10 options to improve your personal, professional, and financial life.

Imagine going into a tough negotiation with only one option. It's a stressful game with a Win/Lose at the end.

Good negotiators spend time preparing their options.

Let's pause for a moment to consider our lives.

-Fall asleep on the couch watching the latest Netflix show.
-Waking up exhausted and rushing to work with just a coffee in my stomach.
-Spending my time in traffic jams listening to the news on a loop
-Jumping from one meeting to the next without having time to work on my important issues
-Having a business idea that has been sleeping for years, waiting for the right moment...
-Spending as much as I earn and expecting everything from the retirement system.

Are these really our only options?

How often do we suffer these situations in "auto-pilot" without ever taking the time to question them.

Each of us has the power (I would even say the duty) to create more options.

The more you have, the more interesting the path will be.

1. Take back control or improve your health.

Your health is your main resource. No matter what your starting level is, there is always a way to improve on the following: breathing, exercise, diet, sleep.

2. Stimulate your intellect with subjects not directly related to your work.

Learning something new gives you crazy energy. Reading, learning online, joining a club, taking a class...
Children like to draw, sing, paint, play. We have it as adults too. We just need to dig a little deeper.

3. Reconnect with your friends

and take every opportunity to make new ones.
Connect, open up, listen more, dare, organize and invite.

4. Force yourself to get out of your comfort zone.

Create a routine. Change your routine. If you are used to vacationing by the sea, try the mountains. Find 3 podcasts that interest you to replace the morning news.

5. Create a pocket of excellence

A tip recommended by Jim Collins. Whatever your mission, do your best. Make your job, your department, a pocket of excellence. If your environment is good, opportunities will come to you.

6. Understand the challenges of your business

Your pocket of excellence should not lock you in your bubble. It's a dynamic topic built around the challenges of the business. Be constantly on the lookout for improvements.

7. Look for another job.

You feel you're not getting the recognition you deserve. Analyze why. What leads you to this thought. Do you need to work on yourself (always good), or is it time to start another adventure?

8. Make decision.

Your change must come from mature reflection, not from a rush. The grass is rarely greener elsewhere.

We think that the bigger the decision, the more time we need.
So we take years to decide to change jobs, for example.

But it doesn't have to be that way. A weekend to think about it, plus a week to refine it, is enough to make an important decision. Execution may take longer. That's ok. You're not auto-piloting anymore, you have a goal.

9. Test business ideas on the side.

The Internet opens up a range of options—an excellent opportunity to test the potential and your motivation.

10. Answer the question “How much do I need?"

You can succeed professionally and miss out on your finances.
A good salary is no guarantee of success.

Creating a form of financial independence is an additional option. It allows you to take a mini-retirement (3 months, 1 year, 2 years) or decide to stop working altogether.

A key question is "how much do I need" to stop for one year, two years, for the rest of my life.

Inflation, your lifespan, and the return on your investment make the answer complex. But more and more models are being proposed. (check the FIRE movement for example)

But more than the method you use, the fact that you ask yourself the question will give you a guideline on what to do based on your dreams.

Don't go down the road on auto-pilot. Ask yourself the question and be intentional about your finances, career, and life in general.

Dror Allouche