Habits That Lead To Success
Financial freedom does not happen overnight. It’s a personal journey that will test your strengths and capabilities. By employing these skills and habits, you will be better equipped to reach your goals.
Paying Yourself FirstPaying yourself first is the simplest way to save money. I’ve learned about this concept a long time ago but never really did it until a couple of years back. It’s actually very simple but quite often difficult to apply. If you like reading books on personal finance, I’m sure you’ve encountered this advise and I surely hope that you’re able to follow it. If this idea is new to you, then read on and see how you could start investing in yourself.
A few years back, I’ve always wondered why I was never able to grow any money in my savings account. It wasn’t until I started to account for my expenses that I realized how much I am actually spending on a daily basis. As we go about our lives, we often only remember the expensive things we bought or the bills we regularly pay. We tend to overlook the small expenses which usually sums up to a significant amount at end of the month.
In the late 1960’s, a psychologist named Walter Mischel conducted an experiment on a group of four-year olds. He gave each child a marshmallow and told them that if they don’t eat it and wait for him to return in the room after 20 minutes, he would give them another one as a reward for being patient. Some children ate the marshmallow right away while a number of them were able to resist the temptation and waited.
Many people dream of financial freedom but is often discouraged by the lack of opportunities around them. I frequently hear this sentiment from friends who say to me that it is not easy for them to achieve wealth because we are living in a country of limited possibilities.
Do you have the habit of spending more than you earn? Are you finding it hard to get out of bad debt? Is it difficult to live within your means? If so, then maybe you should start a personal budget system to account for your monthly expenses. There are many ways to do this but one of the most effective and often talked about methods is the Envelope System. It’s easy, practical and very effective.
Managing Your Time
To keep my sanity and avoid feeling overwhelmed with my numerous activities, I learned how to manage my time and properly organize and prioritize my ToDo list. One of the most effective ways I’ve found is applying the four-quadrant chart about urgency and importance which Stephen Covey devised and taught in his early works. The concept is simple, almost automatic and motivational.
Success requires clarity around what’s at stake and what it is that you are committed to doing. Then, whether you feel like it or not, do it anyway. As you develop the habit of honoring commitments, life will take on new direction. Deliberate, focused action toward goals will replace sitting around hoping that your wishes will come true. Successful people are those willing to do what unsuccessful people are not.
If you want to succeed in life, I believe that a person needs to be able to learn continuous self motivation. This is what drives us internally and externally to succeed in our endeavors. Self motivation is not only about work and business, it can be about anything that we want to attain in life - you need self motivation to lose weight, break a bad habit and to learn a new skill.
What’s the difference between being frugal and being cheap? Surprisingly, when I asked my friends about this, most of them have various definitions and only a handful knows the correct boundary which separates the two. Furthermore, when I presented them with several situations and asked their opinion if the example was frugal or cheap. Many of them argued in different points.
By writing out your goals, they become embedded on your subconscious mind and crystallized in your consciousness… Never lose sight of your goals. Never let the business of the everyday allow you to forget about your life goals. By thinking about them constantly and acting on them daily, you will steadily create the brilliant life you know in your heart you deserve.
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