TL;DR 7 How to Set Your Personal Compass for the Life You Seek (128 words)

Once a month (payday is a good choice), sit down with pencil and paper and review the six points of your compass.

  1. Career. Am I offering value? Am I growing? How am I preparing for an uncertain future?
  2. Wellness. Am I using and respecting my body and my mind?
  3. Relationships. Whom have I neglected? Who needs a call this week?
  4. Finance. Did I spend according to plan? Is my net worth moving the right way?
  5. Fun. When did I last do something purely because I love it?
  6. Contribution. How am I giving back?

Pick a few points that are off course and set actions for the coming month.

On my Personal Excellence course, this was always the topic that caused the greatest shifts.

First action: Review your personal compass this week.

TL;DR 6. How to Create Fresh Ideas and Approaches

Being creative means finding a solution that isn’t obvious. The obvious arrives first, because the brain prefers familiar ways. Your job is to push past that.

Start with mindset; in my workshops, my greatest battle is getting those in the room to accept that they are creative.

Do not judge ideas as they arrive: collect first, choose later.

Hijack the linear brain: for example, write very fast, faster than you can censor, and aim for thirty ideas in ten minutes. Bounce a ball against a wall and shout ideas to a colleague at a flip chart. Change the room. Walk without your phone.

The good ones often arrive just when you think you’re out of ideas. Keep going.

I am creative; say it loud, say it often.

First action: Pick one problem you face this week and write thirty ideas for it. Go!

TL;DR 5: How to Build Your Wealth (130 words)

Wealth is what you own minus what you owe.

A high income doesn’t make you wealthy. Beware spending more simply because you earn more.

Once a year, calculate your net worth. List your assets: savings, investments, pension, the value of your home. List your liabilities: mortgage, loans, credit cards. Subtract the second total from the first. Early on, the number may be negative while you buy a home, build a family and start a pension; that is normal. What matters is that it climbs and becomes positive.

Money invested early and left alone compounds; money invested late has to work much harder.

Do not save everything for later. When you are older, you may have more money. Will you have the energy? Spend some of it now, on purpose.