**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Blog. Show all posts
6 Reasons to Create a Daily Routine
Daily Routines of Successful People
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
Daily Routines of Successful People
If you want to become more successful, daily routines can help. Just
look at some of the most successful people in the world and you’ll see the one
thing they have in common is they follow a strict routine.
The question is, what does a daily routine of a successful person look like? To give you inspiration, below you’ll discover some great examples of what successful people include in their routines.
Start With a Morning Routine
One of the main things that successful people have in common, is that they all have a morning routine, as well as afternoon routines, and evening routines. It might not be the exact same routine, but they do have one that they follow religiously.
Interestingly, you’ll also find that successful people tend to wake up earlier than most. It isn’t uncommon for them to start their day anywhere from 3.30am to 5am. This gives them time to carry out their routines and it is also the time they feel most productive.
Limit Social Media
Prioritize Important Tasks First
Successful people know how to work smarter. They take care of the important tasks first, ensuring they aren’t as stressed out throughout the day. When you get the important tasks done first, you will feel much more relaxed and more proud of your accomplishments.
Practice Gratitude
A lot of successful people regularly practice gratitude. I know what you’re thinking “it’s easy to practice gratitude when you are already successful.” However, these people were also practicing gratitude before they made it big. By focusing on the things that you are grateful for, it creates positivity. This in turn helps to boost productivity, helping you to achieve much more in your day.
Exercise Daily
Exercise is another key factor to success. When you exercise regularly, it keeps your brain more focused and alert. You’ll have much more energy helping you to deal with whatever your day throws at you. Many people choose to exercise early in the morning to get it out of the way, and to get a great energy boost.
These are just a few of the things you’ll find included in the daily routines of successful people. By looking at how you spend your time, you can figure out what your daily routine should include and you will begin the journey to success, just as the most successful people did.
4 Compelling Benefits of Reading Books
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
Image by Olia Danielvich from Pexels.
When did you last read a book, a novel, or even a sports or fashion magazine? Do your daily reading habits revolve around Facebook updates, tweets, or even your instant oatmeal cover guidelines?
If you are one of the many people who do not regularly read, you might be missing a lot.
Reading has various benefits, and here are four benefits of reading you need to know.
Expands Vocabulary
The more you study, the more words you discover, and they make their way to your daily diction.
Being fluent and well-spoken helps in any career. Good vocabulary can aid in your profession. People who are well-spoken and knowledgeable on many topics get promotions quickly than those with a lack of literature awareness and fewer vocabularies.
Acknowledging that you can articulate with self-confidence can improve your self-esteem.
Additionally, reading has proven helpful, especially in child development. When children get exposed to reading materials like illustrated classics, they learn new words and their meaning.
Reading books is also essential when learning new languages. It exposes non-native speakers to words used in a specific context. It will improve your reading, writing, and speaking fluency.
Reduces Stress
Generally, reading has made the world a better place. You may have stress due to relationships, work, or any other issues in your daily life. Fortunately, with a good book, it all fades away.
Exciting novels can bring you to another world. A pleasant article or magazine will occupy you and have you in the present time, draining your tension and enabling you to relax.
Apart from stress reduction, reading also lowers heart rate and blood pressure effectively as humor and yoga.
Helps Alleviate Depression Symptoms
Consolation from imaginary things is not imaginary consolation. When depressed, you might often feel estranged and isolated from other people. Fortunately, that’s a feeling books can lessen.
Reading fictional novels can allow you to temporarily become swept up in the imaginary experiences in the story. On the other hand, nonfiction self-help books can educate you on strategies that may come in handy when managing depression symptoms.
Additionally, some countries’ health services have started books on prescription programs. This program involves medical experts curating and prescribing self-help books for depression patients.
Improves Memory
When reading a book, you often have to remember the storyline and other vital factors. They may include an assortment of characters, their history, background, ambitions, and nuances, as well as the different subplots and arcs that weave their way through the story.
All that is a fair bit to recall. However, the brain is spectacular and can remember things with ease.
Remarkably enough, every extra memory you make produces new synapses and reinforces the existing ones. This act aids in short-term memory recall and also in stabilizing moods.
Conclusion
There’s a reading genre for all literate people on the planet. Whether you prefer poetry, classical literature, magazines, biographies, self-help guides, or religious texts, there is something that will capture your imagination and curiosity.
Take a break from your computer, open a book, and refresh your mind for a little while.
The Benefits Of Having Social Media As A Blogger
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
Social media helps to keep us all connected in this modern world. However, for those who have careers that are linked in with the online world or perhaps require them to network, social media can be a tool that can offer you more than just casual conversations between friends and family. With that being said, here are the benefits of having social media as a blogger.
A Simple Guide To Getting What You Want In Life
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
Obviously enough, everyone wants to live a life where they are having as many of their own desires fulfilled as possible. But this is something which can take a long time to master, and for most people, it is a matter of trial and error as they try to work out what they need to do to make that happen. For that reason, it is highly likely that you will have already found yourself doing this in your life, possibly with varying results. However, if you are keen to now start trying to get more of what you want, then the good news is that there are plenty of easy ways to make sure that that happens for you. In this article, we are going to take a look at some of the best techniques for ensuring that you get what you want in life - or at least make it considerably easier and more likely that that will happen.
Surprising Mental Health Boosts
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
At the moment, many of us are struggling with our mental health. You might have been spending most of your time in your home, especially if you are in a high-risk group. You might be worried about your future health and employment, and the Covid-19 pandemic may have hurt your finances. All of these worries, as well as spending less time with our friends and family members, means that many people are feeling anxious, stressed out, or depressed.
Gifts to Give a Pragmatic Parent
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
Do you dread getting your parents gifts whether if it's for
Christmas, birthdays or holidays? It's not because you don't love them, quite
the opposite actually.
Why Our World Would Basically End If Books Disappeared
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
For so long, books have been an integral part of most people’s lives - but what if they didn’t exist? A common pastime for many, books help enrich our world and are a powerful source of relaxation as well as escapism. Nothing beats curling up with a brilliant book and a warm drink on a cold and blustery day or picking up something thought-provoking to satisfy our curiosity and expand our knowledge. In short, books are amazing for our mind, body, and our soul, but can often go unnoticed in a world that is dominated by technology. What makes them so universally loved and why are they still so relevant in the digital world?
Books Encompass Knowledge
Books are a learning gateway and a foundation of endless knowledge that provides us with an understanding of the world around us. From a young age, books provide us with essential building blocks in life including literacy, social and communication skills. They preserve all knowledge of the past and are a reminder of how far humanity has come. Books bring awareness to pressing issues in society and enlighten us about other cultures. Without books, our intelligence would certainly not be so advanced, and we would be living in a very bleak world.
Books Make a Huge Impact on Our Lives
The power of words can be often underestimated. Whether it’s a psychological thriller, a crime novel, or trending biography, unforgettable, profound books present us with an array of emotions that can move us and broaden our minds and perspectives. The works of others, whether fictional or non-fictional, can often inspire us to make changes in our lives and can ultimately stay with us forever. Aiming to finish a book gives us a focus and goal to complete, and they also have the incredible physical ability to lower stress levels, and can even deflect unwanted feelings of negativity.
Books Sharpen Our Minds
Books are capable of more than just entertainment – they’re vital tools to living a healthier lifestyle. Since books require concentration, reading can essentially count as a workout for your brain. Studies have revealed that reading stimulates our brains and can improve our cognitive functioning, especially the part within the brain that is responsible for focusing, critical analysis, as well as our memory. In fact, studies have suggested that engaging in reading regularly encourages a delayed decline in key mental capacities, which can potentially result in a longer life.
Books Enhance Our Imagination
When you open a book, you open up a completely new universe - reading is an immersive and fulfilling experience that pulls us out of our usual day to day thoughts. When you’re nose deep into a book, magic happens and everything else around you seems to fade. Endless amounts of worlds and characters that you meet in books help to spark your imagination through the visualization of what you read. Reading can additionally strengthen your writing ability and creative skills – who knows, reading more books could help you become the next top bestselling author or prolific academic writer!
8 Questions to Ask Yourself to Design The Life Of Your Dreams
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
With the new year upon us, it is the perfect time to reevaluate where you are in life and where you want to go.
With the new year upon us, it is the perfect time to reevaluate where you are in life and where you want to go.
Future Planning: An Introduction To The FIRE Movement
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
For most people, their career path is very simple. They go to college, find a job after graduating, and slowly but consistently work their way up the career ladder over the course of the next 30 or so years. Then, usually by the time they are in their 60s, they are able to retire. This is the conventional career route that has been a staple of society for decades; but it’s a route that a group of people are now challenging.
Introducing FIRE
FIRE stands for “financial independence, retire early”. The driving force behind the idea is that retirement is not something that people should have to wait until their 60s to achieve; instead, people focusing on FIRE look to retire as soon as possible, with some achieving this goal in their 30s (though between 40 and 50 is more standard).
Frugality is a big part of the FIRE lifestyle; in many ways, the movement is strongly related to anti-consumerism, and people choosing to spend more time enjoying the simpler things in life rather than working in order to spend.
How is FIRE possible?
There are a few additional considerations anyone contemplating FIRE will need to keep in mind - which we will discuss in more depth soon - but the core essentials are aggressive saving and investment. People looking to achieve FIRE will spend as little of their income as possible - saving 75% of income is far from uncommon - and will instead choose to invest. Over time, the combination of savings and compounded interest from investments results in people having a large enough sum of money to retire and be able to live on the income from investments alone, rather than relying on a salary.
How much is considered sufficient to retire on?
Most people aiming for FIRE aim to save 25 times their anticipated annual living expenses. So, if you were to estimate that you would need to spend $60,000 per year, then you would need to save $1,500,000. The x25 rule is thought to be sufficient to allow people to withdraw 4% from their savings to meet their living costs during their retirement.
Is it really possible to save that much money?
While the idea of setting so much money aside may initially seem outlandish, it is a goal that many people are able to reach. Admittedly it’s not a short-term goal - without a lottery win or two, no one is going to achieve FIRE in just a few years - but if you’d like to retire earlier than expected, then it can be done.
How can you get started on the path to FIRE?
The path to FIRE will always be slightly different for every person who chooses to walk it, as everyone starts from different financial positions and with slightly different goals in terms of how much they want to be able to save. However, the general steps needed to reach FIRE are as follows:
#1 - Cost cutting
Cost cutting is crucially important to those looking to pursue FIRE for two reasons. Firstly, FIRE requires a much higher savings rate than the 5-10% of income that most people aim for, so outgoings will have to reduce to allow this to be possible. Secondly, when actually retired, living a low-cost, frugal lifestyle is incredibly important to ensuring funds are sustainable, so it’s a good idea to get into the habit as soon as possible.
You will therefore need to go through all of your expenses and see where you can cut back. Be stringent here: anything but essentials should at least be considered for cutting if you’re dedicated to reaching FIRE. For areas of your budget that cannot be cut entirely - such as groceries, insurance payments, and so on - look for ways to reduce the amount you spend instead.
#2 - Debt repayment
FIRE requires people to save and invest as much of their income as they possibly can, while spending as little as possible - a situation that is difficult if you are carrying credit card or student loan debt. These debts will continue to accrue interest for as long as they are outstanding, which means that there’s more money being spent servicing debt than there is being saved into a potential retirement pot - which is obviously less than ideal.
As a result, the extra funds found after cost cutting should be put towards clearing debt rather than saving for retirement; by doing this, potentially hundreds (or even thousands, depending on the size of the debt) of dollars in interest can be saved and diverted to an early retirement fund instead.
#3 - Mortgage repayment
Owning a property is outright is an important part of FIRE, as having to pay a mortgage (or, worse still, rent to a landlord) will inevitably deplete savings significantly and reduce the amount available to live on when retired. As a result, ensuring that your mortgage is paid off should be your next focus when you have cleared all debts; there are various methods available when it comes to paying off a mortgage, so explore these and decide which will work best for you.
#4 - Investing
With your mortgage paid off, you can now consider your investment options. Within the FIRE community, low-cost index funds are perhaps the most popular, but experiences and preferences do vary, so it’s advisable to seek the assistance of a financial advisor who can help decide which investments are the right choice for your specific goals.
A quick note: Above, we have suggested that mortgage repayment and then investment is the best choice for those looking to achieve FIRE - but this is a hotly-debated topic within the FIRE community.
Some people believe that investments and mortgage payments should be done at the same time (so interest can be earned on investments during the mortgage repayment), while others say, as we have, it’s best to focus all funds in paying off your mortgage first so that this important step can be achieved as soon as possible.
The decision, however, is entirely yours: if you would like to split your focus, choosing to invest and pay off your mortgage at the same time, then you can do so - the route to FIRE is different for everyone, so go with what you believe to best the best course of action for you. No two routes to FIRE are the same!
Common questions people ask about FIRE
FIRE is such an unusual idea that it is natural people may have further questions about how it works, so below we’ve sought to answer the most commonly-asked questions...
#1 - Is it possible to retire early and still pay college tuition for my children?
Yes, but it’s complicated; there’s a helpful guide here that parents should find useful when deciding how to factor college tuition into their FIRE plans.
#2 - Is FIRE for me if I love my job and don’t want to stop working?
Absolutely! Many people who reach FIRE continue to work even when, mathematically speaking, they do not absolutely need to. The goal of FIRE is to simply have the financial independence to choose to work, rather than having to work out of financial necessity.
#3 - Is property ownership an essential for FIRE?
Realistically, yes - even if you would like to live a nomadic lifestyle (such as travelling the country in an RV) post-retirement. Property is an excellent investment, so even if you’re not intending to live in your current home when you’re retired, it will still be a valuable asset and can contribute to your income if you choose to, for example, rent the property out while you explore the world.
#4 - Should I try to increase my income in order to reach my goal faster?
Yes, doing so can be beneficial and is a common choice for many people focused on FIRE. It is usually preferable to try and increase your hours/wage in your day job rather than embarking on a potentially-unreliable side hustle, though you can give this a try if you would prefer to do so and have the time available.
#5 - What happens to early retirees if the market crashes?
As we have discussed, FIRE is highly dependent on investments - but, of course, the market can go up as well as down, which could spell trouble for those who are solely reliant on investments for income. This concern is one of the reasons why working with a financial advisor is so important; they will help to diversify risk and ensure that funds are stable even in the event of a market crash. In addition, keeping some savings in cash (as in a high-interest standard savings account; not storing literal cash) can be a good way of protecting against market downswings.
In conclusion
The FIRE movement definitely goes against convention, but can be an incredibly positive step for those who choose to commit to it. We hope the above has provided food for thought and, if you decide FIRE is the right choice for you and your family, we hope the journey is as smooth as it can possibly be.
The Essential Guide To Getting Your Kids Into Reading
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
How many times do you venture into your kids’ bedrooms with your fingers crossed hoping to find them with their head in a good book, only to find them with headphones on playing some online RPG with pals? If you have read my blog previously, you know I LOVE reading. You can check my many book suggestions by clicking here for all of my posts reviewing various and sundry books.
What Is Enough? How Do You Know When You Have "It"?
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
Over a month ago was my birthday and I wrote a post On the Verge of 40. In it, I describe my feelings of insecurity, doubt, worry, and generally being unsure. My vow was to focus on feeling that I am enough as I am. I have actually, to my surprise, thought of this every day and tried to squash out those feelings of inadequacy whenever they pop up. Or I've tried to figure what the root cause of what that feeling is and attempted to rectify it.
Journey to Finding Life's Purpose - Part 4
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
MEDITATION CAN UNLOCK THE SUBCONSCIOUS
Meditation isn’t just for the Yogis and Buddhist monks of the world anymore. Meditation has been around for thousands of years. Meditation and mindfulness have never been more popular than they are today. It’s now a tool used by medical professionals in a variety of fields and in the business world. Prisons are even teaching meditation to inmates.
Journey to Find Life's Purpose - Part 3
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
Most of us don’t enjoy writing. A lot of people would much rather ponder things, but writing can be a very powerful tool. Clearly, if you have read my blog, you know I am not of that persuasion. I have written posts on why I think everyone should have a journal, how to motivate yourself to journal daily, and how to nurture your creative mind with journaling.
FINDING YOUR PURPOSE THROUGH WRITING
Most of us don’t enjoy writing. A lot of people would much rather ponder things, but writing can be a very powerful tool. Clearly, if you have read my blog, you know I am not of that persuasion. I have written posts on why I think everyone should have a journal, how to motivate yourself to journal daily, and how to nurture your creative mind with journaling.
Journey to Finding Life's Purpose - Part 1
**Some of the links in this post are affiliate links, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you choose to make a purchase.
Do you wake up each day dreading the idea of spending another day at work? You might even feel the need to be a part of something bigger and more meaningful. If you’ve failed to discover and build your life around your life purpose, you might feel dissatisfied with your life. Determining the purpose of your life can be a simple process.
Do you wake up each day dreading the idea of spending another day at work? You might even feel the need to be a part of something bigger and more meaningful. If you’ve failed to discover and build your life around your life purpose, you might feel dissatisfied with your life. Determining the purpose of your life can be a simple process.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)