FX.co ★ 7 habits that help you learn and earn

We have been told since childhood that we need to fight bad habits, but few say that it is also necessary to develop new useful ones. One of their main advantages is that they do not require serious motivation or inflexible willpower, the main thing is to remind yourself of them in time to get closer to your cherished goals and dreams. Let's consider seven easy ways to get better.

1. Listen to specialized audiobooks or podcasts for 15 minutes every day. This can be done during a break for a cup of tea or coffee, instead of unnecessary chatter, or on the way to work: on the subway, car, public transport or on foot.

Choose the area of knowledge that you have always wanted to study or in which you want to improve, and find relevant specialized audio materials (not fiction). For example, listen about e-commerce, webinars, customer care technologies, or listen to podcasts of a successful person who works in a field of interest to you.

You should not spend too much time on this. Adhere to the rule of listening to cognitive materials daily for 15 to 30 minutes, find an opportunity to write it in your work schedule, because you never know in advance what information you may need in this or that situation.

2. Read one printed page of a book a day to train your mind (you can read more). Studies have found that the constant habit of fast reading of e-texts contributes to disperse attention and may lead to a decrease in speed and ability to assimilate information by 20-30%.

In addition, paper books provide aesthetic and sensory pleasure which contributes to the quality relaxation necessary for further productive work.

You can read before bedtime, instead of (or after) watching TV, movies or TV shows. The smell and rustle of paper will give signals to the brain that it's time to relax, and if you get carried away with an interesting book, it will help develop your imagination, one of the main tools for overcoming difficult life situations. Read what you like.

3. Go to bed 30 minutes earlier to stay healthy, the main and often irreplaceable resource for a happy life. Ideally, you should go to bed at 10 pm; however, if you feel like an owl, just try to go to bed a little earlier than usual.

A healthy body creates prerequisites for proper and successful thinking. Pay attention to nutrition and exercise, especially if you have a hard time falling asleep.

Often great ideas come to mind at night, but it is useful to teach yourself to go to bed and get up early to bring them to life!

4. When buying new items, choose quality, not quantity. It is better to buy fewer things, but those that you will truly enjoy. In addition, you shouldn't fill your house with unnecessary trash.

You can buy a bag of clothes, shoes, and jewelry, especially during sales and "super discounts", but are they really necessary? Do not deny yourself a pleasant shopping, but if you have things at home that you don't use at all, or things you don't wear, maybe you never really needed them?

Also, get rid of old things when you buy new ones. It does not matter what it is: clothing, appliances or kitchen utensils. You can make someone a nice gift, and at the same time make room for something valuable. This simple habit can radically change your mindset and teach you to choose exactly what you need.

5. Think twice before buying something. If you are going to spend any significant amount for you ($100, $ 1,000 or $ 10,000), wait at least 24 hours.

This habit will help you avoid unnecessary purchases caused by emotional impulse (whim), and not a real need. In the morning the next day, you will most likely know for sure if you need this half-meter teddy bear. It's amazing how many unnecessary things will not appear in your life.

In addition, you can calculate how much money you make per hour (for example, $20). And when you think about this or that purchase, assess how much time in your life you are ready to spend on it.

6. Automate your savings. Automation of savings and investments is a convenient habit that will allow you to save money on planned goals without effort.

Get savings (target) accounts to which you will transfer a certain amount of your earnings (for example, 10%) and any other unplanned income.

Often, banks also award interest on target accounts, and upon reaching the intended amount, think about where you can effectively invest money. Remember the simple rule: money goes to money.

7. Say no to negative. A very useful habit is to calmly and firmly say “no” to unpleasant people, dubious business proposals, everything that does not correspond to your personal perception of the world and does not lead to the achievement of goals.

A person is a social being, people from your environment have a great influence on your life path, they form a space of opportunities for future growth.

Therefore, do not allow anyone to poison you with negative influence, avoid bad companies and wasted time. Achieving your goals, focus on the important things, discard all unnecessary stuff, carefully save anything useful, cultivate the habit of success and happiness in yourself.