Do you know that you can make small changes in five areas to immediately increase the quality of your life?  Read on to find out more.

If its time for you to break out, you can start making incremental changes. You can make huge differences in several key areas with a few small changes in your life.

Privacy

Privacy is one of those things that you don’t notice is taken from you until you need it.

• Get a post office box and have all your mail diverted to it. Get a “ghost” address for other deliveries.
• Unlist your telephone number.
• Abandon your email address and get another one with strong spam filtering. Use a temporary email address for when you need to enter an email address into the Internet.
• Change your bank to one that provides strong Internet security for your banking. For example, HSBC provides a secure token.
• Tick the “no” box when vendors ask if they can sell your details to others.

Health

Health is your most valuable possession. However, most people don’t bother thinking about it, and pay the price. If you neglect your health, then you don’t immediately pay the price for it. The price is exacted over time. Being stuck in hospital doesn’t expand your life.

• Keep physically active. Walk up the stairs rather than taking the elevator. Get out at lunch time and go for a walk. Take up a sport.
• Watch your diet. Say no to that extra helping of food.
• Increase the nutrient quality of your diet by adding an extra serve of vegetables per day and removing foods that are of low nutrient value.
• Stretch every day. If you don’t stretch, you lose about 1% of your flexibility every year.
• Be careful. Avoid danger and unnecessary risks. Drive a safe car, wear your seatbelt.

Wealth

For most people, money is the primary obstacle to an abundant life. This means that if you can increase your wealth, you expand your life options.

• Challenge habitual spending. Instead of that cup of coffee every day, put the money into an account.
• Understand investments. Learn by reading books. Start to make small investments of your own.
• Think internationally. There are a lot of investment options outside of your own country.
• Have a budget. Be responsible for your own money. Money is time, if you waste your money, you waste part of your life.
• Understand taxes. Taxes are the biggest expense for most people. Legally structure your affairs to reduce tax.
• Open your own business. I recommend something small on the Internet that you can start part time.

Culture

Culture represents the values and aspirations of a society. It is both a mirror and a change agent. If you want to be pressed into mold of society’s prevailing values and have a limited life, just keep consuming what is put out there as culture. If you don’t, you’ll have to make up your own mind about what culture to absorb.

• Listen to alternative, or world music, and see alternative cinema. They are called alternative or world because they an alternative to the prevailing culture.
• Travel overseas. Don’t stay at the Club Med, meet the real people. Then you will start to understand how they think.
• Appreciate the high points of your own culture. You should understand art and classical music, but you should also understand classic rock music and comics too!
• Read widely. Not the best seller Jackie Collins novel but whatever interests you. Get a library card.
• Get your own news, and draw your own conclusions. CNN doesn’t have the news that counts. Check out the alternative news on the Internet.
• Think for yourself. Examine your own thoughts.

Security

If you think that security is the province of the police, you’re just a sitting target for criminals. Don’t be a soft target, be a hard target. Take responsibility for your own safety.

• Learn a martial art. That will help reactivate the warrior that our society suppresses. I recommend kick boxing – nothing fancy, but something that gives you the ability to quickly destroy an attacker. You can strengthen your body, your spirit and learn a useful skill at the same time.
• Don’t walk around looking like a victim. Cultivate confidence. Irrespective of your physical size, if someone sees you they should see someone who will ensure that they come off second best.
• Be aware of your surroundings and potential threats. For example, if there are five people brawling on one side of the street, walk to the other side. Don’t walk through dangerous areas.
• If you are mugged, don’t try to be a hero if the odds are against you. Learn to assess the threat situation, and understand your own capabilities. If you can, immediately cripple the attacker, otherwise hand over your wallet, or even just run!
• Lock your house and car.

Of course, most people will never adopt any of these changes, even though they don’t involve massive lifestyle alterations. Their excuse is that it won’t make a difference. Don’t be another apathetic person who is afraid of change – let go of any outmoded beliefs that no longer suit you and start living the life you are meant to.

Tags: quality of life

This entry was posted on Friday, February 12th, 2010 at 10:17 pm and is filed under Practical freedom. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.