Taking Steps to Remain Positive While Investing in Your Future
There are thousands of personal growth and development books that come out each year. Some promise big returns on minimal effort. Others promise sustainable returns on seemingly unsustainable efforts. The easiest way to make progress is to do the same small, actionable processes day in and day out!
I want you to commit to doing something that may be difficult for you. The results will prove to be amazing!
I want you to commit to walking daily, cultivating a positive attitude daily, and investing money for your future daily. That doesn’t sound so bad, does it?
Step 1: Walk 10,000 steps per day. Once you hit your 10,000, you can focus on incidental movement the rest of the day; there is no need to keep pushing for a larger number.
The second step is to write down five positive things that happened to you during the awake period of your day.
The third step is to invest $10 per day in an ETF containing the S&P 500 or at least thirty growth stocks. If you are new to investing, this may seem like a lot. Currently investing? I encourage you to add an additional $10 per day to what you are already investing.
You can do this; I know you can, but will you?
We will assume there are thirty days in a month. Starting May 1st, for thirty days, you will have accumulated:
- 300,000 steps
- 150 positive occurrences are journaled.
- $300 invested in the S&P 500 or another growth stock ETF.
Holy TOLEDO! That is pretty cool, right?
What would you say about continuing this for a full year?
- 3.6 million steps
- 1800 positive occurrences are written down.
- $3600 invested (more or less depending on the current market; this money is working for you in the long run).
If you are a beginner to walking, trying to be positive, and investing, you will find at the end of the year that this is exciting, exhilarating, and not nearly as hard as you may have thought at the beginning of the year.
Now for some fun. If you complete ten years of this three-step process, you will have accumulated:
- 36 million steps
- 21,600 positive occurrences are written down.
- $61,453 (assuming a 10% return on your $36k invested).
What would 30 years look like?
- 108 million steps
- 64,800 positive outcomes.
- $678,145.
Small, seemingly easy adjustments, done consistently over the long haul, will create huge momentum in your life. Perhaps this program won’t be easy for some of you, and maybe it takes a year to build up to 10,000 steps per day and $300 per month invested. The important thing is that you start with the positivity journal at a minimum and create change from there!
Get started!
*Contained within this blog is not formal investing advice; returns were just used for potential return scenarios. Never risk more money than you are willing to lose. Historically, 6–10% returns are possible if you hold, but past performance is not indicative of future outcomes.
Michael Hartman
My mission is to give personal training participants a safe and effective workout designed specifically for their goals. Dealing with many sports injuries over the years taught me how to come back stronger every time. The competition is with yourself... Strive to bring out your best self and get better every day!
