Remember when you were a kid and your parents tried teaching you the value in saving money. For some it was a piggy bank and for others is was a full blown savings account. My parents actually did a really good job at teaching me this lesson. When we went to the bank for whatever reason instead of just reviewing their accounts and having me wait in the corner they would have the banker also review my account to see how it was doing. It made me feel a part of the entire process instead of something that only adults do.

Now it's present day and I'm realizing more and more how important the lesson I was learning was and that it doesn't just apply to money. If you've read any of my blog posts you know I love talking about, learning about, and practicing changing habits to achieve long term goals. The more I learn about this subject the more I've come to realize that Life is a Savings Account.

Steven Covey says, "Private victories precede public victories. You can't invert the process anymore than you can harvest a crop before you plant it." To me this means it's the little, seemingly unimportant actions we take everyday that lead to ultimate goals and success. Unfortunately we also grow up around media and brilliant marketing companies who have us believe that we need to make snap decisions in order for success.

We often praise the grand slam hitter in baseball, we fantasize about winning the lottery and we wish we could be in the right spot, for that great opportunity. It's true that the people that this happens to are in the spotlight for a brief moment but what we have to ask ourselves is, where are they now? What kind of longevity do these 'grand' events bring?

Be careful how you save
If small positive habits carried out everyday lead to larger positive outcomes the reverse is true as well. Small bad decisions carried out everyday will lead to large negative outcomes. For example eating a candy bar isn't going to make you fat but, eating one everyday for 10 years will certainly add some weight.

TIP: Garbage in equals garbage out so make sure your daily habits are aligned with your ultimate goals. If they're not, rethink your strategy.

Create multiple Savings Accounts
If you're like me you don't have just one goal. Some of my current goals are to grow my business, maintain my health and read more books. Now I dedicate differing amounts of time to each but for instance I'm not good at sitting still and reading. But the knowledge I gain from reading is invaluable so I know I need to work on it. So I take it in small chunks. I try my best to read for 15-20 min/day which allows me to cover about 15-20 pages/day, therefor I can get through a 300 page book in roughly 15 days. Viola, I'm going through books!

TIP: Imagine for a second if everyday you took 15 minutes to achieve something positive in your life, and did that multiple times a day? Where would you be in 3 months, 6 months or a year? What could you accomplish?

Don't save $10/ week when you can't afford $1
I see people especially in the health & fitness field doing all the time. Inspiration hits like an explosion and they want to get in shape and ripped up. "I can workout and hour a day," "I can eat healthy," and the list goes on. If you're not currently working out or eating right, don't bite off more then you can chew.

TIP: When trying to change a major habit, don't try to change too much too soon. Want to workout for 60 min/day? Start with 15 minutes for 30 days and slowly progress. Let's be serious if you can't handle 15 min/day you'll never make it to 60 minutes.

Then I'll save $20/ week! Still not a good idea
Sometimes good habits, even with good intentions can be overdone. Maybe you accidentally skipped date night with your loved one, so the next day you bought them flowers and took them someplace really special to make up for it. A few months later something comes up again and you repeat this process. How long do you think it's going to take until date night is going to lose it's entire significance?

TIP: It's important to know that in our journey of creating new habits that mistakes and failures will happen and you will fall off course. In this example this couple started out showing each other importance and priority above all else but small changes in plans set them off course.  They tired 'making up' for it by doing more but in doing so something else happened.  A habit was created where their brain said, "it's okay to veer off course because I can always make up for it later," and that attitude is more damaging then anything!

Conclusion
It's time we all wake up and realize there is a formula for SUCCESS and achieving OUR GOALS and it doesn't matter what your goals are.  The formula is simple, small habits made everyday will lead to long term outcomes. Life is a Saving Account, treat it like one.