9 Critical Things that can make Your life Exciting and Worth Living
If you can only take the necessary actions to master them
Compounding
Compounding is the most powerful thing I know. Anyone who has mastered the art of compounding can tell you how they started small and after some time increased tremendously.
What is compounding anyway?
Let’s look at it from two different perspectives. Suppose you have an edible seed with two options — eat it or sow it. If you eat it, it’s gone. However, if you sow it and be patient for a couple of years, you’ll have a tree and later harvest more seeds. Plant the seeds again and you’ll have trees with many seeds. Keep repeating and you’ll own a forest (given you have enough land).
The same is true with your money. If you invest say, $1 a day, every day for the next 10 years, compounding 10% per month, you’ll end up with $6,148.06. On the contrary, if you put away the same amount ($1 every day for 10 years), you’ll only have around $3,650.00.
Please note these figures are for illustration purposes only. I don’t think there’s someone who can pay you a 10% monthly compound interest.
Compounding and Inflation
You probably know what inflation does to your money’s purchasing power. But I’ll explain for the sake of clarity.
Inflation in the simplest terms means money has less value over time. For instance, if annual inflation is say, 2.5%, and you have $500 right now, then you’ll need $512.50 after one year for your $500 to have the same purchasing power.
Be wise with how you handle money for your future.
Compounding and Life (for lack of a better way to put it)
Suppose you want to develop a positive habit or drop a bad one. Do you wake up one morning, utter a few words about the habit and that’s it? It doesn’t work like that. You must be willing to go through the full process until you achieve what you want.
It takes time and you might not make it if you look at it as one giant goal to accomplish.
The secret is breaking it down into small manageable goals or milestones then striving to work your way up. Your effort will compound and eventually yield fruits.
James Clear explains in his Atomic Habits book that improving by 1% isn’t particularly notable — but it can be far more meaningful in the long run. Habits are the compound interest of self-improvement. What this means is that you should not underestimate the power of tiny changes.
Financial Skills (save, spend, invest)
Financial illiteracy isn’t fun . . . and neither is poverty.
Having the basic saving, spending, and investing know-how can go a long way. How do you use your money when you earn it? Do you have some spending guidelines that help you spend wisely?
Simple spending rule: if you can’t afford two of them, you can’t afford it.
How about saving? Does it ever cross your mind that you might lose the ability to make money at some point in life? So, what do you know about saving?
Here are a few things for you
· Have a clear definition of how you’re going to save money
· Be precise with the amount you want to save
· Set saving goals (SMART goals — don’t forget that)
· Cut spending — know the difference between wants and needs
Use the 30-day rule. Do you want something maybe it’s a new pair of shoes or accessories? That’s fine. Wait for 30 days before you spend on it and if you still need it after that period go ahead and buy it. If after 30 days you can’t remember about it or you feel you don’t need it anymore, drop the idea.
Investing, on the other hand, is the hardest of all. There’s a risk aspect in it and sometimes things might go south. It’s very possible, actually. That doesn’t mean you can’t do it. Understanding the risks involved and the reward of your investment is paramount.
All you need is the right information. You can either get it from an expert or take the time to learn about the whole thing.
Below are a few investment tips for you to ponder:
· Several investments types exist. Pick the ones that fit you the best (should be in line with your risk tolerance) and choose an investment account wisely. (You might need the help of a professional)
· Set your investment goals (again, SMART goals)
· Consider asset allocation (different asset classes, this takes time) and diversification
· Decide whether or not you want help
Investopedia.com and Nerdwallet.com (in my opinion) are good places to start if you need more information about money and investment.
Cryptocurrency
Chances are you’ve already seen people throwing this word around so many times that you’re now bored to tears. I hate it, really. Not because you’re about to cry but because of your ignorance (if you’ve never taken action).
Crypto has made so many people be stinking rich out of thin air. If I had the ability to rewind the time, I’d go back to Bitcoin inception and buy as much. But that’s now out of reach.
However, if you’re like me and you missed the Bitcoin ship in 2009, the Ethereum ship in 2015, Binance Coin in 2017, just to mention but a few, all is not lost.
The global crypto market cap is $1.83 trillion with over 18000 cryptocurrencies (as at the time of writing) with Bitcoin and Ethereum on top of the list. Note that crypto is a new industry (it’s been around for about 13 years only) and it’s growing so fast. Its global market cap has hit $2T plus several times already.
Have you heard about web 3.0? Blockchain technology? You should be interested because this is where the world is right now. I won’t get into the nitty-gritty of cryptocurrency — not in this article, at least.
So, here is what to do: head over to the Google search box and type coin market cap, and hit enter. Click on coinmarketcap.com and read as much as you can about cryptocurrency.
Other good places to find the best crypto-related info are coingecko.com and coindesk.com. You’ll find everything you want to know on these sites — from the available coins to where to buy or invest.
Budgeting
Budgeting is like creating a to-do list — it’s easier said than done. A simple budget can help you understand where your money goes and even give you a robust way to manage it.
Keeping a clean record of how you spent money can help you when planning for your financial goals.
Here is a quick way to start with budgeting:
· Keep a record of how much money is coming in (amount, source, and frequency)
· Organize your expenses — fixed expenses (such as rent/mortgage, household, family costs, electricity, phone bills, internet, medical, etc.), debt expenses (such as credit card and personal loans), unexpected expenses (such as medical bills, repairs [for example car and services]
· Have a spending limit — money left after expenses is for spending (separate needs from wants) and saving/investing
· Don’t forget to set your saving goals — your budget won’t be complete without a clear saving goal
· Always make adjustments for your budget to work for you. For instance, you might want to cut your spending if you notice your expenses are going up.
You can use tools such as an Excel budget spreadsheet or a budget planner to stay organized so that you’re not mixed up.
Always make a budget regardless of your income size.
Speed Reading
Information is power — but how fast can you accumulate it?
We live in an information era and you’re likely not to survive if you cannot cope with it. You know you can only better your life if and only if you read, read and read fast.
Think about it: how many things can you accomplish if you could grasp what you read much faster and cut your reading time by half? A lot.
However, a lack of reading techniques doubles your reading time and slows your grasping power. Below are a few techniques you can use to improve your reading speed.
· Eliminate the inner monologue — it is unnecessary to say every word in your head while reading to understand them
· Practice word-chunking technique — try to read multiple words once (like three words with one glance)
· Stop reading words twice — do not go back over a single word.
· Use a timer to test yourself and work on how to improve
I have a small assignment for you — head over to YouTube (of course after reading the remaining part of the article) and search for How to Speed Read by Tim Ferriss (it’s just a 9-min video) and watch it.
Mindfulness
We have so many things going on in our minds that we hardly pay attention to our attention. While it’s a norm for your mind to veer off from the present, not having the ability to bring it back nicely is problematic.
Mindfulness is the act of your mind attending fully to what’s happening in the present. Being fully present is hard and your mind will often wander.
The moment we’re fully immersed in irrational thoughts about something or the future, we start to be anxious. And anxiety can create problems that were not there in the first place.
Luckily, mindfulness is there to cushion us from such moments. Since mindfulness is something we all have, the only thing we need is to learn how to access it.
Below are things you could learn about mindfulness from Jon Kabat-Zinn founder of Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR)
· Patience — accept the fact that things can sometimes happen in their own time
· Don’t judge — do not be too hard on yourself. Allow your mind to explore a little
· Open-minded — remaining open allows us to accept and try new possibilities
· Acceptance — it is what it is. The earlier you agree with things the way they are, the sooner you’ll act appropriately.
· Letting go — do not hold on to your past experiences, allow the present to take shape.
Need more on mindfulness? Mindful.org is a perfect website for you.
Learn to network
I can’t stress enough how important this is — although it’s an area I’ve been (and still) struggle with a little bit. However, I’ve picked a few useful tactics over time that is at least working for me.
Let’s be honest, networking can be difficult, especially for introverts. But it’s quite hard to grow alone.
Networking has numerous advantages that can make things a lot easier in your life. The people you know, know people who know other people. The chain is endless.
While you might not get what you need from your immediate network, you can from your second or third. All you need to do is ask.
Someone you know knows someone, and that someone that they know could be the key to your breakthrough. It doesn’t matter what you’re after.
Here are a few ways to build your network
· Start small — do not look down your nose at anyone. No one is too small; you might be surprised by who they know
· Get out there — real people are out there and you can’t grow unless to make effort to find them
· Be interested in the other person — it’s not about you but them. Don’t be selfish by focusing on yourself, find out more about who they are
· Ask the right questions — how will you get what you want if keep asking the wrong questions?
· Give — focus on the value you can add to the other person. It’s all about building trust and credibility
· Be present in the right location — you’ll definitely run into influential people or at least people who can become your network
Diet and Nutrition
Your health and wellbeing should be your first priority. Everything else revolves around your health.
Understanding dieting and nutrition are paramount a healthy eating. From how to plan meals to what to eat and not to.
You do not necessarily need a nutritionist for all these. However, seeking professional help is important to ensure you get everything right.
Countless apps and platforms such as healthline.com exist around the web that you can learn from about diet and nutrition.
Proper Goal setting
By now you must have read widely on goal setting. But this is just a reminder — setting goals that are not SMART will not help you.
For instance, you can’t have weight loss as a goal.
Instead, create a clear roadmap that breaks down your weight loss goal into small manageable series that you can take on one at a time.
Let’s try to be SMART with our weight loss goal and see how it can play out
S — Specific: I want to start morning run and run 2 Km 4 days a week for a month
M — Measurable: My aim is to lose one pound every week
A — Achievable: Do I have the resources to pull this, have others achieved the same?
R — Realistic: Is my goal within reach? (Run 2km 4 days a week for a month, lose 1 pound every week)
T — Timely: Is my goal time-bound? (Run 4 days a week for a month)
With that laid out, we can now start our weight loss journey and follow through to the end.
In Conclusion
There you have it. This list is far from listing everything you should learn about and implement to live a better life.
Also, all the opinions here are the writer’s and should not be used as a basis for making critical decisions in the areas covered. You should do your research and seek professional help where necessary before making final decisions.
Thanks for reading.