Blog | Personal Finance

5 Ways to Grow Personally and Financially in 2017

Simple habits you can develop to live a healthy and wealthy life

Here we are in 2017. I hope you and yours had a good New Years celebration. As you know, this is the time of year when everyone does some looking within. If you're like most people, you've either made or are thinking through some resolutions for the New Year.

Did you know that most resolutions revolve around three things?

1. Health
2. Money
3. Experiences

Think through the resolutions you've made in the past, and most likely they will fall into one of those three categories. And these are also the most commonly broken resolutions as well. You can probably relate.

Personally, I don't do resolutions. I think it is much better to have a mindset that is always growing and evolving. I don't need a new year to make change in my life. I need to continually be examining where I am and where I want to go, all through out the year.

To do this, I build habits into my life that help me grow personally and financially each and every day. Here are five of them that you can put into practice starting today.

1) Keep up with the news

There is no substitute for knowing what is happening in the world and the markets. Each morning I get up and read a number of financial papers, blogs, newsletters and more. I also watch the news throughout the day.

As I've written before, knowledge is the new money, and if you want to be wealthy, you need to constantly be filling your knowledge bucket.

What you'll find is that the more you read, the more you'll start to understand. You'll then begin to notice patterns, and sooner than you think, you'll know what moves to make with your money well before most other people.

2) Read one book a month, at least

News is important to keep up on, but some ideas require much deeper exploration. Throughout my career, my success has come because I've chosen to read books that educate me about history, business, and money. While most people are content to watch TV or play video games, the person who commits to reading books will be light years ahead in the game of life.

Personally, I read multiple books each month. If you're just starting out, however, commit yourself to at least one book a month. That's much more than the average reader, and the knowledge you gain will be priceless. Don't know where to start? Here are two books I recently recommended.

3) Play more games

Head knowledge is important, but studies have shown that the best way to learn is to do. Games-or simulations-are proven to be great ways to learn by doing. Not only are they fun, but the applied knowledge also helps you retain more and understand how money and investing work in real life.

We stated Rich Dad as a game company focused on teaching financial truths through games. Thousands of people around the world get together to play CASHFLOW, our board game that teaches you how to get out of the rat race. You can either purchase a copy of the game for yourself, or you can play online for free.

4) Get fit

It's cliché to say you're going to hit the gym in the New Year, but it underlies a fundamental truth-when you are in shape you feel better, and as a result, things in your life are better.

Rather than preach a certain method or way to get in shape, I simply like to encourage people to find something they enjoy and do it until they don't enjoy it any longer. That could be the stair machine at your local gym, but it could also be something as simple as taking a nightly walk after dinner with your partner.

If you focus on your physical health, your mental health will be sharper, you'll have more energy, and you will be more successful.

5) Give back

Kim and I have shared our 10/10/10 plan before. In short, you invest 10 percent of your income, save 10 percent of your income for emergencies and special opportunities, and give 10 percent of your income to charity or your church.

Most people do well at saving their money, though probably not 10 percent of it. Some people do well at investing their money, though again probably not at 10 percent. But very few people do well at giving their money away.

Kim and I believe that in order to receive you must give. You cannot have a healthy and wealthy mindset if you are stingy and greedy. We also believe that what goes around also comes around. Call it karma or whatever you want, but if you are generous with the world, the world will be generous with you.