Your future is determined by your daily habits. So if you want an abundant financial future, look no further than your next 24 hours. Because a few wise decisions made daily can lead to significant gains over the course of your life. Are you struggling financially? Are things not working out as you expected? Look no further than you. Think about your daily routine.
The gain in productivity is not a day’s job. You build up practices and rituals that eventually take you towards your goal. Plam is the design, practice is the method and discipline is the most essential ingredient. You should follow certain practices daily for your financial success.
Here are the decisions that you can make today that will set you up for financial stability and success in the days to come.
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Take that daily walk, exercise
Want to know one of the easiest ways to protect your health, get rid of stress, and kill the urge to overeat or splurge? A daily walk.
With more workers sitting at desks for work, it is no wonder that the last couple of years has seen the rise of the sitting disease. A simple way to protect yourself even if you need to sit to earn? A daily walk of at least 20 minutes.
Go on a walk and watch the sunrise or sunset. Or walk to the grocery store instead of drive.
Walking releases feel-good chemicals throughout your body. But just remember to keep your wits about you. According to West Coast Trial Lawyers, “Thousands of pedestrians are killed or seriously injured every year by careless automobile drivers who do not look out for walkers and runners.”
Your health has a direct impact on your future finances. Keep those medical bills nonexistent by investing in a daily walk habit.
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Devote 5 minutes to learning one new thing a day
According to this CNN Money article, you will have 4 job changes by the time you hit 32 years old. A job change could mean a promotion, a switch in careers, or an internal switch. But whatever the case, a change of jobs often means the need for new skills.
We can often think of needing to learn new skills a huge endeavor. Something we should only try when we have sufficient time. But this is an excuse that helps you feel less bad about turning on your favorite show instead of improving your mind.
Investing time into enhancing your knowledge and skill set is the one thing that successful people have in common.
A daily study habit need not take hours out of your day in order to be effective. Read one article a day on your commute in a field that interests you. Watch one SkillSharecourse that teaches you something new. Listen to a podcast. Read 2 pages of a book.
There are countless ways to break down learning into manageable sizes.
Pay raises don’t happen on their own. You get them because you have become the type of person that deserves them and the kind of person who knows how to ask for and get what you want.
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Track your spending
Every day, when you get home from work, and your day is done, this is the time to regroup and consider your spending habits.
It might not seem that you made any important financial decisions that day, or at least no costly ones. But every time you make a purchase you are cementing your long-term financial behavior. And your behavior over the course of a couple years determines whether you reach your financial goals.
So how did you do today in reaching your long-term financial goals? Keep an expense log and write out each expense to find out. It is quite possible that you are spending way more than you should or than your budget can allow.
The more you look at your daily expenses, the more familiar you will be with the emotions and moods that triggered those expenses. Perhaps you were feeling low and wanted to make yourself feel better, so you stopped at Starbucks on the way home. Or maybe you didn’t want to go home, so you had a couple of drinks at the local pub.
The more you understand what triggers your spending behaviors, the more you will be able to change your behaviors. So the next time you come home, instead of immediately flicking on the TV, take a moment to log your expenses for the day.
As you take stock, ask yourself what you regret purchasing. And also ask yourself if there was a purchase you felt was worth it. The more mindful you can be about your spending habits, the more you will shape your future spending patterns. And the more your spending will fall into line with your overall financial goals.
I track my spendings in one place, the Personalcapital, I linked all my credit card accounts and bank accounts there. Any time I want I can open the app and see my spendings. They even break down your spendings by categories. You can get reports on your spending patterns for the last few months. You may want to start using it sooner.
Like every other success criteria, for financial success too, you need to build up your effort over time. Take the every spending decision informed. Save money on things that are not essential and send money on things that may give you long-term return.
My bank sends me a chart that divides my spending habits into percentages. Even so, I like tracking it all by hand. Balance my checkbook, that way I have to actually see how much I’m spending and on what. Has really helped me to cut back a bit.
I always try to spend 10 minutes a day learning new things