Category Archives: Mindset

Habits of the Wealthy Anyone Can Adopt

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“The reason why someone is either rich or poor can be traced back to daily habits.” Tom Corley, author of “Rich Habits: The Daily Success Habits of Wealthy Individuals”

Replace bad habits and behaviors. 

Aristotle, the 4th Century B.C. Greek philosopher, was attributed as saying, “We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.”

It has been said that nature abhors a vacuum, and the same can be said about habits and behaviors; it’s hard to replace a bad habit or behavior with nothing.

Instead of ceasing a bad financial habit or behavior, investors need to replace them with positive and successful financial habits and behaviors.

Rather than liquidating an account, encourage a replacement behavior like rebalancing, tax-loss harvesting, making more incremental portfolio adjustments, or putting in “crash bids” for high-quality stocks that may be trading at a discount.

It’s easy for individuals to be disorganized, without vision, undirected and at the mercy of poor habits. Embracing good habits often takes ficus, effort and desire to improve. Here are eight rich habits:

Habit #1: Exercise.

Exercised an average of 30 minutes, four days a week.

Habit #2: Build relationships.

Keep a running list of positive influencers in your life and regularly connect with them.

Habit #3: Visualize your goals.

Look at your goals—each set with an expiration date and action plan—when you wakes up and before bed. Attack goals with intensity. Keep goals top of mind, and always in sight. This will yield big results.

Habit #4: Read. A lot.

Start reading two books a month—focusing on emotional well-being, leadership, personal finance, and health

Habit #5: Practice affirmations.

Positive mindset provides a huge influence on one’s quality of life. The more you like yourself, the higher your self-esteem and well-being. Practice daily affirmations related to the most important areas of your life, focusing on faith, family and professional career.

The key to successful affirmations is choosing a mantra that’s tied to a dream and a realistic goal that are specific, achievable and true: “I’m working 10 extra hours per week to make $100,000 by next year.”

Habit #6: Volunteer.

There are many reasons to volunteer; use the opportunity to expand your network of like-minded people. It is an opportunities to give back and to create relationships with high-level thinkers.

Habit #7: Confide in a mentor who’s been in your shoes.

The most successful people on earth value mentors who’ve walked in their shoes and made it to the other side.

Habit #8: Practice gratitude.

Meditate or focus for a few minutes each morning and evening on what your grateful: spouse, kids, job and friends, to name a few. This habit helps you pay more attention to what’s going great in your life, puts life in the correct perspective, and keeps you focused on always moving forward with the right attitude.

Henry David Thoreau once said, “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”

If you want to remain unrewarded, unfulfilled and ultimately unhappy, then continue to accept your habits which are not useful to fulfilling your aspirations, dreams and desires.

Bonus Habit:

“If you want to become really wealthy, you must have your money work for you. The amount you get paid for your personal effort is relatively small compared with the amount you can earn by having your money make money.” John D. Rockefeller

References:

  1. https://grow.acorns.com/7-daily-rich-habits-anyone-can-adopt/
  2. https://grow.acorns.com/money-mistakes-wealthy-people-dont-make/

Physical Activity

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Physical activity is associated with better immune function

There is significant health benefits that can be derived from regular physical activity on our heart, muscles, and even brain function.

Regular physical activity can help reduce feelings of stress, anxiety and depression. There is ample evidence that regular physical activity is also associated with a better immune function.

Importantly, these benefits are achievable for everyone regardless of current health status, underlying conditions, gender or age. And, those who are least healthy (and, consequently, at greatest risk for severe COVID-19 responses) have the most to gain from maintaining an active lifestyle.

Physical Activity Guidelines

Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans suggest all physical activity is beneficial regardless of intensity.

The Physical Activity Guidelines suggest Americans engage in 150 minutes of moderate intensity activity each week or 75 minutes of vigorous intensity each week.

Individuals are encouraged to limit their sitting time as much as possible. But, it is important to listen to your body. If you feel pain or stiffness from too much sitting and inactivity, get up and move around. Even walking breaks of 2 minutes are associated with benefits (reduced pain, improved alertness).  Limiting prolonged sitting to less than 60 minutes would be a good rule of thumb.

Certainly those who can safely engage in moderate to vigorous intensity activity should do so. But if light physical activity is all you are able to achieve, there are health benefits that come from this. Essentially, some physical activity is good; more physical activity is better.

References:

  1. https://btn.com/2020/04/13/iowa-professor-espouses-the-benefits-of-exercise-btn-livebig/

Getting Better at Something

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To Get Better at Something, Ask Yourself These Two Questions

Anyone can get better and improve at anything, including personal finance, with the right mindset and deliberate action. That includes getting better at saving by paying yourself first, investing for the long-term and accumulating wealth.

But in order to get better, individuals need to honestly answer “yes” to two very basic questions. Those two questions are:

  1. Do you want to do or get better?
  2. Are you willing to feel the discomfort of putting in more effort and trying new things that will feel weird and different and won’t work right away? To fail?

If the answer is “no” to either question, then it would be foolish for an individual to believe they can improve and get better by doing things the way they’ve always done it or thinking the same way they’ve always thought. Additionally, it would prove a waste of time and effort for any coach to undertake a client or player to improve their skills who do not answer yes to both questions.

Essentially, getting better, especially at saving and investing, is about wanting to get better by embracing a positive mindset and is about having a willingness to experience discomfort. It is important to know that you can become better at anything if your willing to do what is necessary.

But you will not get better if 1) you don’t believe you can and 2) you aren’t willing to accept the discomfort of doing things differently and do whatever it takes to get better.

Learning anything new means moments of feeling uncomfortable. You will need to act in ways that are unfamiliar and take risks that are new. Try things that, in many cases, will be initially frustrating because they won’t work the first time.

You are guaranteed to feel awkward and possibly experience failure for the first time. You will make mistakes. You may be embarrassed or even feel shame, especially if you are accustomed to succeeding.

The key take-away is that answering these two questions yes are a prerequisite to growth and achieving financial success.

  1. https://hbrascend.org/topics/if-you-want-to-get-better-at-something-ask-yourself-these-two-questions/