K. WOODWARD PERSONAL FINANCE
  • Start
  • Bio
  • WealthBlog
    • Books
    • Random Thoughts
    • Femail
    • GirlBanker
  • My Books
  • MoneySpot
  • Coach

Poor Habits Keep You Poor – 10 Good Habits For Success

5/8/2015

6 Comments

 
Picture
When I got downstairs this morning I opened the cereal drawer and remembered it was my first day off healthy eating and tracking every morsel I eat on the myfitnesspal app to congratulate myself for losing 5 kg in a month. I did the funky chicken, I high-fived my husband but then after those first few happy moments I couldn’t do it. Yes, I was going to eat more liberally than usual but I couldn’t not track my food and I decided I still wasn’t going to eat cake or any dessert because I want to lose more weight before I do that.

I have formed the habit of eating smaller portions and even when I have a scheduled day allowing crazy eating, I don’t want to do it.

This reminded me how so many good things are accountable to good habits. Habits, both good and bad, are very easy to form.

According to The One Thing - The Surprisingly Simple Truth Behind Extraordinary Results By Gary Keller And Jay Papasan, habits have been empirically shown to take an average of 66 days to form but can take as little as 18 days and as many as 200 days depending on the complexity of the habit one is trying to form.

This sentiment is reinforced in the book I am currently reading The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg. He reminds us that  “habits are not born, but created. Every bad, good or insignificant habit starts with a psychological pattern called a “habit loop.”

Okay, so, what sort of habits build wealth?

I’ll give you a few that you can easily implement. Some good habits I’ve had since before I was a teenager like the habit of enjoying work; however, I continually work on adopting more and more new good habits.

Picture
Eating healthily is a habit I struggle with and I always seem to slip back after a life change like getting pregnant or moving house; I revert to eating huge portions and too much unhealthy food then I decide enough is enough so I start working on reforming good eating habits again. I call these lifestyle changes. Since 2005 I have had 3 or 4 lifestyle changes.

On the plus side, each time I slip back I don’t lose every good habit, just a few of my old habits creep into my life again. Anyhow, what can you start working on today?
  1. Wake up early and go to bed early. Sleeping well is key to productivity and eating healthily.10 p.m. to 6 a.m. is a good target; 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. works for some.
  2. Read a business or life-enrichingbook for 30 minutes daily on your commute to work. I have reviews on manyfantastic business books. If you struggle to find time for reading pay for a subscription with audible.com. I pay for their annual 12-book deal so I can listen as I walk the baby or jog.
  3. Instead of watching 3 hours of TV in the evening watch just one pre-selected hour then work on a personal project the rest of the time. The habit of watching excessive TV is much easier to kick than you might think.
  4. Work out at least 3 times a week for 30 minutes each time.  You don’t need to go to the gym for this. Do strength training – squats, lunges, push-ups, sit up, planks etc. Even if you can’t do them now within a short space of time you will get better and better.
  5. Every week spend time with one of your intelligent friends; you know, those girls or guys that always leave you a little inspired to be better. Don’t have any of those? Well then maybe it’s time to find new friends.
  6. Set a weekly budget then get that amount of cash in your wallet and leave ALL your cards at home. You will get into the habit of spending better so fast. It’s so much harder to spend cash than to swipe a card.
  7. Only check your emails and social media at specific pre-set times each day.
  8. Turn off all notifications – yes, even email notifications. EVERYTHING. My phone only alerts me when I have a text or when someone is calling. All my other apps: Facebook, whatsapp, instagram, mail etc. are off.
  9. Give yourself a treat only when you have succeeded with your goals. It gives you something to look forward to and focuses the mind.
  10. Review your life periodically. Say, on the last day of every month. Is everything working as you planned? If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.

Finally, note that everyone has a limited amount of will power. If you stop yourself from doing something that you want to do, you use up a bit of that limited will power such that by then of each day your stock of will power is almost depleted. Consequently, don’t try to implement too many things at once. Work on one or two habits at a time. Once you form the required habit introduce a new one.If you take this approach it will feel less taxing because once a habit is formed it’s automatic, you don’t have to think about it


Forming good habits is one of the elements we focus on in the Success portion of The Money Spot Program on how to build a 6-figure product business.

If you would like to build a product business and if you want to maximize the chance of building it into a 6-figure annual income then you should do The Money Spot Program. Live the life you want. This year the workshop is at New Hall Spa Hotel in Birmingham, UK on 17 & 18 October. A night’s accommodation is included. Join us. If you’re based in London the train out there is less than 1.5 hours and if you’re in Europe you can fly into Birmingham International Airport.

If you can’t make the workshop then the online-only course is waiting for you.

Picture
Want to Build a 6-Figure Beauty Business from the comfort of your sofa? Then my course is designed for YOU! 

"Beauty" includes a WIDE range of products from the not so obvious non-perishable foods and crafts to the more obvious hair, makeup, fashion, health & fitness.

6 Comments
Renee Dillion
7/8/2015 01:05:04 pm

Thanks. Encouraging.

Reply
Miss Frowz
7/8/2015 01:11:49 pm

Wonderful advice! I too struggle with the healthy eating and staying active part. I love chocolate, ice cream and cookies, and detest any form of exercising outside of walking. I've curbed the TV habit, but I need to work on the social media part now.

Congrats on losing 5kg in one month! You have inspired me! Could you please do a video of your weight loss journey (what you eat, exercise, motivation, etc)? I would really appreciate that.

Reply
Heather KW
16/8/2015 03:23:31 pm

I'll do a video for sure. Food is such a tough one, especially with so many "new treats" being invented all the time :)

Reply
Christina link
7/8/2015 10:01:58 pm

Excellent advice, thanks!

Reply
Jenene
12/8/2015 06:27:23 pm

Congrats to you and Harry on your son. I just didn't know how to respond to any of your Emails before right know. I will be commenting more than I know how to respond. Jenene

Reply
Heather KW
16/8/2015 03:24:07 pm

I look forward to your comments :) xx




Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Heather on Wealth

    I enjoy helping people think through their personal finances and blog about that here. Join my personal finance community at The Money Spot™.

    Categories

    All
    4% Rule
    About
    Accounting
    Action
    Admin
    Airbnb
    Amazon
    Ask Heather Katsonga
    Assets
    Attitude
    Beauty Industry
    Black Culture
    Black Economics
    Branding
    Budgeting
    Business Cash Flow
    Careers
    Cars
    Cash Flow
    Change
    Children
    Content Creation
    Credit Karma
    Credit Score
    Critical Illness Cover
    Dave Ramsey
    Decreasing Term Insurance
    Defined Benefit Pension
    Diversification
    Earning More Money
    Ebay
    Education
    Emergency Fund
    Energy
    Entrepreneurship
    Equity Release
    Estate Planning
    Etsy
    Experian
    FAQs
    Fear Of Risk
    Fidelity
    Financial Crisis
    Financial Freedom
    Financial Independence
    Financial Planning
    FIRE Movement
    Freelance
    Graphics Design
    Habits
    Halifax
    Hargreaves Lansdown
    Health
    Implementation
    Income
    Initiative
    Insurance
    Investing
    ISA
    Iweb
    Jobs
    Junior ISA
    Legacy Business
    Liabilities
    Life Insurance
    Life Story
    Lodger
    Luck
    Mindset
    Mompreneur
    Money
    Money Mistakes
    Money Spot Program
    Mortgage Insurance
    Mortgages
    Net Worth
    Nurture
    Office Of National Statistics
    Online Selling
    Opportunity
    Organisation
    Parents
    Passion Business
    Patience
    Pensionbee
    Pensions
    Personal Balance Sheet
    Planning
    Poverty
    Priorities
    Priority
    Productivity
    Property
    Racism
    Refunds
    Rental Insurance
    Resources
    Retirement
    Risk Taking
    Rule Of 72
    Sacrifices
    Saving
    Self Discovery
    Self Employed
    Self-Improvement
    Side Hustles
    Single Parent
    SIPP
    Sleep
    Social Norms
    Spending
    Start Up
    Start-up
    Stay At Home Parent
    Stock Market
    Tax
    Teenagers
    Time
    Unemployment
    Vanguard
    Wage Slavery
    Wealth Protection
    Will Power

    Archives

    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    May 2019
    June 2018
    November 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014

Picture

Podcast Links

Wealth Blog 

  • Children
  • Financial Independence / FIRE
  • Pensions
  • Retirement
  • Saving
Buy me a coffeeBuy me a coffee
Picture

© 2007 - 2021, The Money Spot™ ~ Make Money, Change Lives!
Heather Katsonga-Woodward, a massive personal finance fanatic.
** All views expressed are my own and not those of my employer ** Please get professional advice before re-arranging your personal finances.
Photos used under Creative Commons from Got Credit, www.hickey-fry.com, focusonmore.com, Francisco Anzola, SortedForYa, Prachi More, osipovva, Got Credit, focusonmore.com, Free For Commercial Use (FFC), Cory M. Grenier, jerseytom55, Got Credit, wuestenigel, trendingtopics, EpicTop10.com, mikecohen1872, mrmatthogg, focusonmore.com, jijake1977
  • Start
  • Bio
  • WealthBlog
    • Books
    • Random Thoughts
    • Femail
    • GirlBanker
  • My Books
  • MoneySpot
  • Coach