1. Live Below Your Means

    There will always be temptation to forsake the future for immediate gratification. We all want to buy that new piece of technology, treat ourselves to an expensive night on the town, or take out a loan for the flashy car we can’t afford. It might feel great at the time but rash spending hurts a lot later on.

    Enjoy life’s simple pleasures and save as much as you can. Expensive things don’t create lasting happiness and security. Careful spending will bring you greater leisure and enjoyment in the long run.

    2. Put Your Money to Work

    Saving is great, but to make the most of your money you need to put it to work. Good investments can be the difference between retiring in your 40’s or in your 60’s.

    A post today at The Simple Dollar really got me thinking. According to Trent’s projections, if a person in their early 20’s invests 20% of their income in an S&P index fund, the interest they earn will equal their current salary when they reach their early 40’s. They could retire without a drop in income!

    Wise investing is the surest path to financial independence and it’s something everyone can work on. It’s definitely an area I’ll be devoting more attention to in my personal life and on this blog.

    3. Educate Yourself

    To be happy we need continuous growth. The best way to grow is life long education. This doesn’t mean you need to pursue a doctorate or spend 2 hours reading every day. Self education can be anything that takes you out of your comfort zone. The important part is keeping an open mind and searching for fresh ideas and perspectives.

    Education builds over time. It might feel like the bits of wisdom you acquire don’t mean much, but over the years they add up to form a wiser, kinder, more interesting person.

    4. Develop Lasting Personal Relationships

    Suppose you had everything you wanted. Would you be happy without anyone to share it with? The personal relationships we develop with friends and family members are the greatest source of happiness in our lives. Don’t forget about them.

    Taking the time to cultivate and enjoy personal relationships is essential to longterm happiness. Without the people you care about you’ll probably be miserable, no matter how successful you become.

    5. Work Towards a Dream You’re Passionate About

    Even if your life isn’t perfect, you can always build towards a goal you’re passionate about. If you aren’t building towards something, you’re probably stagnating. When this happens to me I start to feel like a victim trapped by my own life. The best way to reverse this is working towards a goal.

    We can’t control everything about our lives, but working towards a goal gives us something positive to focus on and lays the foundation for future success. No matter what your passion is, get out there and start doing something. As Lao Tzu said, even a journey of 1,000 miles begins with a single step.

    Bonus: 6. Stay in Shape

    You only get one body. Once it’s been ruined there isn’t much you can do about it. Exercise to keep the rust off. Avoid excessive consumption of damaging substances and unhealthy foods. It may feel like terrible self denial at the time but enjoying good health in your later years is worth the sacrifice.

    1．量入為出的生活方式

    這個(gè)世界充滿太多的誘惑，使得很多人都因暫時(shí)的滿足感而放棄了未來(lái)。我們都想要擁有最新最昂貴的技術(shù)產(chǎn)品，奢侈地享受某個(gè)夜晚，或者用貸款購(gòu)買一輛無(wú)法負(fù)擔(dān)的豪華轎車。當(dāng)種感覺(jué)可能真的很好，但毫無(wú)計(jì)劃的開(kāi)支只會(huì)帶來(lái)更多的后遺癥。

    享受生活簡(jiǎn)單的快樂(lè)，并盡可能保持這種狀態(tài)。奢侈的物質(zhì)享受是無(wú)法帶來(lái)持久的快樂(lè)和安全感的。最終，只有量入為出的生活方式才能帶來(lái)安逸的生活和幸福。

    2.投資事業(yè)

    節(jié)儉是美德，但要充分地利用你的金錢，就把它們投資在事業(yè)上。好的投資能讓你在40歲時(shí)就得到財(cái)務(wù)上的解脫，這比60歲退休要好得多。

    今天收到的來(lái)自The Simple Dollar公司的郵件讓我為之深思。特倫特的觀點(diǎn)是，如果有人在20歲早期就開(kāi)始將收入的20%投資在S&P的指數(shù)化證券投資基金上，那么當(dāng)他們40歲時(shí)所賺的利息就等于現(xiàn)在的工資。那時(shí)，他們就可能在沒(méi)有任何收入的情況下達(dá)到財(cái)務(wù)解脫。

    明智的投資是通向財(cái)務(wù)解脫最可靠的途經(jīng)，也是每個(gè)人都學(xué)得會(huì)。毫無(wú)疑問(wèn)，這是我愿意為之付出心血致力在這個(gè)博客上研究和學(xué)習(xí)的。

    3．自我培養(yǎng)

    我們需要不斷地成長(zhǎng)來(lái)獲得最終的快樂(lè)幸福。成長(zhǎng)的最好方法是窮其一生的學(xué)習(xí)。但這并不意味著你必須要獲得博士頭銜或每天兩小時(shí)的閱讀。自我培養(yǎng)是能讓你從安逸環(huán)境中走出的任何方式。最關(guān)鍵的是保持思想開(kāi)放，尋求嶄新的想法和觀點(diǎn)。

    自我培養(yǎng)是通過(guò)時(shí)間累積而成的。可能你所學(xué)到的聰明才智在目前并無(wú)特別之處，但許多年后，它們會(huì)在漸漸累積，幫助你成為一位智者，善人，或幽默風(fēng)趣的人。

    4．持久的人際關(guān)系

    假設(shè)你已擁有想要的一切。但如若無(wú)人分享，你還會(huì)開(kāi)心嗎？我們與朋友親人間建立的感情關(guān)系是快樂(lè)的最大來(lái)源。切莫忘了這點(diǎn)。

    懂得花時(shí)間來(lái)培養(yǎng)和享受人際關(guān)系是永久快樂(lè)的本質(zhì)因素。假如你沒(méi)有真正想要關(guān)心的人，那樣的你是悲慘的，不管有多成功。

    5．致力于你的夢(mèng)想

    即使你的生活并不夠完美，你也可以朝著你的夢(mèng)想前進(jìn)。沒(méi)有可為之努力的目標(biāo)，可能就會(huì)慢慢變得頹廢。當(dāng)這種情況發(fā)生我身上時(shí)，我就開(kāi)始感覺(jué)那是生活的一個(gè)陷阱。扭轉(zhuǎn)這種狀況最好的辦法是朝著一個(gè)目標(biāo)前進(jìn)。

    對(duì)于生活，我們無(wú)法掌控，但不停地追求目標(biāo)可以讓我們變得積極，為成功打下基礎(chǔ)。不管你的目標(biāo)是什么，只要你下定決心踏出第一步。老子曾說(shuō)，千里之行始于足下，就是這個(gè)道理。

    6．保持良好狀態(tài)

    生命只有一次。一旦身體出了什么問(wèn)題，就再無(wú)法挽回。多做運(yùn)動(dòng)會(huì)讓身體更加健康。盡量避免有損身體的過(guò)量運(yùn)動(dòng)和危害健康的食物。也許你會(huì)有反抗情緒，但為了以后的健康生活，這種犧牲絕對(duì)是值得的