If you have already decided that it’s time to add something to your life, but don’t yet know where to start, you can choose a few ideas from those proposed by my LJ friend, these are wonderful 25 ways to change your life for the better and become happy.

We often see people whose lives are riddled with suffering and full of pessimism. They complain about fate, family, work, society and the state. They don't see the light at the end of the tunnel and believe that someone else is to blame for their plight. Even I, a person who is far from having the most cheerful disposition, next to them seem to be an example of an energetic joker. So sometimes when they ask me what they need to do to change things, I think for a moment and give them some advice.

Without claiming great achievements in the field of personal growth, in today’s post I collected all such things that I have ever heard, applied or advised. All of them have been tested from my own experience, and I will be glad if this is useful to someone.

1. Find out what you really like. This is both the most important and the most difficult. There will be a separate big conversation about this, but the golden rule is: do what gives you true pleasure, and then you will become much happier. With the development of the Internet, everything has become even simpler - the results of your efforts are very easy to convey to the public, and they will definitely appreciate them. Moreover, having something that really lights you up is key factor attractiveness to the opposite sex. But you must be prepared for the fact that finding your way is a marathon that can last many (tens?) years. (more details)

2. Stop the junk you eat, drink and smoke every day. No secrets or tricky diets - just natural food, fruits, vegetables, water. You don’t have to become a vegetarian and give up drinking completely—all you need to do is limit sugar, flour, coffee, alcohol and all plastic food as much as possible.

3.Learn foreign languages. This will incredibly expand the depth of perception of the world and open up unprecedented prospects for learning, development and career growth. There are 60 million Russian-speaking Internet users. There are a billion English speakers. The center of progress is now on the other side of the border, including the language border. Knowledge of English is no longer just a whim of intellectuals, but a vital necessity.

4. Read books. The approximate circle is yours professional area, history, natural science, personal growth, sociology, psychology, biographies, qualitative fiction. If you don’t have time to read because you’re driving, listen to audiobooks. Golden rule- read/listen to at least one book a week. That's 50 books a year that will change your life.

5. Make the most of every weekend. Go to a museum, an exhibition, play sports, go out of town, skydive, visit relatives, go to a good movie. Expand your zone of contact with the world. When you’ve already traveled around everything, take your friends with you and tell them what you know. The main thing is don’t sit still. The more impressions you let through yourself, the more interesting life will be, and the better you will understand things and phenomena.

6. Start keeping a blog or a regular diary. It doesn't matter what it's about. It doesn’t matter that you don’t have eloquence and you will have no more than 10 readers. The main thing is that on its pages you can think and reason. And if you just write regularly about what you love, readers will definitely come.

7. Set goals. Record them on paper, in Word or blog. The main thing is that they are clear, understandable and measurable. If you set a goal, you can either achieve it or not. If you don’t put it in, then there are no options for achieving it at all.

8. Learn to touch-type on the keyboard - not being able to do this in the 21st century is the same as not being able to write with a pen in the 20th. Time is one of the few treasures you have, and you should be able to type almost as quickly as you can think. But you shouldn’t think about where you are required letter, but about what you write.

9. Ride the clock. Learn to manage your affairs so that they work almost without your participation. For starters, read Allen (Getting Things Done) or Gleb Arkhangelsky. Make decisions quickly, act immediately, don’t put it off “for later.” Either do everything or delegate it to someone else. Try to never let the ball stay on your side. Write down on a piece of paper all the “long-term” things that have not yet been done and are interfering with your life. Rethink whether you need them (keeping in mind point 1). Do what's left for a few days and you'll feel incredibly light.

10. Give up computer games, aimless sitting in social networks and stupid surfing on the Internet. Minimize communication on social networks (even to the point of optimization - leave only one account). Destroy the television antenna in the apartment. So as not to feel the urge to constantly check email, install an agent that will notify you about incoming messages (including mobile messages).

12. Learn to get up early. The paradox is that in the early hours you always get more done than in the evening. If on a summer weekend you leave Moscow at 7 am, then by 10 you will already be in Yaroslavl. If you leave at 10, you will be there by lunchtime at best. The same goes for weekend shopping. 7 hours of sleep is enough for a person, subject to high-quality physical activity and normal nutrition.

13. Try to surround yourself with decent, honest, open, smart and successful people. We are our environment from which we learn everything we know. Spend more time with people you respect and can learn from (especially your bosses). Accordingly, try to minimize communication with people who are negative, sad, pessimistic and angry. To grow taller, you must strive upward, and having people around you to whom you want to grow will in itself be a great incentive.

14. Use every moment of time and every person to learn something new. If life brings you together with a professional in any field, try to understand what is the essence of his work, what are his motivations and goals. Learn to ask the right questions - even a taxi driver can become an invaluable source of information.

15. Start traveling. It doesn’t matter that there is no money for Argentina and New Zealand - the quality of the holiday has nothing to do with the money spent, and my best trips were to regions that are not at all distinguished by pathos and high cost. When you see how diverse the world is, you will stop focusing on small space around you, and you will become more tolerant, calmer and wiser.

16. Buy a camera (maybe a simple one) and try to capture the beauty of the world. When you succeed, you will remember your travels not only by vague impressions, but also by beautiful photos that you brought with you. As an alternative, try drawing, singing, dancing, sculpting, designing. That is, do something that will make you look at the world with different eyes.

17. Play sports. You don’t have to go to a fitness club where jocks, pick-up artists, Balzac ladies and freaks hang out. Yoga, rock climbing, cycling, horizontal bar, parallel bars, football, running, plyometrics, swimming, functional training - best friends a person who wants to restore body tone and get a surge of endorphins. And forget about the elevator - if you have to walk less than 10 floors, use your legs. In just 3 months of methodical work on yourself, you can change your body almost beyond recognition.

18. Do unusual things. Go somewhere you've never been, go to work a different way, figure out a problem you know nothing about. Get out of your “comfort zone”, expand your knowledge and horizons. Rearrange the furniture at home (and do this about once a year), change your appearance, hairstyle, image.

19. Invest. Ideally, you should invest part of your income every month, because a rich person is not the one who earns a lot, but the one who invests a lot. Try to invest in assets, minimize liabilities and control expenses. If you set yourself financial goal and put your personal money in order, you will be surprised at how easily you will move towards achieving it (more details)

20. Get rid of junk. Throw away any items you haven't worn or used in a while. last year (V next year you won’t be able to reach them either). Keep only what you really like and need. It's a shame to throw it away - give it away. When buying a new item, get rid of the old similar one so that the balance is maintained. Less stuff means less dust and headaches.

21. Give more than you take. Share knowledge, experience and ideas. A person who not only takes, but also shares, is incredibly attractive. Surely you can do something that others really want to learn. At one time, coaching became a discovery for me - I began to give trainings and lectures on a voluntary and free basis, which ultimately grew into a very big story which brings me great satisfaction.

22. Accept the world as it is. Give up value judgments, accept all phenomena as initially neutral. And even better - as unequivocally positive.

23. Forget about what happened in the past. It has nothing to do with your future. Take with you from there only experience, knowledge, good relationship and positive impressions.

24. Don't be afraid. There are no insurmountable obstacles, and all doubts live only in your head. You don't have to be a warrior, you just need to see the goal, avoid obstacles and know that you will achieve it without one chance experience failure.

25. The last one is the first one. Do what you like. Learn. Teach. Develop yourself. Change yourself from within.

This is by no means an exhaustive list. But even if you systematically do at least some of this, then in a year, when you look at yourself in the mirror, you won’t recognize yourself. And the world will simply have no choice but to follow your example and change in response.

Almost every person on at a certain stage life is faced with a situation when he has a desire to change his habits, behavior, character. Throughout their lives, people can change endlessly better side, because there will always be something that does not suit them.

Self-improvement and the desire for better change a person’s character, his attitude towards life, and the world around us begins to treat him differently. The whole set of changes leads to an improvement in life. High goals, which previously seemed so far away, are becoming accessible. While we change, we grow.

What could be the reason for the desire to change the current way of life for the better? One of the main and strong motivators that stimulates the desire for change is fear.. This could be the fear of losing something dear (health, a loved one, children, family, job, status, etc.) or the fear of not being able to get something out of life (the same list).

To begin to change, a person must know and understand that there is a solution to the current situation, he must have hope for a way out. That is why a girl in love, in order to lose weight and not lose her loved one, goes to the gym and swimming pool, and a person who has had a heart attack immediately quits smoking. The fear of poverty and poverty was the motivation for hard work for many people who became rich as a result.

A person will not change for the better if the current life suits him, and he believes that he will live well anyway. He will not change if he does not see a way out of the current situation - this is how people with serious illnesses resign themselves when they believe that there is no hope for recovery. A simple conclusion follows from this: in order to change, you need to realize how dear it is to you that you can lose or how bad it will be in life if everything remains the same.

There is also an article about the one who used to be loved. It has several ways to let go of the person you broke up with, but you can’t forget and this prevents you from building a new life.

Where to start

There are no ways to change something about yourself quickly and painlessly. Miracle remedies that allow you to instantly eradicate bad habits or acquire positive ones have not yet been invented. The desire to change oneself and one’s life achieves success only when certain efforts and work are made to achieve the goal.

To begin with, it’s a good idea to understand what exactly doesn’t suit you about yourself, what prevents you from living. We need to find out how bad or good qualities you have what they might be needed for. You should choose those that prevent you from changing the most and which you need to get rid of first.

Trying to get rid of all bad habits and qualities at once is not worth it - this is an impossible task. The positive qualities that exist in every person are worth developing and cultivating, like a gardener tends to flowers. Even if freed from weeds, roses will not smell fragrant if you don’t take care of them - just like our virtues need care.

Positive thinking

The usefulness of positive thinking has long been recognized by everyone and does not require additional evidence, but complaints about life, people, and the weather have not decreased. Priest Will Bowen, after long observation of people's behavior, concluded that their thoughts, which influence emotions, feelings and actions, depend on people's statements.

For those who wanted to make changes in their lives, the priest advised them to wear an ordinary bracelet and live without gossip, complaints, or irritation for three weeks. In the case when a person forgot himself and said negative words, he put the bracelet on his other hand and began to count down the days again. The experiment continued until the bracelet remained on one hand for three full weeks.

The method proposed by an ordinary priest turned out to be very effective - the participants in the experiment changed a lot. Living without complaints made people realize from the moment they woke up that they should not speak out about negative things, but the best remedy refrain from this - learn to notice everything positive in themselves and the world that surrounds them.

The test participants learned self-control over thoughts and words, but without the ability to control oneself, one cannot change for the better. In addition, during the experiment, everyone learned a lot about themselves and their thinking.

Changes in appearance

Changes in the inner worldview will certainly lead to a change externally, radically or affecting individual traits general image. By starting to think positively, you will forgive offenders and stop wasting energy on grievances.

Once you realize that you are unique, you will love yourself and learn to express your love to your loved ones. The desire to protect yourself from the adversities of the world by overeating will disappear, alcoholic drinks, smoking.

Self-confidence will appear and your shoulders will straighten, your gait will become confident, your eyes will sparkle. The world will change, you will have new friends and hobbies. There will be a desire to change the image, to change externally, because the previous image no longer suits the internal content.

And, conversely, often a person feels insecure in life because he does not like his own appearance. Getting rid of extra pounds by doing new hairstyle or updating your wardrobe, it changes first externally, and then internal changes come.

If you have a desire to change for the better, externally or internally, do not put it off until tomorrow, Monday or next month.

Take action now, no matter what day of the week or time of day, because every second of life goes away irrevocably and cannot be returned.

You can radically change your life in seven days. Armed with the simple laws of prosperity, you will adjust the world to your personal desires and requirements.

Simple practices will help you receive whatever you want from the Universe. First of all, you must believe in a positive outcome. Positive thoughts can take out the fear of difficulties, which is a weighty anchor on the path to happy life. Remember that your destiny is in your hands, and only you can change it.

Monday is the day of change

Our whole life is built on successive mechanisms. In the beginning there was a word (in our case, a thought), then there were desires and dreams, which are the impetus for action. To change your life, you first need to change your thoughts.

On the first day of the week, you should practice replacing negative ideas about your destiny with positive ones. Stop judging yourself, be loyal to your defeats. Thank chance for the experience that opens doors to a new and better life. Be positive about everything. Every situation is two sides of the same coin. Highlight only the best for yourself, leaving out the negative.

Remove phrases from your speech that destroy your enthusiasm and inner confidence. Consume set expressions with a positive charge - affirmations and positive attitudes. Over time you will notice that this habit successful person became great addition for you.

Tuesday is gratitude day

Learn to appreciate what you already have. Give thanks Higher powers for everything you have on at this stage life. You can’t even imagine how many people there are around who with all their hearts want for themselves what is already available to you.

You should end Tuesday with words of gratitude and make it a rule to end every day like this. Use prayers for the coming sleep or meditations, a mandatory component of which will be words of gratitude. Thank the Universe for the opportunities provided, for the right to choose, for the people you met, and, of course, for the difficulties. Any defeat is just a lesson that brings you closer to your own destiny.

Wednesday is the day of certainty

If you are serious about changing your destiny, you need to immediately decide what you actually want from it. There is a place for everything in your life, just identify what you really need to be happy. Write all your dreams on paper. Write down the accompanying desires - possible and impossible, for the long term and for today. Don't overthink or control yourself: let your dreams come spontaneously. The main thing is to write down all your thoughts as they come. This practice is the right path to achieving your aspirations and improving your life in general.

Thursday is the best day

One of the laws of prosperity says: never put off until tomorrow what you can do today. On Thursday you will experience the practice of refusing any transfers. When you wake up in the morning and recharge yourself with positivity, give yourself the mindset that everything planned for that day will certainly come true. Every new day is a time for great achievements and success. Life will smile at you and help you realize everything you planned. And in the evening, consolidate the previously learned practices: thank the Creator and the Universe for the help provided and life lessons.

Friday is liberation day

People are capable of ruining their own lives with imposed opinions, doubts and fears. The possibilities of each person are limitless, which means that if one person can do it, so can the rest. It’s just that some people quickly find their hidden talents and develop them, while others bury their capabilities under other people’s opinions and internal complexes.

Don't be afraid of new things, discover for yourself fresh ideas every day. In case you're still in doubt, there's a great quote: "If you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its entire life thinking it's stupid." Believe in yourself, because there is a genius hidden in every person. Try new things and don't worry about what people might think of you.

Saturday is the day of searching for purpose

By the sixth day of the week, you should already have a list of your desires and aspirations, which may contain even the most unrealistic and seemingly unattainable dreams. Look carefully at everything you wrote down and try to choose the dream that best reflects your essence. To make your choice easier, here are some questions you should ask yourself:

• What do I like to do?
• What talents do I have, what do I do best?
• How can I make money?
• If I had great wealth at my disposal, what would be the first thing I would do?
• If the world currency was happiness, what would I do/do for a living?

These questions will help you find your true purpose and your own calling if you are honest with yourself. The most important thing in life is to do what you love. And if your activity brings happiness to you and the people around you, then joy and financial stability will not take long to arrive.

Sunday is results day

You have almost changed your own life, only a small matter remains. The last thing to understand is that positive change doesn’t happen overnight. They approach you smoothly, sometimes so slowly that you may not notice it at first. Remain patient and calm. After all, if you look at a flower in a pot every minute, it is unlikely that it will grow from your heavy gaze. Learn to wait and believe in the best. Remember to apply the above practices daily so that good opportunities do not keep you waiting.

Seven days, seven elementary rules, the seven laws of prosperity will help you change your life for the better. This is only as possible as you believe in the best. When these practices become your healthy habits, you will find true happiness and... Be happy today, good luck on the path to your dream, and don't forget to press the buttons and

Let's talk about a very important and current topic: how to start changing, how to change yourself and your life for the better? Not so long ago, in an article about me, I wrote that the life of anyone modern man does not stand still, changes in it are inevitable in any case, and in order to best adapt your life to such conditions, you must not wait for changes to come from the outside, but initiate them yourself: change yourself and your life for the better.

When changes in life come from the outside, without the will of the person himself, most often they lead to some kind of deterioration and have a negative effect. You can change yourself and your life for the better only by initiating changes yourself.

However, it is very difficult psychologically for most people to start changing. After all, to do this, you need to get out of your comfort zone, the creation of which has already spent a certain amount of time, effort, and possibly money. How to overcome this psychological discomfort, how to change your life for the better - more on that later.

So, first of all, to start changes in life, I recommend dividing them into 2 large areas:

1. Change life circumstances.
2. Change yourself.

Let me explain. By circumstances I mean all the conditions in which a person lives. Moreover, these conditions may or may not depend on the person, and it is necessary to strive to change those circumstances that do not satisfy the person and depend on him, accepting the rest as they are, even if they also do not satisfy.

For example, personal life, work, profession, sources of income, hobbies, place of residence - these are all those life circumstances that a person can influence if he wants to change his life for the better. But the price level, tax rates, and laws of the country are circumstances that a person cannot change, and there is no point in wasting one’s energy on it. Although, by and large, a person can move to another country, where all this will suit him, but these are already too global changes, I think that those who are just thinking about how to start changing are definitely not ready for this.

And if we talk about how to change oneself, then by this I mean changing one’s own attitude towards ongoing processes and phenomena, obtaining what is necessary for life.

To start changing yourself and your life, highlight separately the life circumstances and personal qualities that do not suit you and that you would like to change.

A serious mistake many people make when thinking about how to change their lives is that they incorrectly classify some personal factors or life circumstances as beyond their control, while at the same time trying to change those that really do not depend on them. That is, they evaluate themselves and their capabilities biasedly. Well, for example, instead of changing something in themselves, they try to change the people around them: their significant other, their friends, colleagues, the society in which they find themselves. Such people’s global plans include changing their country for the better or saving the world from a universal catastrophe.

Good goals? It would seem so. The only question is how to go about achieving them. If a person tries to change everything around him without changing himself, this undertaking is obviously doomed to failure. Most likely, such a person will only turn everyone around him against himself, while he himself will not achieve anything and will not change the world. As a result, he will experience a lot of wasted time, energy, and deep disappointment. It would be much more correct to change what he specifically can do: that is, himself and his life circumstances, thereby making his modest contribution to changing the country and the world. After all, the country and the world are made up of people, and if each of them begins to change their lives for the better, both the country and the world will change.

Another common problem is this: many people don't even think about how to change themselves because they think it's impossible. Their life principle: “I am who I am, and I will not become anyone else.” Such conclusions are based on the erroneous opinion that a person’s character cannot be changed. In fact, this is absolutely not true: you can change your character if you work at it. And in some cases, it can even change itself under the influence of some changed life circumstances.

When thinking about how to start changing, you should understand that if you want, you can change even those qualities of yourself that, at first glance, seem unchanged. Well, for example:

– Appearance and physical characteristics. There are many examples when the “ugly duckling” turned into a “beautiful swan”. You need to work on yourself, on your body, play sports, and in extreme cases, now you can even use the services of plastic surgeons. If it really helps you change your life for the better, then why not?

– Mind and intellect. If you have the desire and aspiration, you can very significantly develop your mental abilities. Now there are plenty of opportunities for this: you need to read a lot of useful literature, get useful information from the Internet, audio books, video lessons and other sources. There are examples in history when people who did poorly at school later became geniuses and made discoveries on a global scale.

– Beliefs. Many people are prevented from changing their lives for the better by the so-called. . People are convinced that “this is fate, life is unfair, and you can’t achieve more.” This is an initially wrong position. As soon as you change your psychology of poverty to, you yourself will notice how your life will begin to change for the better.

– Habits. Changing your habits will also not be a problem, and at the same time such changes will help develop strong-willed qualities personality, which is also very important for changing life for the better. You need to try to get rid of bad habits and develop good ones. It will be a good helper in this.

– Financial situation. Moreover, this is an indicator that can and should be changed for the better. For this there are a great many useful tools, most of which are already described on the Financial Genius website. If you are thinking about how to change yourself and your life for the better, one of the directions you should definitely follow.

However, the greatest degree of importance in order to begin to change for the better will not be a change in the above-mentioned qualities, but a change in character, namely, will, volitional qualities. Because everything else will flow from this.

To change yourself and your life for the better, you must, first of all, strengthen your strong-willed qualities and change your character.

As I already wrote, this is not easy to do if we are talking about an adult with an already formed character, but it is possible. How? First of all, it is necessary to objectively identify those weaknesses your character that you would like to change. Then try to do things that are characteristic of the character you are striving for.

For example, you are too timid by nature. This means that try to take the initiative as often as possible, take on the role of a leader in the company, and do things that you haven’t done before because of your timidity.

Or you are afraid of many things. In this case, regularly do some bold, risky things, take advantage of some risky attractions, start playing risky sports. At first it will be very difficult for you to overcome your fear, but each time it will become easier because your character will begin to change for the better.

From individual actions habits are developed, from habits - character, and from character - further changes for the better. Therefore, if you don’t know how to change yourself, start with individual actions.

In particular, the following actions will help you begin to change for the better:

• planning something and strictly following your plan;
• refusing something that seems wrong to you if it is difficult to refuse;
• quick and firm decision-making, without any hesitation or long miscalculations;
• actions that contradict the expectations of your relatives, loved ones, friends, colleagues, acquaintances;
• giving up bad habits;
• giving up unnecessary things that do not bring any benefit (“hanging out” on social networks, computer games, watching TV, etc.);
• instant execution important work, which you want to postpone;
• putting off unimportant work that you want to do immediately;
• restraining yourself from words that you really want to say (for example, the desire to argue, prove to another person that he is wrong, to show off his intellect, etc.);
• the first step towards achieving a meaningful goal ().

By regularly doing such things, you will begin to change your character, and therefore yourself, your life for the better.

When talking about how to start changing, one cannot fail to mention the most important thing, where it all begins: setting goals and objectives. That is, you must immediately determine the goals for the sake of which all your changes will take place. It will help you to correctly formulate a goal, according to which your goal should be specific, measurable, achievable, supported by resources and set in time.

Moreover, it is very important to be able to choose the shortest, optimal path to achieve the goal. Practice shows that many people set the right goals for themselves, but at the same time do not know how to look for the right path to achieve them.

For example, let’s take the most common goal that most young people set for themselves before starting adult life: become rich and financially independent. The right goal? Quite, if only to specify it as much as possible (I discussed how to do this specifically for this purpose using an example in the article)

But how to achieve this goal? Most people think something like this: first you need to study at an institute, get a promising specialty, then get a job in good company, gain experience, climb the career ladder, and eventually become the head of a company and earn good money.

Can a person become rich and financially independent, change his life for the better if he follows this path? I'm sure that in 90% of cases - no. Look around: everyone once imagined changing their lives for the better this way, but which of them was actually able to achieve something in this way? Probably a few out of thousands. And this is quite logical and natural, now I will explain why.

Firstly, wealth and financial independence are not measured by the amount of earnings, but depend simultaneously on the income and expenditure parts of the personal budget. There is not a word about planning expenses here. Secondly, in the first 5 years you will have to invest a lot of money in training (even if it itself is free, which is not easy to achieve, the learning process entails a lot additional expenses). Further, at least 2-3 years of work will be needed just to “recoup” the costs of training. Thirdly, hope for single source earning money with the goal of achieving wealth, especially active earnings through it, is, at a minimum, short-sighted, but rather simply stupid. Fourthly, it does not take into account how a person plans to provide himself with at least the most necessary things for life: housing, property. Through salary? Funny... Through loans? You will have to pay off debts all your life... And when will that same wealth come? And if you live in a rented apartment, a good part of your salary, even if it’s large by today’s standards, will be spent on paying rent, and there will be nothing left for accumulating wealth. What if you suddenly get fired from your job in the midst of a financial crisis? How will loans, rent, and other expenses be repaid? You can find a number of other points that directly indicate that this path is in the overwhelming majority of cases a dead end. I say again: look around, and you will see this in many living examples.

Therefore, if you are thinking about how to change yourself and your life for the better, stereotypical thinking, like that described in the example above, needs to be discarded: it will not lead you to achieve your goals. We need to look for an effective, real and relevant way for the present time to achieve our goals.

How to do this? First of all, you need to focus on your own financial future, since achieving almost any life goal is inextricably linked with the financial component. Roughly speaking, if there is no money, you will not be able to achieve your goal. In the example above, the person is basically planning how he will make money first for his institute (by paying for his training), then for his employer (by doing work for him and earning him a profit). Perhaps another bank (if it takes out a loan). But not for myself!

If you want to start changing, change yourself and your life for the better, you definitely need to immediately start taking care of. Because success in achieving your goals will largely depend on it. Without financial resources, you are unlikely to be able to change your life for the better.

The site was created to tell you how to change your life for the better, especially with financial side question, but not only. Here you will find a large number useful information, tips and recommendations that will help you start changing for the better: both in terms of personal development and in terms of improving your financial condition and standard of living. Join the number of regular readers, study the proposed materials, ask questions in the comments, communicate on the forum and apply the information received in practice. I hope that Financial Genius will help change your life for the better! See you again on the pages of the site!

Programmer, investor and entrepreneur James Altucher, who has already launched several startups, published on TechCrunch very simple, useful and honest instructions for those who want to radically change their field of activity, but do not know where to start. Below is the translation of this article.

Here's what it's like: I've been down a few times, I've come back to life a few times, I've done it again and again. I started new careers. People who knew me then don't know me now. And so on.

I started my career from scratch several times. Sometimes - because my interests changed. Sometimes - because all the bridges were burned completely, and sometimes because I desperately needed money. And sometimes because I hated everyone at my old job or they hated me.

There are other ways to reinvent yourself, so take what I say with a grain of salt. This is what worked in my case. I've seen this work for about a hundred other people. According to interviews, according to letters that have been written to me over the past 20 years. You can try it - or not.

1. Change never ends

Every day you reinvent yourself. You are always on the move. But every day you decide where exactly you are moving: forward or backward.

2. Start with a clean slate

All your past shortcuts are just vanity. Were you a doctor? An Ivy League graduate? Owned millions? Did you have a family? Nobody cares. You have lost everything. You are zero. Don't try to say that you are something more.

3. You need a mentor

Otherwise you will go down. Someone needs to show you how to move and breathe. But don't worry about finding a mentor (see below).

4. Three types of mentors

Direct. Someone ahead of you who will show you how they got there. What does "this" mean? Wait. By the way, the mentors are not like Jackie Chan’s character in the movie “The Karate Kid.” Most mentors will hate you.

Indirect. Books. Movies. You can get 90% of your instruction from books and other materials. 200–500 books equals a good mentor. When people ask me, “What is a good book to read?” - I don’t know what to answer them. There are 200–500 good books that are worth reading. I would turn to inspirational books. Whatever you believe, strengthen your beliefs with daily reading.

Anything can be a mentor. If you are a nobody and want to reinvent yourself, everything you look at can become a metaphor for your desires and goals. The tree you see with roots out of sight and groundwater, which feed it, is a metaphor for programming, if you connect the dots together. And everything you look at will “connect the dots.”

5. Don't worry if nothing excites you.

You care about your health. Start with him. Take small steps. You don't need passion to succeed. Do your work with love and success will become a natural symptom.

6. Time it takes to reinvent yourself: five years

Here is a description of these five years.

First year: you're floundering and reading everything and just starting to do something.

Second year: You know who you need to talk to and maintain working connections with. You do something every day. You finally understand what your own Monopoly game map looks like.

Third year: you are good enough to start making money. But for now, perhaps not enough to earn a living.

Fourth year: you provide for yourself well.

Fifth year: you make a fortune.

I got frustrated sometimes in the first four years. I asked myself: “Why hasn’t this happened yet?” - He hit the wall with his fist and broke his hand. It's okay, just keep going. Or stop and choose a new field of activity. It doesn't matter. Someday you will die, and then it will be really difficult to change.

7. If you do it too fast or too slow, something is going wrong.

A good example is Google.

8. It's not about the money

But money is a good measure. When people say, “It's not about the money,” they need to be sure they have some other unit of measurement. “How about you just do what you love?” There will be many days ahead when you won't like what you do. If you do it out of pure love, it will take much longer than five years. Happiness is just a positive reaction from your brain. Some days you will be unhappy. Your brain is just a tool, it does not define who you are.

9. When is it okay to say, “I’m doing X”? When does X become your new profession?

10. When can I start doing X?

Today. If you want to paint, buy canvas and paints today, start buying 500 books one at a time and paint pictures. If you want to write, do these three things:

Read

If you want to start your own business, start coming up with a business idea. Re-creating yourself begins today. Every day.

11. When will I earn money?

In a year, you will have invested 5,000–7,000 hours into this business. This is good enough to put you in the top 200-300 in the world in any specialty. Getting into the top 200 almost always provides a livelihood. By the third year you will understand how to make money. By the fourth, you will be able to increase your turnover and provide for yourself. Some people stop there.

12. By the fifth year you will be in the top 30–50, so you can make a fortune

13. How can I tell if it’s mine?

Any field in which you can read 500 books. Go to the bookstore and find it. If you get bored after three months, go to the bookstore again. It’s normal to get rid of illusions, that’s the meaning of defeat. Success is better than failure, but failures teach us the most important lessons. Very important: don’t rush. For my interesting life you can change yourself many times. And you will fail many times. It's fun too. These attempts will turn your life into a story book, not a textbook. Some people want their life to be a textbook. Mine is a book of stories, for better or worse. Therefore, changes occur every day.

14. The decisions you make today will be in your biography tomorrow.

Accept interesting solutions, and you will have an interesting biography.

15. The decisions you make today will become part of your biology.

16. What if I like something exotic? Biblical archeology or wars of the 11th century?

Repeat the above steps and by the fifth year you can become rich. We don't know how. There is no need to look for the end of the road when you are only taking the first steps.

17. What if my family wants me to become an accountant?

How many years of your life have you promised to give to your family? Ten? All your life? Then wait for the next life. It's up to you to choose.

Choose freedom over family. Freedom, not prejudice. Freedom, not government. Freedom, not satisfying other people's needs. Then you will satisfy yours.

18. My mentor wants me to follow his path.

This is fine. Master his path. Then do it your way. Sincerely.

Luckily, no one is holding a gun to your head. Then you would have to comply with his demands until he puts the gun down.

19. My husband (wife) is worried: who will take care of our children?

A person who changes himself always finds free time. Part of changing yourself is finding moments and reframing them in the way you would like to use them.

20. What if my friends think I'm crazy?

What kind of friends are these?

21. What if I want to be an astronaut?

This is not changing yourself. This is a specific profession. If you like space, there are many careers. Richard Branson wanted to be an astronaut and created Virgin Galactic.

22. What if I like to drink and hang out with friends?

Read this post again in a year.

23. What if I'm busy? Am I cheating on my spouse or betraying my partner?

Read this post again in two or three years, when you are broke, without a job and everyone has turned their backs on you.

24. What if I don’t know how to do anything at all?

Read point 2 again.

25. What if I don’t have a diploma or it’s of no use?

Read point 2 again.

26. What if I need to focus on paying off my mortgage or other loan?

Read point 19 again.

27. Why do I always feel like an outsider?

Albert Einstein was an outsider. No one in authority would hire him. Everyone sometimes feels like an impostor. Greatest creativity born out of skepticism.

28. I can't read 500 books. Name one book you should read for inspiration

Then you can give up right away.

29. What if I’m too sick to change myself?

The change will spur the production of beneficial substances in your body: serotonin, dopamine, oxytocin. Move forward and you may not get completely better, but you will become healthier. Don't use health as an excuse.

Finally, rebuild your health first. Get more sleep. Eat better. Play sports. These are the key steps to change.

30. What if my partner set me up and I’m still getting married to him?

Drop the lawsuit and never think about him again. Half the problem was you.

31. What if I am sent to prison?

Wonderful. Re-read point 2. Read more books in prison.

32. What if I am a timid person?

Make your weakness your strength. Introverts are better at listening and concentrating, and they know how to evoke sympathy.

33. What if I can’t wait five years?

If you plan to be alive in five years, you can start today.

34. How to make contacts?

Build concentric circles. You should be in the middle. The next circle is friends and family. Then - online communities. Then - people you know from informal meetings and tea parties. Then there are conference participants and opinion leaders in their field. Then - mentors. Then there are the clients and those who make money. Start making your way through these circles.

35. What if my ego starts getting in the way of what I'm doing?

In six months or a year you will return to point 2.

36. What if I'm passionate about two things at once? And I can't choose?

Combine them and you will be the best in the world at this combination.

37. What if I am so passionate that I want to teach others what I am learning myself?

Read lectures on YouTube. Start with an audience of one and see if it grows.

38. What if I want to earn money in my sleep?

In the fourth year, start outsourcing what you do.

39. How to find mentors and experts?

Once you have enough knowledge (after 100-200 books), write 10 ideas for 20 different potential mentors.

None of them will answer you. Write 10 more ideas for 20 new mentors. Repeat this every week.

40. What if I can’t come up with ideas?

Then practice it. The thinking muscles tend to atrophy. They need to be trained.

I will have a hard time reaching my toes if I don't practice every day. I need to do this exercise every day for some time before this pose becomes easy for me. Don't expect to have good ideas from day one.

42. What if I do everything you say, but nothing seems to work?

It will work out. Just wait. Keep changing yourself every day.

Don't try to find the end of the path. You won't be able to see it in the fog. But you can see the next step, and you will realize that if you take it, you will eventually reach the end of the road.

43. What if I start to feel depressed?

Sit in silence for an hour a day. You need to get back to your core.

If you think it sounds stupid, don't do it. Move on with your depression.

44. What if there is no time to sit in silence?

Then sit in silence for two hours a day. This is not meditation. You just have to sit.

45. What if I get scared?

Sleep 8-9 hours a night and never engage in gossip. Sleep is the first secret good health. Not the only one, but the first. Some people write to me that four hours of sleep is enough for them or that in their country those who sleep a lot are considered lazy. These people will fail and die young.

When it comes to gossip, our brains are biologically programmed to have 150 friends. And when you talk to one of your friends, you might gossip about one of the other 150. And if you don't have 150 friends, your brain will want to read gossip magazines until it thinks it has 150 friends.

Don't be as stupid as your brain.

46. ​​What if it seems to me that I will never succeed?

Practice gratitude for 10 minutes a day. Don't suppress your fear. Notice your anger.

But also allow yourself to be grateful for what you have. Anger never inspires, but gratitude never inspires. Gratitude is the bridge between your world and the parallel universe where all creative ideas live.

47. What if I constantly have to deal with some personal squabbles?

Find other people to be around.

A person who changes himself will constantly encounter people who try to suppress him. The brain is afraid of change - it may be unsafe. Biologically, the brain wants safety for you, and change is risk. So your brain will give you people trying to stop you.

Learn to say no.