- I know January is reserved for New Year's resolutions.
You might think that's the only time
you can change your life but that is false.
Fall is a perfect time to add some habits
to make your life better.
(upbeat music)
Hi, I'm Joseph.
- And I'm Tasha with One Big Happy Life
and we help you find balance, build wealth and live happy.
Everything that you need to create the life that you want.
- So the reason that fall is the best time
to start changing up your life and some habits
is because there are lots of transitions that happen.
You know, summer's over.
That means school starts, there are lots of holidays,
winter gets here and that just slows everybody down.
So it's a great time to take a look at things
and see where you can improve.
- Plus you'll be able to finish your year off strong, right?
You'd be surprised what you can accomplish
in just three months.
So today we're gonna be sharing eight habits that you
can start today to change your life before 2020, right?
So set yourself up for your best year ever,
in 2020, starting right now.
- So the first thing to do is start going to bed on time.
We, as a country, and probably the world
though I don't know the statistics, don't get enough sleep.
And it affects more than you might imagine.
So not only are you just a little bit groggy in the morning
but your entire day is less productive,
you're gonna be more irritable, you're gonna get less done,
and you're gonna have trouble fitting in,
you know, all that important stuff.
And then you're gonna try to stay up late to compensate
and then it just keeps going.
- Not to mention when you stay up late
then you get those urges to eat
and so then that can throw off your weight, as well.
So I know that's something that we've been working on
because now that I don't work full time,
well, you know, a job anymore, I'm self employed,
I have been staying up late working, which is bad
and then I'll end up sleeping in,
which then becomes this cycle that really perpetuates.
So I'm working on making sure that I get to bed.
Really start keeping that same schedule that I used to keep
where I'm waking up more around, like,
four or five in the morning
so I can get a workout in before the kids wake up.
And similarly, Joseph's been training for a triathlon
so he wants to be able to wake up early on the days,
the same time on the days when he's working from home
so that he can go hit up the gym at five a.m.
before he needs to start work at, what, 6:15?
- Yep.
Yeah, and so while you don't have to wake up
at four or five to get all this done.
Just go to bed at a reasonable time.
Get your seven or eight hours,
whatever your particular body needs.
And you know how much sleep you need
so just don't even kid yourself.
And then you'll see a lot of improvement
throughout the rest of your day.
- All right, habit number two.
Have regular budget meetings.
And this is great way to make sure
that you're staying on track.
Especially during the holidays,
which will all know is
a stereotypically spendy time of year.
Because we've got Halloween in October
with all the candy and the costumes,
then Thanksgiving and all that traveling in November,
plus all of the fall activities, which we absolutely love,
and then December is Christmas, and then New Year's.
So, you know, your finances can just quickly
just go completely off the tracks over the holidays
and you don't want that.
- Yeah, I mean, as much as you want
to just put on the blinders and say,
"I don't wanna look at the budget,
I don't wanna look at it."
Like, you really should
and these meetings don't have to be very long.
It's just a quick check in
just to say, okay, how's our budget working,
are we spending according to the budget?
And it's also the time to make changes to it
if you're saying,
"Oh, well I definitely want to have this Christmas party."
Well if you didn't budget for it, look at your budget,
change it up, so you're not running into trouble later on.
- And if you don't have a budget you know,
well you may not know,
that we recommend budgeting for an entire year at once
not just month to month or paycheck to paycheck.
So you can grab a free template over
at onebighappylife.com/budget
and create your one year spending plan.
- Number three.
Start exercising 15 minutes a day.
Now I know you're thinking,
"Gosh, I can totally do that"
and then you, you know, you think about that
and you just never do it.
But it is really, really important.
Start out small and just keep it going.
'Cause you'll see what kind of a difference, like,
it'll make in your body, your diet,
all of that 'cause it just kinda trickles
if you're making the commitment
to go ahead and start exercising.
- And it doesn't have to be intense.
And yes, we said 15 minutes every single day.
Just get into the habit of taking a 15 minute walk
or, like, doing 15 minutes of body weight exercises
while you're watching a Netflix show.
Our bodies really should be moved every single day.
And so it doesn't have to be some kind
of hardcore CrossFit parkour type workout.
But just get into the habit of moving your body.
And that's something that I've been working on
especially working from home
because I don't get up as much.
I used to, when I was in the office,
I would get up a lot more,
I would stop in people's offices, chat with people.
And now I'm home by myself
so I could end up sitting in my office all day
and, like, not even eat if I'm not careful so.
- It is unbelievable.
- Yeah.
- Like, she'll just work so hard
and I'm like, "Hey, did you eat anything today?"
- (together) "No."
- " I'm so hungry though."
- But on the other side I'm like,
"Hey, I'm losing weight."
and Joseph's like, "Yeah, 'cause you don't eat."
- Yeah, but, you know, it seems like
the, what is it, the American Heart Association keeps
on telling us that we can do less and less
and it's still beneficial.
And yet we keep, still, not hitting the thing.
And, like, if you just get up and walk,
not even super briskly anymore, like,
if you just walk a little bit.
Five minutes every hour or something
I think you'll hit, like,
the recommended movement for the day.
So this is just perfect.
15 minutes.
Just do something.
- All right, tip number four.
Plan, like stick it in your calendar,
to do at least one seasonal activity every single month.
And this is entirely from a enjoy your life
and live in the moment perspective.
Because I know that we can get,
all get caught up in the,
well I've gotta work, and then my kids have activities,
and all I wanna do is just sit down and watch Netflix.
And there's definitely a time and a place
for vegging out and sitting down and watching Netflix
but we also want to encourage you to pay attention
to what is going on the world
and actually get yourself outside of your house
to do things that are only available for a limited time.
So in the summer that's, like, going to a beach,
maybe walking on the boardwalk.
In the winter it could be candied apples.
All about the candied apples.
Making mulled cider, cider doughnuts,
pumpkin spice everything.
- Yeah and it's important that you take a look
at your calendar and plan those things out right now
because some of them take time
and planning to be able to fit into your schedule.
So something like, oh, I'm gonna make
my kid's Halloween costume.
That could take a really long time.
Or if you're gonna make homemade eggnog for Christmas.
Well, it's best for that to sit for a long time,
many weeks, which means October is the time
to be starting your eggnog or maybe beginning of November.
- All right, number five.
Start investing.
So you know this would not be a "One Big Happy Life" video
if we didn't at least talk about budgeting and investing.
And I know that there is,
you'll hear a lot about, "Oh, well, I can't start saving
or investing until I'm debt free."
So we really encourage you to push against that
and start building a savings habit.
Start building your investing knowledge now.
Because, yes, this is a habit.
This is a muscle that you have to learn how to flex
and so we would love for you to create a mind set
where you always set aside some money,
for your future, no matter what.
- And it has never been easier than now
to open brokerage accounts that have no fees
or virtually no fees
and go ahead and make automatic drafts
from your bank account.
It is so easy to get that habit going without much money.
- Number six.
Have regular life reviews.
Now, a life review is where you actually stop
and look at how your past week went,
how your past month went, how your year has gone.
To see what's working and what's not working.
Because you want to make sure that you're staying on track
and you're heading where you want to go.
And we've been having a lot of these life reviews lately
because, well, even really over the past year
when we were thinking about me quitting my job,
do I want to quit my job, do I want to keep,
you know, going and advancing my legal career,
or, and you know, keep doing that lawyer thing,
or do I want to go all in on One Big Happy Life
and create a company that can change people's lives.
- Obviously we know which one she picked
but, I mean, and it doesn't have to be something
so drastic, I mean, even me considering doing
the triathlon training again.
Like, that's something that I sat and thought about it.
And it was really triggered by the concept
of me selling my triathlon bike.
And it's like, well, I was gonna do it
and then I looked up, honestly, kind of,
how much money it was gonna get me
and it wasn't that much compared to what we spent
because it's been several years.
And, of course, they're always coming out with new stuff.
But it gave me the opportunity to say, well, do I miss that?
And then I decided that I actually really do
and now that I'm doing a lot more working out
I'm really, really enjoying it.
Okay, number seven.
Plan some you time.
I think it is really easy to get caught up
in job and family and kind of forget time for yourself.
And even if it's just those 15 minutes
that you are exercising where you can clear your head.
You need some time that is just for you,
doing something that recharges you.
And I think that's really the key.
So if exercise isn't the thing, don't do that.
But you need this time to get your energy back
and it's gonna vary.
Sometimes, you know, you just need
a few minutes coming home from work after a long commute.
Maybe you just need a little time by yourself.
I've read about somebody that just kinda listens
to music in their car for 10, 15 minutes
before they get out and come inside.
You know, if that's what you need to clear your head,
you know, it pays benefits whenever you come back
into whatever else you were doing
you'll have that much more energy
and you'll be engaged and focused.
- Number eight.
Do one thing that scares you every week.
And that doesn't have to be, like, skydiving.
It could be something as simple
as something that makes you uncomfortable.
Like maybe you see this person and you're like,
"Hmm, I think maybe that person seems nice.
I think maybe we could be friends."
Like, we've all had that thought, those thoughts.
I know it's not just me.
You can go up to that person and just say,
"Hi, I'm blank, nice to meet you,"
and strike up a conversation with them.
- Gosh, that's scary to me.
I was trying to break out of my comfort zone
so I did, like, over the weekend,
I don't know if Tasha even realized
how afraid I was of doing this thing.
So I did a charity bike ride
and I wasn't scared that much about the distance.
I was a little bit.
But it was also that I was gonna be surrounded
by people that I didn't know.
And Tasha wasn't even gonna be there.
So I did this whole thing where I was talking
to people that I had never met before
in the middle of this bike ride, doing all this stuff.
And so, you know, the biking was hard
but it was much more scary to be surrounded
by people that I don't know
and then trying to get out of my box
and actually interact with them.
- Yeah, it was, well, so I didn't know this
but now that he says that I realize that
that was clearly a thing because when I was asking...
It was 56 mile ride.
It took him what four hours or something?
- 65.
- Oh, 65, sorry.
So it took him quite a few hours to do it.
- Yeah, a little over four hours.
- And so I'm like, "Well, how did it go?"
I'm thinking he's got four hours worth of stories to tell me
but the stories that he told me were primarily
of the people who talked to him.
And I'm like...
And he was like,
"Yeah, and this person started talking to me."
I'm like is that?
Why is that what we're talking about right now?
And so now we know why.
Because for Joseph that's scary.
For me, posting on social media is actually really scary.
So especially Instagram.
Something about YouTube is different
because it feels like we're just having
a conversation with friends hanging out in our house.
And I can talk all day, every day like that.
But posting things publicly to social media
especially, like, my writing and my thoughts.
That's very scary to me.
So that's something that I'm gonna be working on more.
- She says this but she's so good at it, right?
I mean all of you that follow her on Instagram know.
And if you don't, you need to find out.
So definitely follow us on Instagram.
And I say us, it's really her.
She writes all the Instagram stuff.
I do one big happy dog.
- He does.
But I know, like, we were kinda talking about
the things that scare us
and I think we probably forgot
to mention why it's important.
And it's because growth is what happens
in that uncomfortable place.
So our minds, they try to protect us
by keeping us in what's familiar and what feels safe.
But if you stick with what's familiar and what feels safe
you're just gonna end up with
the same results that you got before
'cause you're doing the same things over and over.
And so if you really wanna change your life
you've gotta get uncomfortable.
That means you've gotta do scary things
that don't feel, like, completely safe
because you haven't been doing them.
So this is probably the most important...
No sleep is the most important.
And exercise.
And then comes this, right?
Do something scary every single day or week.
Or day.
- Let us know in the comments down below
which things you're gonna focus on
and try to change your life
before New Year's resolutions come around.
And we'll see you guys next time.
- Bye. - Bye.
(upbeat music)