17 habit building ideas (health and finance)

Our habit tactics series goes on, this time with some useful habits to help the visions in two of the most important areas in life: health and finance.

Almost every man has the gut for the achievements he wants to meet in these two spheres. Meanwhile they are generally habit-based. See the list we offer you to build a new habit, which may bring you to your goals.

Let’s refresh our memory

In the first article of the habit series, we elaborated on what they are and why it is important to work on building them. In short, once we get used to an action, we will continue to perform it unconsciously and automatically, and this will bring us the desired results in the long run.

We also analyzed the mechanism by which habits work. We’ve seen how they usually get unlocked by a certain factor, and by understanding it better, we can have more control over our reactions.

We also went through seven strategies and tactics for habits, which we can quickly and easily start using when talking about new, highly desired habit.
So, without wasting time, let’s go straight to the list of habits in the areas of health and finance.

#1 Movement every day

Obviously, the first idea has to do with physical health.

Having a certain daily activity every day is an easy habit to create, namely because it is for every day. Those are the fastest type of habits to build.

There are a lot of different ways to build and track such a habit – you may put yourself a minimum distance target or steps and measure them, using your phone app. When you focus on the the movement itself, you will gradually start finding out quite a lot opportunities to move:

● You may go up and down the stairs instead of using the elevator;
● Get off the public transport one stop prior yours and take a walk;
● Walk to the place you need to get something done

#2 Sports X times a week (running / fitness / swimming / others)

It’s a little harder to get used to playing sports not every day, but several times a week. Still, it is possible, a few months of perseverance are enough. And why not a 90-day goal.
Once a sport becomes our second skin, we may add another one and combine them so that we are physically active and diversified every day.

#3 Schedule workouts in the calendar in advance

Ivan has been going to the gym at least three times a week for years, but it often happened to him to interrupt the series.

Whether because of a busy period at work, or because of vacations or holidays, he occasionally missed, sometimes dropped out his goal for a long time.

Until he found a way to make walking in the gym inevitable.
Here’s the HOW: Ivan started booking his coach in advance three times a week. Once he got committed to another person, there was no way to “back down”.

#4 Going to bed early

Going to bed early is not very attractive for most people, but it is one of those key stone habits that are a prerequisite for both quality sleep and a good start of the next day.
It has been proven that good sleep (in terms of quantity and quality) has a positive effect on our mood, energy levels and performance. It is worth working on this habit, especially if we are planning an active morning.

#5 Drinking water

Another really important habit is to drink enough water to hydrate your body well.

To remind yourself to drink, you can use one of these tricks:

● Always keep water on hand. Nikki, for example, got a few one-liter bottles and left them everywhere: at home, in the office, in the car;
● Install an application that sends you reminders at certain times;
● Or you can set a special alarm for this purpose.

In certain time you will not need a reminder. That’s the good thing about the habit!

#6 Weekly fast – from Sunday to Tuesday

After a series of experiments with different fasting types, Ivan has found the most effective one for himself.

He was inspired by an acquaintance who shared an easy-to-follow scheme:

You have dinner on Sunday and the next meal is breakfast on Tuesday. For Ivan, this turned out to be a very suitable option, as Mondays are usually very busy for him and he rarely remembers to eat. For him, this turns out to be a working option, but you can try other ways if you like the idea of fasting.

The idea of building habits is to build regularity. All activities less than once a week are very difficult to follow and require a longer period of adaptation. So choose one that you can do every week.

#7 Light meal in the evening

There is no need to go into details here: the habit of a light dinner has a very positive effect on a good night’s sleep, stomach health and last but not least weight regulation.

#8 Healthy breakfast

Starting the day with a good breakfast (everyone has a different perception of what healthy means) is a great way to turn the wheel in the morning. For Niki, this is a sufficient condition to ride the wave for the rest of the day, to eat healthy food and not to succumb to sweet, salty or greasy temptations.

#9 Meditation / Gratitude / Morning Ritual

Another aspect of health besides the physical one is the spiritual.

Being connected to yourself and being better to others helps you to be emotionally healthy.

Even if terrible things happen to you and your life is very difficult, if you manage to keep a positive outlook, you can be satisfied and inspire others.
We consider mornings for the best time to set ourselves up for a successful, positive and aspiring day. That is why both of us have our own morning rituals with different components. They include meditation, and Nikki has not stopped this practice for over 3 years.

Ivan has a habit of taking a few minutes to show his gratitude. So his attitude is positive and the day has a flying start.

Try to be both dissatisfied and grateful. It doesn’t work, does it?

#10 Keeping a journal

The morning ritual may involve simply writing down your thoughts. Whether you plan and rewrite your goals for the week, or write down some ideas, or just get rid of heavy thoughts by throwing them away on paper – it has been proven to work.

#11 Give up what hurts you

In one of the previous articles we shared several habits tactics, among which there was a good idea on how to overcome a habit, for example addiction. It is different for everyone, but some popular and harmful habits to health are overdoing it with coffee, sugar, dough, alcohol, cigarettes.

In short, getting rid of a habit is not easy. On the other hand, replacing it with another can happen easily.

Finance habits

So, after the habits that you could choose in the field of health, it’s time to cover the next area – finance.

There are fewer actions here and the creation of new automated ones can be challenging, but usually in the field of finance one has a strong enough “why”.

We continue with the next ones on the list.

#12 “6 JARS Money Management System”

For a number of years, Niki has been in the habit of following the so-called “6 jars” system. He distributes all his income into six different accounts, each with a different purpose. Thus, he has enough money for initiatives that are important to him.

Probably not everyone will find this as helpful as Nikki does. But one principle of this system is crucial and recommended for everyone, regardless of one’s income and consumption: to pay yourself 10% first.

What does this mean? It is the habit to set aside 10% of your income, before you start spending your monthly money, to put them as a buffer if necessary. Thus, we go to our next proposal.

#13 Save for an emergency fund

Call it a “financial pillow,” “a penny for a rainy day,” or whatever you think. The idea is clear: to provide yourself with a little security and peace of mind by not spending or investing everything that goes through your hands, but saving certain amounts. Even if you don’t use the six-jar system, you can do this one ONLY- save a little each month.

#14 Control the method of payment

Credit card or cash? Both methods of payment have their pros and cons.
Various studies show that people tend to make purchases at a significantly higher value when they make them online or at a POS terminal, rather than cash payments.
On the other hand, credit cards can bring a variety of benefits such as accumulating points, refunding certain amounts and more. The card is preferred even nowadays in times of pandemic.

It’s true that everyone has developed their own habits related to their way of shopping and habits are the great factors for one’s financial situation. So examine yourself thoroughly, analyze your behavior and decide for yourself if you need to work on a new habit in this regard.

#15 Weekly costs review

Sitting down with the calculator once a week and seeing how the costs are going can be very helpful. Such a regular revision of spending can help you change course, if necessary.

#16 Habit of tracking expenses, when doing an annual analysis

Nikki has shared with us one of his experiments related to cost analysis a year ago. For the sake of it, he developed the habit of collecting each receipt for his expenses every day and entering its value in a program. His goal was to have a complete and detailed picture of the items in his budget at the end of the year. During the experiment, unexpected trends emerged. Highly recommended by everyone to try – you may be surprised what will come out.

#17 Regular investment

If you are one of those people who want to invest, but cannot constantly keep track of where the prices of the object of their interest are going, the following can be very valuable to you:
Develop the habit of regularly (eg. monthly) depositing the same amount for investment, instead of thinking over the daily trends of prices. This investment strategy is called Dollar Cost Average and is simple but effective. Putting very little effort and accumulation over time, this has a good return.

What can you do now?

If you have liked any of the above suggestions for a new habit in the field of health or finance, you can tell us what it is and start working on building this habit now.

Soon, a new batch of ideas and tactics for habits is coming, concerning two of the most exciting topics: career and relationships. Thanks and see you soon!