In my last New Year blog, The Magic of Compounding is Everywhere, I shared with my readers a list of habits that I had built over time. I found that these small habits had drastically compounded into life-changing benefits for me. As the new year begins, I would like to add more new habits to this list. Try them out and watch for more positive compounding effects.
1) Get organized and fill out your “Family Inventory” Guidebook. This allows one to conveniently document all the information related to your family’s finances. This includes i) contact information of key advisors and those who can provide emergency support, ii) investment and bank account numbers, iii) insurance policies, iv) government and corporate pension information and v) personal identification data. Some clients have admitted to us that if they were to be unexpectedly injured or pass away, their family members would likely have a difficult time gathering information and knowing who to call to get information. Especially in this new digital age, passwords to emails, digital accounts and even cryptocurrencies are at risk of being lost if your family is unaware or unable to access them. It is recommended to consolidate this data, and notify family members of the existence and location of this ‘Family Inventory”. Moreover, make it a habit to review and update this guidebook every year. For a free copy of this Family Inventory Guidebook, please contact me or one of our team members.
2) Use a wearable device and keep track of your sleep. There are many smart wearables that you can try: watches, rings, and bracelets. These devices can tell you how well you are sleeping. When I first started, I was surprised that my deep sleep was only a tiny percentage of my entire sleep cycle. Knowing what my sleep pattern is has made me work harder to improve my sleep. For example, going to bed earlier, avoiding large meals before bedtime, and exercising more. My sleep has much improved since I started monitoring it.
3) Use a device to alert yourself when you have been inactive or sitting for too long. Even an alarm clock can do this. However, a smart device would be more discreet, especially when you don’t want to disturb others. Again, I was pretty shocked to learn how many hours I had actually sat. With this new awareness, I have started to incorporate more movements and exercises into my daily activities.
4) Don’t be too serious. Remember when you were a kid? Kids explore the world with a playful and curious mind. That’s how children learn. We can go back to being kids again, and try to use the same mindset as we learn new habits. Crawling, for example, is an exercise that could be a new habit. As babies, we first learned to crawl but as we grew older, some of us cannot crawl anymore. Try crawling on your bed! This is a form of strength training and can help stabilize core muscles. I have taught my 80-year old mother how to do this. She started from not being able to support herself on all fours to being able to crawl back and forth on her bed now.
5) Eat real foods and eat local. Reduce highly processed foods as much as possible. There are local farmers you can try to buy your foods from. They may carry organic chicken, grass-fed beef, and wild-caught fish. You can order online and get delivery. Best of all, they are not very expensive when compared to high-end supermarket prices.
These are my top 5 habits for the year. Maybe you can also share with me some of your new habits!
Have a Happy, Prosperous, and Healthy New Year. May all good things compound in your lives!