8 Bad Communication Habits You Need to Break Immediately

8 Bad Communication Habits You Need to Break Immediately
Want to have better conversations? It's time to break up with these pesky bad habits.

1. Constantly interrupting.

We all have one thing in common when talking: We want to be listened to. So if you're one of those people who tend to jump in and interrupt or -- even worse -- try to complete people's sentences for them, you need to keep yourself in check.

You might think your constant interjections are a way to show your level of engagement. But they really just make you a conversational bulldozer.

2. Multitasking.

Conversations deserve your full attention -- and not just the halfhearted glances you're willing to give them when you manage to rip your focus away from your iPhone screen.

Multitasking is a habit we're likely all guilty of. But you need to be present for your conversations, no matter how menial or futile they may seem. That means no scrolling through your email or subconsciously thinking about your grocery list. Give your conversational partners the attention they deserve.

3. Using qualifiers.

"Don't take this personally, but..."; "This might be a bad idea, but..."; or "I know what you're thinking, but..."

Qualifiers exist for nearly every situation. But if you have the tendency to overuse them, you may be driving people up a wall. Why? Well, while these prefacing statements might seem like a great way to sugarcoat your sentences, they often just come off as condescending and unnecessary.

4. Equating your experiences.

Tell me if this situation sounds familiar: Someone is explaining a difficult problem he's currently facing. You immediately retort with "I know exactly how you feel!" and then launch into your own long-winded tale of a time you experienced something that's not even the least bit similar.

It's important to remember that human experiences are all different. Your attempts to show empathy are admirable. But in most cases, you're better off just listening and lending support.

5. Floundering.

We've all had to deal with those people who seem to just ramble on endlessly without a point -- those people who appear to be talking simply because they like the sound of their own voices.

Needless to say, you don't want to garner this reputation for yourself by constantly chiming in without a clear purpose. When you do decide to speak up, make sure that you're prepared to be clear and concise. That's the mark of a skilled communicator.

6. Avoiding direct contact.

I'm a big fan of the convenience of email and text messages. However, if you've ever dealt with someone who took the time to write out a lengthy message for something he or she could have easily explained to you in person in as few as two sentences, you know how frustrating that can be.

The never-ending assortment of communication tools available today has made us all a little less willing to actually talk to one another. So before hitting send on a message, ask yourself if this is something that could be done more efficiently in person or over the phone. You'll save yourself (and the person on the receiving end!) a lot of headaches.

7. Waiting instead of listening.

As my mom always loves to tell me, "There's a big difference between hearing and listening!" And when you're having a conversation with someone, you should be actively listening.

That means you're not just staying silent while thinking of your next point and waiting for your chance to talk again. Instead, you're engaged in what that person is explaining. Trust me -- people can tell when you're tuning them out.

8. Using filler words.

"Hey, Jason. Umm ... I'm just checking in on that, uhhh ... report to see if you think you'll, like, have that done by the end of the day."

You knew this one had to make it onto the list somewhere. This is perhaps one of the toughest bad habits to break. We're all so used to littering our sentences with these unnecessary words -- it's like a nervous tic for most of us. But make your best efforts to cut them out. Your conversations will be much cleaner and more polished.

Breaking a bad habit isn't always easy. But channel your energy into removing these faux pas from your conversations and you're sure to be a better communicator.


Thank you to Kat Boogaard for conducting this article.

My Trip To The Detroit Office

Spending my summer as an intern with Cloud Gate Consulting has been a great experience.  Not only have I had opportunities to learn many of their best practices out of their Elmhurst location, but I was also selected to visit a satellite office based in Detroit, MI.

I spent my last 5 days networking with some of the industry pace-setters building relationships that I'm certain will help influence my career.

During my time in Detroit, I learned several new tips and techniques on effective ways of running as well as managing offices of all types and personalities.  Having the chance to shadow individuals who have been recognized as top entrepreneurs of their area and see firsthand how these people incorporate different styles of management has been an eye-opening experience.

Thanks for Cloud Gate Consulting for investing in me and sending me as an extension of their brand to network with difference offices.

The 1 Job Interview Technique You Need to Use

The 1 Job Interview Technique You Need to Use
Want better insight into a candidate's cultural fit? Here's a simple technique from six-time NASCAR Sprint Cup champion crew chief Chad Knaus that is definitely worth adapting.

Where do employees of West Coast tech firms get their caffeine fix?

More often than not, they turn to Equator Coffees and Teas, whose blends are stocked at Twitter's San Francisco headquarters and three of Google's Mountain View buildings. The café at LinkedIn's new 26-story headquarters in San Francisco's South of Market district will also stock Equator coffee when it opens in June -- just like all other LinkedIn Northern California office locations.

The small, tech-friendly roasting company launched 21 years ago in Mill Valley, just an hour north of its Silicon counterpart. Brooke McDonnell sold her mother's wedding ring to buy a small Petroncini roaster and start Equator with her life partner, Helen Russell. Today, their 90-employee company, which also has four standalone retail locations, projects some $15 million in revenue for 2016. And they recently became the first LGBT-certified business owners to win the Small Business Administration's highest honor, the annual Small Business Persons of the Year award.

But becoming the coffee that helps fuel the Bay Area tech scene was a long journey that, in some ways, mirrors what many tech startups go through. For starters, McDonnell and Russell launched their roasting business in a garage, deciding to take a gamble on their own venture after running two coffee carts for several years in San Francisco and Oakland.

Product quality was the first priority: They wanted to focus on finding coffee beans from sustainable sources and build a "farm-to-cup" relationship rather than buying through a distributor. Like most disruptors, they wanted to change the modus operandi of their industry's supply chain.

After that, it was a number of pivots and chance encounters -- including a serendipitous meeting with LinkedIn's head of global food services -- that led them to success. And much like your typical Valley upstart, Equator has had setbacks along the way, like the time when Starbucks acquired a bakery that represented 12% of its revenue. But thanks to its distinctive blends (and the resilience that most success stories share), the company has maintained double-digit sales growth for years. 

From baristas to coffee roasters

In the early 1990s, just as Starbucks was taking off and Americans were finally discovering espresso-based coffee drinks (lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos), McDonnell and Russell were living in Portland, trying their hand at real estate flipping. The duo themselves had grown up on instant coffee. But seeing the coffee shop culture take-off in the city of roses inspired them to bring the concept back to their home state of California.

After three successful years as coffee cart baristas, they set out to create their own roasting and wholesale operations with Equator. But first, they did their homework: McDonnell sought mentorship from veteran roasters and Russell spent several months working for espresso machine maker La Pavoni. McDonnell then took the role of "executive chef," using her sophisticated palette from a childhood of international travels to create their product.

"She would start roasting the coffee, tasting the coffee, and pulling it on an espresso machine and really understand what the nuances of flavor were, and started to create her blends," Russell says. 

"It was very unusual," she adds. "Back in 1995 there were probably only 5 women in the country roasting coffee."

Russell leveraged her own background in sales to take charge of the operational side of the business, cold-calling potential clients (like restaurants or boutiques) and convincing them of Equator's value, as a coffee roaster and full-service consultant. For clients who wished to set up a coffee bar, Equator could help with lease negotiations, setting up the equipment and even creating P&L statements. 

"We would sell them espresso equipment, brewing refrigeration--whatever we could do to keep us afloat," Russell says.

Soon after, they secured orders from renowned chefs, including Thomas Keller from French Laundry restaurant and Pascal Rigo from La Boulange bakery. Equator created customized blends, including French Laundry Blend and Bouchon Blend.

In 2003, Equator moved out of the garage and into a larger location that would allow the company to scale. The owners turned to the SBA for a loan to purchase a 5,500-square-foot facility that would house their larger roasting operations. Capital Access Group, a certified development company that works with the SBA, helped Equator acquire the $1.1 million loan. "I thought it was impossible," Russell says, but explains that by putting aside as much cash flow as she could over a couple of years they were able to round up the 10% down payment.

Coffee wars

In the new millennium, the Starbucks brand exploded. Competitors started to flood the market, including Stumptown, Blue Bottle, and Philz Coffee. Additionally, the rapidly growing Starbucks acquired La Boulange--which meant Equator could lose its $1 million contract with the bakery overnight. Thankfully, according to Russell, the Howard Schultz-owned chain was unable to recreate the Equator blend and decided to honor the previous contract. But the pair realized they needed to tweak their business model in order to survive in the newly crowded market.

"With all the competition," Russell explains, "one thing they all had in common was that they had a retail store and we didn't have one."

To complete the pivot, they turned again to the SBA in 2004 for a second loan, this time for $250,000 to open their first brick-and-mortar location at Proof Lab Surf Shop in Mill Valley. Since then, three other locations followed in downtown Mill Valley, San Francisco, and Larkspur--just a few minutes south of San Rafael. But it was a chance meeting at their first location that sealed a relationship with LinkedIn.

"The head of global food services for LinkedIn stopped at the surf shop," Russell says. After drinking Equator's coffee, he called the company that manages LinkedIn's food service. "And he said, 'you brought me all these other roasters but I just had the best cup of coffee I've ever had.'" The chance encounter landed them the LinkedIn gig, and opened the door to working with other big tech companies. 

Today, Equator has more than 350 wholesale customers. Along with double-digit sales growth, the roaster has scaled its social responsibility and sustainability projects, including micro loans for farmers and land rights advocacy for women in Nicaragua. In 2008, Equator founded a coffee farm in Panama, Finca Sophia, and later became a certified B Corporation.

Not only is Equator well loved by the Silicon Valley crowd but it has received accolades along the way. The SBA said it chose the company from thousands of nominees based on growth in employees, sales, net profit and net worth. The honor comes a few months after Equator (along with a group of other roasters) won the Good Food Award for best taste in responsibly produced coffee.

The Equator founders say the unique taste is one reason why the West Coast tech crowd is drawn to its brews -- that, plus the brand's transparency and sustainability. "Our customers love [us]," Russell says, "they love we serve customers an excellent product that has a story. And they know we have dirt on our boots."

The 7 Habits of the Most Productive Entrepreneurs

The 7 Habits of the Most Productive Entrepreneurs
Here are the 7 habits the world's most successful entrepreneurs have cultivated that allow them to consistently achieve, earn, and enjoy more.

1. Build blocks of time in which to create value.
   Most business owners allow their time to be "sliced" to death. They have 5 minutes to focus on a project before an email interrupts them. Then they move to a meeting, only to have 15 minutes to prep for the next meeting that starts soon after the first. Then they get hit with 2 staff requests as they leave that meeting on their way back to their office. And so goes their day.Know this, it is extraordinarily hard to create your best value in small slivers of time. We need blocks of 30 minutes to 2 hours of uninterrupted time in which to think, to plan, to create, to execute on key items. One way to create regular blocks of time is something I call "Focus Days", a concept of carving out 2-4 hours one day a week in which to dedicate your time to your highest value activities.

2. Reserve the first hour of the day for your highest value activities, not email.
   Ordinary entrepreneurs crave control and immediate emotional rewards. The first thing they do when entering the office is check their email. (In fact, they likely already checked it twice before reaching the office.) What a wasted opportunity. Instead, when you get to your office, block off the first hour as your golden time to do one or two high value activities that actually progress your business.99 percent of email just helps you tread water, invest your golden hour in something that makes a difference. Imagine the power of five uninterrupted hours each week (one hour a day x five days a week) invested in your top priorities. Now multiply that by the 48 weeks a year you work (you are taking off a minimum of 4 weeks vacation a year right? If not, read this article now.) That's 240 working hours a year of your best time doing your top value activities. That is a full one and a half working months of upgraded time. All from blocking out your golden hour each day.

3. Give your company the gift of your best attention.
   Time isn't thescarcest resource--attention is. Your best attention, the time when you are at your sharpest and most productive, is thescarcest resource in your arsenal. Most business owners squander their best attention on low value email, staff interruptions that actually weaken the business because their staff could have handled the situation on their own, and on other "urgent" but low value tasks.Instead I'm pushing you to take your best and most productive time (Is it in the morning? Or later in the day?) and block it off to focus on the highest value items you and only you can do for your company. Even if you only do this for one to two hours a day the results you'll enjoy will be extraordinary.

4. Do fewer things, but make sure they are the things that really matter.
   Once upon a time, when you first started your company, you did everything. Later as the company grew you controlled everything. But to make the shift to sustainably scale your company to all you want it to be you've got to make one more key shift to give control back to your business (to the systems, team, internal controls, and culture you've created) and instead narrow your focus down to the few things that you do that create the very most value.

5. Create your "Stop Doing" list.
   In our working life we have those things that we "say" are more important, and then we have those things that we actually invest our limited time and attention on doing. The more congruent our behaviors are with our stated goals and values in the workplace, as evidenced by what we invest our time and attention working on, the more successfully we'll personally be, and that our company will be. Then use your Stop Doing list to concretely identify--in writing--those tasks, functions, or responsibilities that you will no longer give your personal time and attention to. Then pick which of the four "D's" you'll apply to get the item off your to do list, and what your next step in making this transition happen for this item.The four D's include: Delete (some tasks don't deserve to be done at all); Delegate (some tasks need to get done, but someone else can do it not you); Defer (some things need to get done and by you, just not this month or this quarter); Design them out (refine your systems to keep the task from coming up in the first place.)
6. Put a hard stop at the close of your business day.
   When you are at work--work. Be ruthlessly intentional about your time. Invest every hour of it for maximum business gain. And when you are home, block out work, and be with your family and enjoy your life. When you let your work bleed over to your life you not only make a trade that isn't worth it (I have several friends who have built multimillion and multibillion dollar companies who are divorced with estranged older children who will back this up) but what's more, it degrades your ability to create your best value over time at work.We all need to recharge and bring in fresh ideas and perspective into our business, this means we need time away from the daily grind. So pick your working hour limits and hold firm to them. For me, I put a hard stop at my working hours at an average of 40 hours a week and commit up front to block out and enjoy 10 weeks of vacation time a year. This commitment forces me use my working hours better. Plus at the end of the day, what am I doing this for if not for the family I love?
7. Celebrate progress, not pinnacle moments.
   Most business owners suffer from a perspective disease which pushes them to ignore progress and instead focus on all that is still left to do. When a team member shares a victory they say, "That's great, and now we need to ..." They leave their team feeling like the entrepreneur is the parent they can never please no matter how hard they try or how well they perform.So I encourage you to practice celebrating progress--your teams and your own--and build your muscles to savor, at least for a few minutes, the small steps you and your team take forward that mark progress towards your company goals. When you can let these progress moments in and enjoy them, you'll start to give your team permission to do the same, and over time the spirit of making progress will imbue your team with an optimism and energy that will translate into faster progress. And as a side benefit you'll retain your top people and help develop them into better and higher producing team members.

So there you have the seven most important productivity habits for you to develop as a business owner. If you want to learn more about mastering your use of time, I'm about to teach a new webinar that will focus in large part how you can create much more value in less time.

If you'd like to join me on this special webinar training, please just click here to learn the details and to register. (It's free.)

Thank you to David Finkel for conducting this list.

5 Funding Tips From a Veteran Entrepreneur

5 Funding Tips From a Veteran Entrepreneur
Entrepreneurs who have had successful exits have a unique perspective on early-stage companies and founders' dilemmas. Here are tips directly from the newly-exited source.

1. Everyone has an opinion

Years ago, a friend told me, "raising Angel money is more of an art than it is a science. If you ask five different Angels what they think about your idea, you are going to get five vastly different opinions." The higher up in the funding process the more it becomes numbers and strategy oriented.

In the early stages, you are selling an idea and yourself. You are answering the question, "are you the person who is going to execute this best?"

According to Courtney, the pitches they receive at M13 should have a mix the following to get his attention.

2. Identify two to three points of commonality

Surprisingly, many people still use the "spray and pray" method and abandon the idea of tactical pitching when they're rushing to get money. Spend the few extra minutes to read about the background of the investors you'd like to speak to. It shows.

"There is a fine line between annoying and pleasantly persisting," said Courtney. If you really know your audience and you've taken a moment to research what makes them interested in a product there is nothing wrong with following up and keeping them in the loop.

3. Cold emails are totally OK!

According to Reum, if he's the right guy for the product (and you'd know this if you did your research) there is nothing wrong with a cold email if you truly have no one in common. It's always better to get a warm intro, but don't let it discourage you if you can't.

4. How will you scale?

Reum looks for companies with semi-frictionless scaling. Meaning, have you thought through all of the ways you could scale (and what could possibly cause friction?). Have the answers - and if you don't, perhaps it could be time to re-evaluate.

5. Don't confuse urgency with rushing

Many, many, many founders make this mistake early on. I'd be willing to bet that at least every first-time founder did this at one point before learning the cold hard lesson. According to Reum (and I agree 100%), "moving with a sense of urgency to build, scale and execute your plan is a necessity, but the moment you rush, you miss key insights and potentially the window of opportunity to pivot. Thoughtfulness is the key to success."

Overall, there are many parallels between pitching to new business, media and investors, the key is to remember who you are talking to and what is going to appeal to them, and them alone.

Thank you to Nina Ojeda for conducting this article.

6 Simple Questions Successful People Ask Themselves Every Day

6 Simple Questions Successful People Ask Themselves Every Day
Successful people work on goals and focus on productivity

1. Do I have a great work attitude?

By asking yourself about your attitude, you focus on thoughts that influence your behavior. If you don't go into the day positive it will show and your work will suffer. When negative thinking clouds your judgment, take a minute to switch the script. If you find your patience with people is non existent then its time to make some changes. 

2. Am I taking control of situations?

While not everything is within your control, there are many things you do control everyday. Ask yourself if you are letting others take control of situations or if you are confident about your decisions. If you feel like don't control your day figure out ways to get back some of that control. 

3.How have I prepared?

Once you think about how you prepared for meetings, business calls or other events in your day, you will feel more inclined to track progress. After preparing, make sure to follow-up with clients as well as reflect on what you could do to improve. Write notes about meeting outcomes and follow-up required. 

4. What can I do to be on time?

If you are late to an appointment because of traffic, make sure you have the contact information you need to contact clients or business partners. Keep your smart phone charged. Set alarms and check to see how long it will take to get to different appointments.

5. Will I work a full day? Am I happy? 

If you feel tempted to call it a day early, consider whether you  are adding work to your day tomorrow. Why is it you want to put off work today? This often means you are burned out and not happy. The question is what can you do to get re-energized? What can you do to get your focus back? 

6. Can I recognize opportunities?

If you fail to see opportunities throughout the day, you will likely lose money. Some people make the mistake of ignoring the people around them who could benefit from their goods or services. Recognize the opportunities all around you.

What do you do to get ready for your day?Do you questions yourself and your preparation? 

Thank you Rhett Power for conducting this list.

5 Mentors Every Successful Entrepreneur Needs

5 Mentors Every Successful Entrepreneur Needs
Connecting with the right people can help you gain the skills, confidence, and connections you need to excel.

1. The established professional

Look for someone in your career who is ahead of you, like a former boss who believed in you before you believed in yourself. "I find that an established colleague has a lot of compassion, because they have 'been there and done that' already and almost see themselves in you," says Dumas.

A mentor who knows the ropes can guide you with their knowledge and teach you how to avoid making the same mistakes they did.

2. The lateral colleague

Find a colleague who is in the similar phase of growth. You can bounce ideas off one another and compare stories.  "I find these types of mentors need to be mentally strong and not walk into this 'relationship' fearing you are going to take their ideas," Dumas says.

When you trust and support one each other, you can push each other and question ideas while also understanding what each other is going through.

3. The outspoken individual

Team up with someone who isn't afraid to offer a pessimistic perspective. This person can remind you of the challenges and worst-case scenarios you might be tempted to overlook when you're really excited.

"They give blunt feedback," says Dumas and sometimes you might need to listen to those things you don't always want to hear.

4. The friend who knew you before you took the leap

Spending time with people who knew you before you ever launched your entrepreneurial adventure can remind you of how far you've come. In talking about her own mentor, Dumas says, "They are not interested in my entrepreneurial skills. We meet up and talk about everything besides my coaching."

This type of mentor can remind you there's a life outside of work. Regular conversations can remind you to separate what you do from who you are.

5. The liaison

Collaborating with a liaison mentor is the key to connecting with valuable people who can help you grow your network. But your relationship shouldn't be about asking for introductions.

"I find that you must be authentic for these relationships to work and it requires a lot of time to build these relationships," says Dumas. You must take time to show them that you offer value to your industry.

Thank you to Amy Morin for conducting this list.

7 Ways to Think for Extraordinary Results

7 Ways to Think for Extraordinary Results
The way you think can change your life for the better -- get started now.

1. Purposeful

Leaders who are purposeful want to have an impact on the world, leave a legacy, live a life with purpose, and they believe that God/spirituality plays an important role in their lives. Leaders who have a strong purpose guiding their efforts achieve extraordinary results.

2. Other people

Instead of focusing on themselves, leaders who achieve extraordinary results focus on other people--their employees, their customers and clients, and their other stakeholders. This focus on other people includes helping others, care of people, setting people up to win, collaboration, contribution, connection, love, relationships, appreciation of others, and people mattering and having potential.

3. Positive outlook

When you have a positive outlook, freedom, choice, possibility, optimism, and positivity are all important elements in the way you view the world.

4. Maximize possibilities

Leaders who strive to maximize possibilities focus on finding solutions, structure and logic, optimizing, and making the most of what they've got.

5. Growth/evolution

The growth/evolution mindset comprises learning, curiosity, discovery, innovation and creation, risk, challenge, and "going for it."

6. Experience with life

Achieving extraordinary results means having a life, and experiencing fun, joy, ease, and happiness, while creating an environment and space that facilitates these experiences and playing games.

7. Get it done

Ultimately, achieving extraordinary results requires perseverance, persistence, follow-through, hard work, effort, outcome focus, and winning.

Thank you to Peter Economy for conducting this list.

7 Bad Habits Preventing You From Making More Money

7 Bad Habits Preventing You From Making More Money
Are any of these common habits putting a stubborn limit on the amount of money you earn?

1. Failing to negotiate.

Everything is negotiable. That doesn't mean you'll always get what you want, but you won't get what you don't ask for. Let's consider a salary negotiation. The first offer most employers throw out isn't the highest they're willing to make. If you're confident in your skills and experience and you've done the research to know your ballpark worth, there's no reason why you can't ask for more. The worst that can happen is that they say no and respond with a counteroffer--and it's still more than you would have gotten otherwise. I took a class in college called "Negotiations 101," and one thing I learned really stuck with me--never accept the first offer, even if all you say is "Can you do a little better?" It's one of the best pieces of advice I've ever received.

2. Failing to invest in yourself.

According to famed investor Warren Buffet, "You are your own biggest asset by far." You might invest in stocks, real estate, or some other material possession, but the best investment you can make is in yourself. You are the force responsible for earning money, and you're the one making the decisions in your life. Equipping yourself with greater knowledge, more skills, better health, and more experience means you'll be worth more to your future employers, you'll make more valuable decisions, and ultimately, you'll earn more money.

3. Tunnel vision.

If you're going to invest in something, you might as well invest all the way. This is common for a lot of careers; most people toil away the hours in the office, hoping to climb the corporate ladder, or they might invest every penny they have into their new startup. On the one hand, this is admirable, but tunnel vision can interfere with your long-term ability to make more money. It's actually a safer strategy to hedge your bets by setting up multiple income streams, and never relying too heavily on one source; you never know when your business or career might be disrupted. If you have backup strategies, such as a rental property or a side business, such a devastating event won't ruin you.

4. Complacency.

After a few years on a chosen path, you'll probably find yourself losing enthusiasm or motivation. You'll become complacent with who you are, what you do, and where your place is within the organization. Complacency manifests itself in many areas; for example, you might invest less time and energy in your work, resulting in less value for the company. Or you might become complacent with your salary and stop asking for raises as you gain more experience and skills. If you think you're experiencing burnout, take steps to remedy it.

5. Only doing what's expected.

Goals are important for achieving success, but they also have a limiting effect. For example, take the impressive feat of a runner's marathon: 26.2 miles. That's a very specific distance, and I'd argue that the majority of marathon runners out there would have no problem if the bar were raised to 27 or 28 miles. Yet everyone stops at 26.2 miles because that's the target. Setting targets in your life--with your education, skill set, position, or salary, can trick you into achieving the bare minimum you set for yourself. Always strive for more.

6. Excessive loyalty.

Many of us have been in at least one position where we've found ourselves wanting to stay somewhere because of loyalty rather than any objective value. Even if you know that your job is a dead-end that will never give you the potential you seek, you stick around because of a feeling of loyalty to your employer. This is the comfortable decision, and it isn't a bad one--I consider myself a loyal person, and I admire loyalty in others. However, if you sacrifice your goals for your loyalty, it starts to become a disservice to you. 

7. Failing to put your money to work.

This follows a similar thread of logic as the "hedge your bets" approach. Once you've accumulated some modest savings, don't let your money just sit in the bank; make it work for you. Invest in stocks, bonds, or mutual funds and start reaping passive income, or use the money to invest in more education and opportunities for yourself. Your money can make you more money--so don't leave it lying around.

It seems so obvious, but making more money is the first step to accumulating wealth;it takes money to make money. Whether your goal is to pay off your debt, accrue enough money to live independently, climb the corporate ladder, or just be in a better overall financial position, you first have to rid yourself of these seven habits. It helps to choose a field with a high potential salary or to move to a high-income area, but these fundamentals serve as the foundation for your long-term financial future.

Thank you to Jayson Demers fro conducting this list.