It’s easy to beat ourselves up for what we think are poor choices when it comes to our fitness, diets and sense of purpose. Make no mistake, we’re responsible for these important things. But we can also give ourselves a break when we realise that our deeply engrained impulses exist for a reason, and make it understandable when we don’t always meet our own expectations.

Confidence isn’t something we’re born with, it’s a story that we learn. If you fight for your limitations, you get to keep them. But if spread them out on a spectrum, you create room for confidence to grow.

Rules suck, right? We’re basically taught to hate them as kids.
We’re indoctrinated into thinking that they’re the fun-sponges of life. They can feel like these hurdles designed to stop us from having the things we want most. But what if, as adults, we could turn rules into one of the most powerful tools at our disposal for getting what we want?

Three questions that will change the way you make decisions in your life, for the better.

Today’s world wants you to believe that every problem can be solved. There’s an app, or website, or product for that. The harsh reality no one wants to tell you is that your world will always have problems. The way to improve your world in this modern context is to choose the problems you invite into your life.

“All of humanity’s problems stem from our inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” These words feel like they were crafted specifically for our modern world. We don’t want to sit with our thoughts. Because doing so might lead to us questioning their weaknesses, or worse, their origins.

Happiness might just be hiding behind that choice. The relationship between choice and control steers our life's direction. And much of this balance lies in what we're willing to let go of, and let exist outside of our control.

Our inclination to be distracted has kept us alive for millennia. But today's technology turns this useful trait against us by becoming "super-stimuli". We can't defeat the power of super-stimuli, but we can remove it. This is a fight worth walking away from.

A world of texting and instant messaging means we can avoid the unpredictability and messiness of phone calls. We can outsource the expression of emotions to GIFs and emojis. We can reduce uncertainty. But life is unpredictable, messy and uncertain. And that's a reality we can't ignore.

How do we maintain confidence in who we are when faced with moments of difficulty? Confidence is not about shouting affirmations into a mirror. It's about having an undeniable stack of proof that we are who we say we are.

The ‘When This, Then That’ cycle is a cruel one. When I achieve X, then I'll feel Y. It's always tempting, but only momentarily fulfilling. So how do we break it? We must learn to want what you already have.

Life is a compendium of feelings, thoughts and experiences. And that means stepping outside of our selves, in order to be better understand our self. Even when it’s not easy to do so.

Tips, hacks, life-changing habits: there is a simple way to sift the wheat from the chafe. The longer an idea sticks around for and remains significant, substantial, the more we should give it credibility. The more we should invest in it, not less. Because it’s more likely to continue sticking around, not to become out-dated. It’s proven that it has an impressive half-life.

The awkward truth, is that it's a natural desire. But one we need to learn to tame in the modern era. Because wanting more is actually our embedded quest to attain status. Status is a core human need, but knowing how to achieve has never been more confusing than it is today.

Social media is broadcasting i.e. casting or scattering in all directions. But that's not how we build authentic relationships, the most important contributor to our happiness. Narrowing our social media focus can make it work for us, and it turns out there's a number to help you do just that.

Focusing on what you can, and cannot control, is the first step in setting effective boundaries. This is hard, because it always requires us to let go. To let go of the idea that we can influence and change other people, events, or circumstances, when the reality is that in most cases in life, this simply isn’t true. All we can truly control, is ourselves, and the choices that we make.

“Time is a created thing. To say 'I don't have time' is like saying, 'I don't want to.” - Lao Tzu. Western culture often demands us to live a linear life of progress. But reminding ourselves of the cyclical nature of life can slow things down, and take control of the pace of our own life.

It isn’t simple. Not should it be. Because without it, we have no freedom. Taking responsibility never works in just one direction, it is multi-directional. It doesn’t come for free, but it is a price worth paying: “Responsibility is the price of freedom”.

Struggling to implement new habits doesn't mean you're doing something wrong. The reason may be that you lack clear objectives to pursue. Understanding the values behind your goals will help you stay motivated and committed. Knowing your values and aligning them with your goals will help to establish new habits naturally. Discover more about how to create goals based on your values in this blog post.

The first step in creating effective financial habits lies in tracking your spending habits. However, this can be painful because it reveals truths we might not not want to acknowledge. But creating awareness is the first step in creating change. The same is true for life - if you want to change something, you need to first become aware of it.