Top 7 Weekly Rituals That Make You Rich

Sharpening the saw makes you rich

In a previous post, I have listed 10 daily rituals that can make you rich. Here I’ll show you 7 powerful rituals that you can choose to do on a weekly basis.

Most of the suggestions I listed here are best done on the weekends, or during the days when you’re not working. The main idea for having these weekly rituals is for you to have the opportunity to ‘sharpen the saw’.

“Sharpening the saw” is an allusion to Stephen Covey’s habit #7 as discussed in his book, 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: If a woodcutter keeps on cutting wood without stopping, the woodcutter will soon suffer from burn out, and his blade will get duller and duller. Soon, his productivity goes down.

Working non-stop doesn’t work – he must stop every now and again, take a rest and sharpen the saw.

But what does sharpening the saw really involve? It means doing that thing that makes you stronger, better, more productive, more effective. Note that it’s not the same as doing a destructive behaviour that you happen to find pleasurable.

To illustrate, some people’s idea of weekly enjoyment is going out to get absolutely drunk. It’s their idea of relaxing, having fun, and forgetting all about their worries. It’s not sharpening the saw at all – it’s breaking the saw!

#7.  Get Out of your Comfort Zone

Why not set a specific weekly challenge for yourself? It need not be a super big, hairy massive challenge. Tailor it to your specific situation.

For example:

1. If you’re currently struggling to make ends meet, then identify things you spend on that you may be able to cut back on (e.g., cigarettes, booze, insurance, phone bills, take-aways, car wash & valeting fees, gym membership, holidays, jewelry, make-up, clothing, food, etc)
2. If you don’t have bad debts, then you may want to start learning about ways to make your money work harder for you. Setting time to actively boost your financial education is a great way to challenge yourself.
3. If you’re a parent and you’re very money savvy, why not consciously and actively teach your kids about money just like Robert Kiyosaki’s Rich Dad?  I know someone personally who read the Rich Dad Poor Dad book series to his son every night instead of bedtime stories. Last time I heard, the son became financially independent as early as during his teens by learning proven ways on how to trade in stocks.

• Health
• Finances
• Mental/Emotional
• Personal Growth
• Career
• Spirituality
• Relationships

Then on the second column, opposite each word, write down a number from 1 to 10 that rates the level of  satisfaction you have about that aspect of your life. 1 means least satisfied and 10 means most satisfied.

Once you’ve done your life review, you will have  clear overview about which aspects of your life are really bringing you so much satisfaction, and which ones need improvement. You will also gain some insights about the severity of certain situations that you may have neglected or completely taken for granted. This is good because now you can take action to bring about what you really want.

Part of doing a Life Review is review your goals. You have a goal for each life aspect, but this is completely up to you. Just quickly read your list of  short to medium term goals, so that your attention gets focused on the things you must focus on NOW. Then quickly glance through to your long and medium term goals, to remind yourself of the ultimate picture of your life.

Reviewing your goals is a powerful way of staying on track because it reminds you clearly of the things you really want. Often, we fail to reach our goals simply because we forget what really matters most to us. So reminding yourself of your highest desires will help guide you to make the right decisions.

#4.  Contribute
Contributing is by far one of best instant feel-good activities I know.  If you can find a way to do this every day, even better!

Contributing doesn’t just involve giving away money or material things. You can easily contribute by volunteering at a local organization. You can contribute by sharing your expertise and knowledge with other people. You can contribute by taking some time to listen to someone without any judgement over their emotions or actions.

Or, you can contribute by simply being at peace and projecting love, goodwill and positivity to every person you interact with!

#3.  Nurture Your Relationships
Spend time with your loved ones! It’s amazing how many of us don’t do this often enough (I’m guilty of this one).

I had a wake up call about this once when I was asked in a workshop to list the things that were important to me. I have put my relationships at the top. Then the workshop facilitator asked us to then write down how many hours I spend doing each thing on my list. Out of all the items, I was spending the least amount of time on guess what – my relationships!

The funny thing was that majority of the workshop participants had the same experience. It’s so true isn’t it – because we’re so busy, we end up sacrificing the things that were actually the most important to us.

So set specific, sacred time to spend time with your loved ones, if they really are that important to you.

constant personal growth is key

#2.  Educate Yourself!
Learn a new skill.

Read a book or two per week.

Listen to some audio CDs or watch educational videos.

Interview an expert in your field of work, or have a deep conversation with someone who is bigger, bolder, better and richer than you are – the value of this is immense!

Engage with like-minded people who are actively working on moving towards the same goals as you are and learn from their success.

Commit to constantly learn something new, particularly in your line of work or business. There’s no argument about the statement “you can’t get rich without CANI (constant and never-ending improvement)!”

Self-education is indeed the ultimate sa-sharpening exercise you can ever commit to.

#1.   Do your thing
Because we’re all different, I’ll leave this one for you to decide -your thing may be listening to or playing music; being creative and doing your chosen art; gardening; knitting; cooking; baking; writing; reading; playing your favourite Sport; getting pampered with a massage; going out of town for the weekend – whatever makes you happy, as long as it’s not destructive in some way.

The point is to do something that relaxes you, inspires you, recharges you, reinvigorates you so you’re in top shape to face the new week ahead.

Related posts:

1. Top 10 Daily Rituals That Make You Rich