First of all, we would love to wish our readers a wonderful New Year ahead. Yes, you probably heard enough of that today, but it wouldn’t kill you to hear it one more time. Happy New Year.

By now, we know you’ve probably made your New Year resolution already and most people will not get to keep their New Year resolutions (not you, those other people).

As you ponder on the life modifications you want to make in 2014, below are some life changing habits we hope you adopt in 2014 – Best of Luck.

1. Save – up to 20% of your income

You might be thinking to yourself that you barely have enough to maintain yourself and we are trying to make you save out of the little you have. Right? Right? Wrong.

You do not have to earn hundreds of thousands or millions of naira before you start saving. The truth is, if you can’t save on your meager income right now, you most probably will not be able to save even when you become a millionaire.

You should realize that no matter how little you earn, there is someone out there who earns less and the fact that someone out there earns less than your current income is not dead is an indication that you would survive if you try hard enough. No excuses.

2. Invest - wisely

We would be giving you some horrible advice if we tell you to just save, save and save. The first reason you should save is for you to have money during life’s numerous times of emergencies, the second and no lesser reason is for you to be able to invest into a profitable venture, so as to increase your streams of income.

Remember how you are always complaining that your income is never enough for you? How else are you going to overcome that without having another source of income?

When you are able to save a sizeable amount of money, look for any suitable and “CRIME FREE” venture to invest in or better still start a small private business. We really hope you notice that we emphasized on crime-free – very important.

3. Spend More Time With People – and less time with your phone

Thanks to smartphones, cloud technology and social networks, we can take the Internet with us everywhere these days. The down side–we can take the Internet with us everywhere these days.

It’s kind of ironic when the youths of nowadays are the one’s shouting ‘YOLO’ (You Only Live Once) and many other variation of that phrase and yet they prefer to spend that one life on a screen?

Except you are Linda Ikeji (in which case, congratulations), you have no business spending up to 3 hours in a day on social networks. Take some time out once in a while, have meaningful conversation with your family and friends, and make memories. Do not use your phone in every possible location you find yourself, yes including the toilet.

4. Exercise – routinely

Now we are not asking you to get a gym membership – although it would be awesome to get one and actually go to the gym, we are asking you to at least work out every once in a while (three times a week would be great).

All that sitting down at your place of work, to driving your car all the time and spending the rest of the day on your phone or laptop won’t do you any good, now and in the later years of your life.

These few minutes of regular physical activity will actually help you avoid numerous health problems down the road. Except excessive weight gain, heart disease, high blood pressure and every weight related disease sounds like fun to you.

5. Plan weekly and daily

Life is a like travelling on a road for the first (and sadly, last) time. We really hate to sound corny but it is still true that if you fail to plan, then you plan to fail.

You should make out time to plan out your week and days. Have a list of what you need to get done or accomplish. Have a budget to help you plan your expenses, have a reading time-table, whatever you do have a plan.

Living life without a plan is like shooting without aiming. Proper planning and execution yields great benefits and there are no arguments about that.

6. Read - for pleasure

Reading for your examination or reading the Facebook status of your friend does not actually count as reading. Yes, know you also love to read articles but you should pick up a book every once in a while, and when we say books we mean physical books.

Reading books is a great way to sharpen your senses, grow your vocabulary and a whole myriad of benefits. Just in case you can’t get to a physical book, then it is not such a bad idea to read a book on your Smartphone or tablet device.

7. Smile – and relax

This is the digital world and everything is about speed. For most people life is about survival of the fittest. It either you eat or be eaten. The competition for survival seems to be fiercer than ever. If this is how you see life, then you are not far from reality. You are on the right track, but taking some time to relax every now and then never killed anyone.

Even if you are busy finding the cure for cancer (in which case you do not need to rest) you should at least put a smile on your face. It would be a shame if you acquire all that you want in life and not have the time to enjoy them. Take some time to rest, smile and be happy.

What other habits do you think will make you a better person in 2014? Post your comments below.

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Well said