2020 has been a roller coaster ride for most of us (In-fact for all of us). Apart from the pandemic effect, there has been a lot to look at.
Realizing that digital diplomacy is evolving and many jobs are on the verge of being taken over by our technologies.
We need to consider a few changes and adaptions before moving forward with our lives, especially after 2020.
In this article, I want to touch upon different aspects of our life and career and sharing some practical hacks that you can implement to make your future look promising, non-compromising, and happy.
1. Getting married before 30 isn’t a norm
Okay, let me guess; this is not the first time you heard such a sentence (or) statement about marriage.
People and our current society still think that marrying before 30 is the best option and maybe the only option to start a happy family.
Especially for women as they come closer to that 30 mark, they get an earful from their parents and society regarding a marriage (Mostly a lot in India).
Apart from this, the internet has enough shit to freak you out.
Our World In Data shares data that, a decrease in the number of people getting married under 30 has also lead to a decrease in divorce rates.
In the last decade, multiple surveys shared that divorce rates are dropping off, and somehow people marrying after 30 correlates to this.
Marriage under 25 seems prominent and satisfying for society. But it has always been a topic of high divorce rates too.
Practical hacks:-
Firstly, age is just a number. At the same, all the above stats don’t matter. If you know that, you have chosen the right life partner. (No matter what)
For those who are still struggling with this. Here is a quick psychology term to notice — ‘3/4-year itch’ and ‘7-year itch’.
- According to these terms, you can build strong relationships based on this 3-year and 7-year itch. If you’ve chosen someone to be your life partner, try to at least stay with them for three years.
- In a 3-year healthy relationship, the person you love gets to know about you and your flaws, strengths, and weakness.
- In a 7-year strong relationship, you will understand that person (in and out) and accept him/her as your own.
- 7-year relationships can be a big stretch for Millennials and Gen Z’s. So what you can do is at least wait for that 3–4-year mark before marrying and try to spend as much time as possible with that person to understand them completely.
The best ways to strengthen your bond with your future partner would be to:-
- Move into one place. Start a live in
- Travel and explore different places with him/her
- Make each other expenses as one and manage them
2. Health should be your first priority
In recent times, people have realized the value of good health and maintaining a sound immune system.
A weaker immune system will make you vulnerable to many viruses, diseases, and infections, as we have been enlightened due to the recent COVID outbreak.
A study clearly stated that Americans are most commonly suffering from chronic diseases like diabetes, heart disease, respiratory diseases, cancer, and kidney diseases.
Heart stroke treatment could cost around $20,000 in the USA. Such health conditions will leave you in terrible wealth conditions too.
It’s high time that you should be prioritizing your health and invest in yourself now. To build immunity and stay healthy, it doesn’t require going to the gym and doing extreme workouts.
You can stay fit by:-
- Building good eating habits
- Developing health routines as a lifestyle
- Being stress-free and psychologically in a better place
- Being knowledgeable and informative with what you consume
A step towards better health is always a step towards better life
Practical hacks:-
Today we all follow such a hustle culture where we don’t have much time to spend in a gym and follow expensive diets.
Instead of being dedicated towards workouts and diets, what you can do is build micro-health habits that will fit right in your day, such as:-
- In one of her articles, Anangsha Alammyan shared how she used shorter workouts to achieve lean abdominals. As a health enthusiast, you can start with simple home workouts and divide your exercises into shorter workouts.
- Balance your mental stability. Along with your body’s health, mental health is important too. Try building a routine just like I did to overcome my burnout.
- Adopt healthy eating, avoid using food-delivery apps. Ordering food within a few clicks on the go will make you more perceptible to eating food from outside.
During most of the weekdays, try to cook your own food, and you also can try cooking from Instant Pot, which makes it easier to cook and is a better health alternative.
3. Work on your skills — never settle on your skills
There is no need for an announcement to let you know that technologies like AI and machine learning are taking over us, and few jobs may vanish in the next decade (or) so.
An average joe needs to learn new skills to build a promising career that can last long.
In today’s scenario, I see many people are frustrated with their regular jobs and not satisfied with them.
According to LEFTRONIC job satisfaction stats, 49% of Americans are entirely (or) partially satisfied with their jobs, and 21% are keen to change their careers.
If you’re someone in those percentages, all I can say is you shouldn’t be quitting your job. Such rapid financial decisions could hurt you and your family if they are dependent on your income.
Instead of quitting the job, try to learn, and develop new skills by making yourself some time. Once you master any skills, you can look for alternate employment that suits you and satisfies you.
Some of the skills that will thrive in the future will be:-
- Data Science
- BlockChain
- Artificial Intelligence
- Machine Learning
- Big Data Analysis
So on…..
Practical hacks:
You need to invest your time, initially. To learn a skill, you can choose to avail of any courses from Skillshare and Udemy. But it’s not easy as it sounds
The habit of learning should never stop because life always wants more out of you.
The best solution is to adopt a 5-hour rule followed by Bill Gates and Elon Musk to be more creative and productive.
According to this rule, you need to invest 1 hour every day into learning something new, and this needs to happen every five days in a week.
4. Notch up your personal finance game
Investing, savings, and personal finance are a significant part of our lives, and it should be if you’re in your 20’s, 30’s, or 40’s whatever.
If you don’t have a strong investment plan, you are digging a big financial hole for yourself.
Millennials and Gen Z don’t depend on one job (or) on one income if you’re someone who is sustaining on one income source. Then you need to seriously start saving money and invest some portion into other sources.
If you’re new to this personal finance game, I recommend you start saving first instead of investing because investing is hard to get your hands around.
For a beginning, start planning for short-term investments. As you progress, you become a player who knows the ins and outs of investing, then you could choose to invest in the long-term.
Today everything has become digital. Our financing game has also become simpler, too. Thanks to the internet and the smartphones that we use. There are multiple investment options these days like:-
- Mutual Funds
- Index Funds
- Equity Funds
- Startup Funds
Remember, every playing field is not your area. You need to analyze which aspect you’re good at and start focusing and investing more on that.
Practical hacks:-
Follow these hacks that can help you in your investing game:-
- Stay up-to-date with modern investing methods (Refer major personal finance pubs and news)
- Get better advice from multiple sources (Approach elder people with investment experience and watch for any expert advice from the internet)
- Adapt good financial habits like saving and tracking your expenses (Use apps like Mint to manage your money)
- Monitor the economic conditions that you live in and shape your goals (Consider your geographic location and understand what works best for your scenario)
If you still think investing is complex and isn’t worth it. Please read this article written by Matt Lane, which enlightens us about the safest way to become a millionaire.
5. Ditch some old norms and modernize them
Owning a house and a brand new car are the old central norms that need to be mentioned here.
The stigma is built around by the society that buying a house in an expensive real estate area and owning a fancy car is your life-defining goals.
But in the future, it shouldn’t be the same. We need to ditch these norms. Because buying expensive houses and cars only for status is going to cost us a fortune.
Buying a house is one major investment that we make in life. As of today, most of the young Millennials and Gen Z’s don’t live in one house.
The whole generation is slowly getting adapted to the nomadic lifestyle. Where people explore different places around the globe and never settle on one location for too long.
I know at some point in life, we need to own a home to live in. But that decision shouldn’t pressurize us into buying an asset which we can’t handle.
I mentioned this one of my articles, that owning particular assets can cost you instead of profiting you. It’s okay if you’re not financially and mentally not ready for a home.
Regarding buying an expensive car, which sounds like a one-time investment thing. But we all know that the cost of maintaining such expensive cars is multiple times that of its purchasing price.
Practical hacks:-
Rent a Home Until You Can Own one: Sometimes, buying a home isn’t your sole decision. If you want real estate so badly, you need to look at your finances and future expenses that will cost you upon buying a home. The best way is to live in a rented place and save for your home.
Buy a Money Saving Second Hand Car: There is no need to buy an expensive car. If you’re smart enough, you should be either looking for a second-hand car which is in good condition and costs you cheaper (or) you can choose public transportation until you have that capital.
Originally published on Medium: https://medium.com/be-unique/5-practical-hacks-to-live-a-better-life-in-2021-beyond-a8b6f74f1481