never see this money again, and it could have huge damage to your health, from killing you to just preventing you from enjoying a regular walk.
Smoking has an additional disadvantage: Through second-hand smoking, you can damage the health of your friends and family, those who you love the most. It’s in your best interest to stop smoking or to find how to help your loved ones stop smoking.
Keeping up with the Joneses
We fall victim to advertisers all the time. We have to have a certain brand of clothes, of car, of electronic gadgets, etc. The two examples that often come to my mind are the branded label jeans which cost $100+ vs the $20 Walmart jeans. Or the $1,000 iPhone vs. the $100 Android phone. These purchases make no sense to me. And don’t get me started on the $40,000 car vs. the $5,000 used car.
The list of money habits could go on and on, but I will just stop it there.
Food
It’s not secret. Junk food is called junk food for a reason. Because it’s junk. We could go crazy trying to decide which diet is the best, but there are some things in which the different diets agree. They try to avoid high sugar, high-calorie intake. Let’s mention a few:
- Soft drinks. Even if they say “zero calories,” don’t trust it. They are all garbage.
- Chips, cookies, icecreams, cakes, pastries, candies, etc.
If you start by eliminating sugars, chips, and most processed food, you are on your way to a great start. As you progress, you can make improvements along the way.
Physical activities
Our bodies were made to move, not to sit down in front of a computer or tv for hours and hours, yet that’s what we do. But we can incorporate small changes that can dramatically improve our lives. Just walking 20 minutes a day, can make you feel good, it will build your immune system and will add years of life.
Mental development
It doesn’t take much to improve your mind. If you get into the habit of reading 10 pages a day, that’s 3,650 pages a year. If the average book is 250 pages, then that’s 14.6 books a year, or at the very least one book per month.
In the beginning, you will not notice how 10 pages per day influence your thinking, but after a year, you will begin to feel the difference. Eventually, the fact that you will have a comparative advantage over non-readers will become obvious to you.
Conclusion
As you noticed, none of these habits are radical, they are small little improvements that will give you more money, better health, and will make you smarter. These habits are easy to do, but they are also easy not to do. The choice is yours.