Good evening ~ The first push of the Year of the Rabbit, I wish everyone a prosperous Year of the Rabbit! The money is rolling!
The holiday "snorted" and passed, so fast, I couldn't bear it to go
。
On the first day of construction, the studio was very lively, everyone flocked in groups to "amuse the benefits", put a picture to feel the local magnificence~ The friends said that looking at these benefits is, at least reduce the pressure of starting construction by 20% haha.
A few years ago, I discussed "one saving tip for each person" with my friends, and I said that for every income, I would save 10% first, and then plan the rest for other purposes. I wrote this point before when sharing financial experience, but they all expressed surprise. Jenny said: I thought you had given up a long time ago.
Yes. Such a small action actually unconsciously persisted for so long. After thinking about it, in addition to saving money, I have some small habits that have lasted for many years. Looking back, even I am amazed at the rewards and gains they have brought me, making me feel the power of time. In fact, many small things themselves are not difficult to do, and you may not see any effect when you first do it, but if you continue to do it, you will have an unexpected power after a year, three years, or even ten years.
The first article of the new year is about the small habits that I have stuck with for many years and have brought me great gains. Of course, some of them may feel familiar, after all, I must have talked about it before it was useful to me.
This is a summary post, I hope it will enlighten you.
(Example: This article does not contain any commercial soft implants)
1. Make New Year's resolutions every year
A while ago, someone asked me about my ten-year plan, and I was stunned.
Not to mention ten years, I haven't even done a five-year plan. Maybe because I am pessimistic, I feel that life is uncontrollable and life is full of variables, so I never make too long-term planning.
Chess player Capablanca once said: "I only look one step forward, but always the right one." The second half of the sentence is too divine, and it is difficult for us ordinary people to have the confidence to say this. But I am also "only one step forward".
So every New Year's start, I make an annual plan, which is an annual wish list.
Why make an annual plan? In order to sort out what you really want to do in your heart, think clearly about what kind of life you want to live.
Only by sorting out the priorities of life can we better arrange our time and energy. I joked with my friends that even if you want to make a "salted fish" lying flat, you don't think that you can lie down, you have to plan and plan to do it
。
I usually dedicate two to three days at the end of the year and the beginning of the year to do this. Most of the time is spent thinking: what I have done in the past year, what I want to do in the next year, what is important to me at this stage, what I really want to do but have not done...
Two or three days sounds like a lot, but if you think about it, these issues may determine the allocation of our time and energy for the next year.
According to the Navarre Book, there are three major decisions early in life: where to live, with whom, and what profession to pursue. In fact, not only early in life, at the beginning of each year, these questions are worth dedicating time to thinking.
Remember to prepare paper and pen (this is very important), list it as you think about it, write it down, and then comb through it, make sure to copy it at the beginning of the handbook later, so that you can open it every day and look at it, so that you don't forget what is important to you.
In the past many years, my classification method is very simple: work, life, study; In the first two years, I began to try to change to a simpler dimension, and became: important things, creative things. For example, ▼ in 2022
Classification according to your habits, the simpler the better. But don't list too much at once, in my experience, six or so is the easiest to achieve.
I often see people say that they don't like to list plans because they feel very anxious if they don't finish it in the end.
I make about 10 plans a year, and it's good to be able to complete 6 or 7. Because my goal is not to complete all the plans. As long as you work in the direction you want to go, you are already reaping the rewards.
2. Regular review
Even if you make a plan every year, if you do not do regular review and sorting, there is no way to reflect and adjust your life rhythm in time, and you may be like a spinning top that keeps turning at high speed.
Whether it's time, work, financial management or emotions, if you organize it regularly, many problems will be detected earlier.
My habit of reviewing is to make it big, trying not to exceed three indicators.
For example, to review the project, look at three key points:
︎ What did you pay and what did you gain?
︎Is it worth continuing to do it?
︎How can I optimize if I continue to do it?
Review this year, ask yourself three key questions:
︎ Did you do what you most wanted to do this year?
︎ What are the things that you think are important but haven't been done? Why?
︎ Is 80% of your time and energy spent on people and things that you think are important?
There are also tools that can be used. For example, I have a small software to record time (I use aTimeLogger, there are many others), you can set categories, fill in the main daily life content, and will automatically generate daily summary, weekly summary, monthly summary, so that you can clearly see what proportion of time you spend in each category.
Many people can't insist, maybe the review matter is too complicated, too entangled in the details can easily turn the methodology into the goal. Remember that the main purpose of reviewing is to sort out yourself, so you won't be so entangled.
3. Take notes on the fly
Writing down can be said to be a professional habit of mine. In the past, as a reporter, I developed the habit of collecting materials and recording at any time, and found that it helped me a lot, so I have continued to use it.
At the beginning, I used a notebook to write down, but now I use more mobile phone memos, Weibo trumpets or computer texts, and I can use what is convenient to remember. It doesn't matter what to remember, what matters is to record habits.
I usually remember what I see and think. There are two main types:
One is a resonant text or idea, a point that you find interesting when you see the article;
One is my own feelings, thoughts and new ideas that flash in my mind, etc., I will write them down at will.
My memo has three pins for my own review.
4. Read for half an hour a day
It should actually be more than half an hour.
It is often said why you are so busy and have time to read. In fact, reading this thing is not so difficult to "stick" on, because I basically treat it as entertainment.
I am already doing too much "practical" output, so reading books and watching dramas pursues "uselessness" and does not seek much understanding. Most of the time it is to pass the time, not to increase knowledge.
Because I don't have the burden of studying, I read books very quickly. I forgot a lot of books after reading them. And it's all forgotten. There are some books that I like when I read them, and after a while or a few years, I don't even remember what to write. It doesn't matter. In the process of reading, it is enough to see that he/she can look at something in this way, describe something like this, and it turns out that he/she thinks this way and can think like this.
There is a particularly correct saying that reading is not to know "what it should be", but "it can be seen this way".
Reading does not necessarily lead to long knowledge, but it certainly broadens thinking.
Another practical takeaway: expanding the boundaries of information.
Although the public account writes about practical clothing and fashion sharing, I often share books, dramas and songs on Xiaohongshu Weibo, and some people ask through what channels to receive this information.
Reading is a great channel. The tastes of text, music and film are often the same, and art is the expression of the self, although the forms are different, there must be something in common. If you like a writer, you'll probably like the books, movies, and music he likes. In the same way, if you like a director, you will often like the soundtrack and text of his film.
Like the book list in "Reasons to Live", I looked for it, and most of them I liked it very much~
5. Save 10% for each income
Finally speaking of saving money. Haha, it's not at the top because on the topic of saving money, I said it not ten times, maybe eight times
。 Previously specialized in
Wealth management
Said why I started forced saving.
At that time, I wanted to save a "risk fund" to deal with possible changes in life, which was money that could not be touched at any time unless the disease was treated and saved.
In the dream of the pharaoh of the Bible, there is a talk about this topic:
Pharaoh dreamed of seven beautiful cows and seven thin cows, and Joseph the interpreter said that seven years of great harvest were followed by seven years of famine. What to do about it? He suggested storing 1/5 of everyone's grain during the harvest to cope with famine. The disaster was resolved.
This is the 20% rule: putting 20% of your income in absolute safety every year does not affect the quality of life of the year, but it can avoid financial crisis for a lifetime.
This ratio varies from person to person. I set 10% at the time because the difficulty is relatively small, and it will not affect or even improve the quality of life, above 10% I may give up halfway or take it out when I have a large expense temporarily.
In the beginning, 10% was saved through fractional deposits (which may not be available now), which was set to automatically deduct money the next day of payroll. After a few months, I got used to not having this 10%.
Later, the scope was expanded, and whether it was every manuscript fee, the difference in the price of changing houses or other income, as long as it was received, 10% would be saved first. After so many years, it is also a considerable number.
Don't underestimate 10%, when your income increases, 10% will also rise. Be sure to believe in the power of time.
Why it not only does not affect the quality of life, but may also improve the quality of life. On the one hand, after saving 10%, when spending the remaining 90%, the psychological burden is smaller, and the money is more happy. On the other hand, because of the awareness of saving money, it is not as easy to spend a lot of small money as before, and even the remaining 90% will not be spent so easily. You can even save another 10% or two. For example, if I want to decorate, I will save a "decoration fund", and if I want to travel, I will save a "travel fund"...
6. Learn something new every once in a while
Not necessarily skills. Conceptual and cognitive learning is also included. In the past two years, I have learned swimming, painting, meditation, and at the end of last year I started to study English (shame).
Some friends asked me, do you set goals?
No.
I didn't want to be a great person with multiple skills, learning something new was mainly to increase the experience and expand the boundaries of cognition.
If you don't touch new things all the time, your perception will be blunted and you may miss out on a lot of good things. And perception is one of the most important abilities in my opinion.
Keep learning, contact with unknown and unskilled areas, your horizons are opened layer by layer, you will be in awe of many things, and it will not be so easy to be blindly arrogant.
It's important to keep an open mind. Not limited by inherent cognition, not trapped in their own small world, and constantly exchange energy with the outside world.
7. Spend two hours a day with your family (drinking tea)
This was added by Tristan. I don't know how to expand it, because Hokkien people are like this ahahha.
As long as you don't travel. It is a must for the family to sit together and drink kung fu tea, and the thunder cannot be moved.
Probably also because of this little habit, our family is very close. Although it is always a little noisy, there is nothing that cannot be solved by a cup of tea.
8. Reward yourself for completing your goals
I reward myself at each stage with something that is not fixed, it may be to buy myself a bag, it may be to give myself a break, sometimes it is to reward a big meal haha.
In short, at any time, don't forget to give yourself a little sweetness and add some sugar to your life~
9. Annual medical examination
I can't remember when I started the physical examination, but it was more than ten years ago.
The reason why I have to have a medical examination every year is very simple and rude, that is, I am afraid of sudden death.
In the past, I did not pay attention to it, and I often did not go to the newspaper for physical examinations. But because I have been plagued by insomnia, coupled with frequent business trips and long-term high-intensity work, some friends forwarded some sudden death news to me, and I felt that I really had to pay attention.
Many people don't pay that much attention to their bodies. You might as well feel now, is the upper and lower teeth clenched?
Many times emotions will be reflected in the body, the stomach will hurt when you are nervous and anxious, and the intestines are easily uncomfortable when you are stressed. We communicate with others every day, but we rarely communicate with our bodies, and we cannot hear signals from our bodies and messages for help. When the body is taken care of, the state of mind and spirit will become better and better.
I also take my parents for physical examinations every year. Like most parents, it is difficult to convince them at first, and then simply tell them that the money is paid and that if you don't go, it will be wasted. They also obediently "compromised"
。
In addition to these, there are some that have also benefited me a lot, and I also share them with you for reference, so I won't expand much:
10. Focus on the immediate goals and do your best
11. When you don't know how to choose, choose the difficult path
12. Smile and look into someone's eyes as you speak
13. Trust methodology, not inspiration or talent
14. Believe in long-termism. Although I don't plan too long-term, I believe in the power of time.
15. Don't talk nonsense. Many words, once spoken, have their own life force, including what we say to ourselves.
After reading this, I know that some people will say, engage in so much, is it not tired to live?
In the past two years, everyone has been pursuing relaxation, and these sharing sounds like the opposite of relaxation.
So in the end, I'd love to expand on that.
Tired of doing so much?
In fact, when they are internalized into a habit, they do not feel tired.
What's really tiring is not knowing what you want, not knowing what you're doing, toiling every day without knowing how time passes. Most of these small habits, which I have been adhering to for many years, have kept me aware of my time and life.
Human nature is mostly easy to work with. If slack means doing nothing and doing nothing every day, we are absolutely unskilled at not being able to learn from ourselves.
I myself am a very lazy person, everyone is preparing for the college entrance examination, I am still basking in the sun in the back mountain, I don't go to class every day in college, I hide in the dormitory to sleep lazy and read idle books... I don't regret the time I spent in vain.
Even if I am now a workaholic in the eyes of others, I still spend a lot of time drinking tea, reading all kinds of idle books, watching movies and dramas, and recently added a hobby: basking in the sun, which is most of the day.
Instead of pursuing "slackness", what is more difficult for me is "seriousness". So the first book I wrote was "Wear Seriously Today", which was updated for several years with a weekend PLOG called "How Good It Looks Like You Live Seriously"
。
It is precisely because it is much more difficult to be serious than relaxed, that I will continue to try some small ways to make myself "tighter", hoping to have a richer experience, expand my cognitive boundaries, and have a more vigorous vitality.
When we pursue relaxation, what we are pursuing is actually calmness after we have enough control and confidence in our lives. And only after experiencing the process of strenuousness, can you slowly have control over yourself and reap real relaxation~
That's it for today.
I wish everyone a comfortable and comfortable life in the new year~
Good night, we'll see you tomorrow :)