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.   按照你自己的方式生活

總是會有那種放棄未來，來得到暫時滿足的誘惑。我們都想買件新潮的科技產品，讓自己在鎮上度過一個昂貴的晚上，或貸款去買輛自己負擔不起的華麗的汽車。這樣做在當時可能感覺很棒，輕率的消費會在稍后讓你很受傷

享受生活的簡單樂趣和盡可能多的保持自己的本性。昂貴的東西并不能創造持久的幸福和安全。謹慎的支出將帶給您更多長期的的休閑和享受。

2.   讓錢發揮作用

存錢本身值得稱贊，但是為了發揮你的存款的最大效力，你應該讓其發貨作用。好的投資可能成為你能在40歲或者60歲退休的差別。

一篇在 The Simple Dollar 上的帖子讓我很是感觸。根據特倫特的預測，如果一個人在二十歲時將其收入的20%投資到標準普爾指數化證券投資基金上，當他們四十歲時，收益將與目前的收入持平。他們就可以在收入沒有減少的情況下退休。

明智的投資是達到財政的獨立性最可靠的路徑和它也是所有人都可以做到的。它無疑就是在我的私人生活和此博客上，我所要關注的。

3.  教育自己

應該感到高興的是我們需要不斷增長。增長的最好的辦法是終身教育。這并不意味著你需要考取博士學位或花費2小時每天閱讀。自我教育可以是那些讓你脫離你的舒適區的所有的事情。最重要的是保持開放的態度，尋找新的想法和觀點。

教育隨著時間的推移慢慢建立。它可能覺得你獲得的一點的智慧并不意味著很多，但多年后，這些智慧加起來就將形成一個睿智，善良，更加有趣的人。

4.  發展持久的私人關系

假設你有你想要的一切。你會很高興沒有人分享它嗎？我們與朋友們以及家人發展程的關系在我們的生活中將是最大的幸福源泉。不要忘卻他們。

找時間來培養和享受的私人關系對于長期幸福是必不可少的。不管你多么成功，加入沒有那些你在乎的人，你可能很悲慘

5.  向你充滿熱情的夢想努力

即使你的生活并不完美，您可以隨時建立一個你充滿熱情的目標。如果您沒有建立一個目標，你可能停滯不前。對我來說，我開始覺得自己像一個被困我自己的生活中的受害者。扭轉這一局面的最好的辦法來正是要努力的目標。

我們無法控制我們生活中一切，但努力工作的目標給了我們一些可以關注和為未來的成功打下基礎的積極的東西。不管你對什么充滿激情，走出去，開始為之行動。正如老子說，千里之行，始于足下。

贈言：6. 保持身體健康

你只有一個身體。一旦它被破壞了，你就將無能為力。保持運動，拒絕生銹。避免使用大量的破壞性物質和不健康食品。當時它可能讓你覺得是嚴重的自我否定，但在你的晚年能享受健康的身體，這將使犧牲變得很值得。