7 small (but smart) rules to change your life

small micro-philosophies for a BIG return | fhg #64

This week we’re talking all about the tiny, repeatable things you can do to build your self-worth and your net-worth.

Because over the last few years, I’ve realised that no change in my life has come from one grand decision. Instead, it’s come from the unspoken rules that I have implemented in life: the micro-philosophies.

I first spoke about micro-philosophies years ago—because as a Type A Virgo, I’ve always been addicted to systems building, rules and frameworks, and so that’s what Financial Hot Girl is built on. You might have even noticed these already as part of what we teach, like the Personal Uniform and Deciding Once.

So here are 7 micro-philosophies that a Financial Hot Girl embodies: to make decisions faster, reduce mental load, and build confidence and self-trust.

1. Build leverage

To determine if I’m under-leveraged, I ask myself this question often: if I stop working, does everything in my life stop too?

Leverage is what keeps the everything moving—be it finances or healthy habits—when I’m unavailable (whether that’s physically or emotionally). It’s anything that compounds on its own. Across money, habits, tools, or relationships.

Every month, ask yourself: what still depends entirely on me showing up? Then find one way to reduce that number.

Examples:

• Building a retainer instead of doing one-off projects: you earn despite your hours

• Pick one “anchor habit” (morning walk, journaling, gym) and attach another to it (listen to a finance podcast while walking): focus on the anchor habit instead of multiple

• Tell a friend your next financial or fitness goal and ask them to check in weekly: don’t rely on yourself to do it

2. Build discipline

Your sense of self-trust grows through how disciplined you are, not how motivated you are, because willpower is a finite resource. It runs out as the day goes on.

For me, discipline is evidence that I can trust myself. It’s my track record of staying true to my word and intention. I know this because my historical lack of discipline was why I had such low self-trust.

And as women, we have a strong emotional current, and I think it doesn’t always fit neatly into rigidity and routines. That’s why building discipline into your actual identity, in how you show up for yourself, is way more important than forcing structure into your life unnaturally.

Use an ‘If–Then’ framework to build discipline into your identity, e.g. “If I feel unmotivated, then I’ll only start with 5 minutes”.

Remember: discipline turns good days into habits and hard days into practice.

3. Decide Once

Decision fatigue is expensive in both time and money.

“Decide Once” means systemising small recurring choices so you can save willpower for big ones. Examples: having the same breakfast, a preset or automated investment, a weekly money check-in, or standard rates for clients.

Deciding once creates consistency, which creates data, which creates improvement.

What are the repeatable elements of your life that you can decide once for? Can you set a personal uniform, have the same morning routine, or even book workout classes or co-working to avoid decision fatigue?

Make a commitment to decide once wherever you can and be OK with that decision. Don’t chase making the perfect decision differently every time.

4. Have a personal uniform

I strongly believe clothes, and style, are information. They tell you who you are before you speak.

I used to spend too much time and money trying to reinvent myself (and sometimes even find myself) through my style. Now, I focus on the few pieces that make me feel like me every single time I wear them.

A personal uniform simplifies your mornings, your spending, and your sense of self. Audit your wardrobe the way you’d audit your finances. Keep what earns its place. Let go of what doesn’t. I’m serious!

When your look feels consistent, so does your energy. Pick a personal uniform for the areas in your life you dress for the most: your job, working out, or working remotely.

5. Maximise ROI

Return on investment exists everywhere, and your time, energy, and relationships are included.

I’ve learned that one hour of deep focus or a walk in the sun gives a higher return than a full day of completely scattered effort. I try to track what makes me feel clear and capable, and I build my life around that data.

A high ROI doesn’t always have to look productive, either. It can be small and simple decisions that simply avoid draining your energy, like these high ROI examples:

• Walking for twenty minutes before opening your laptop to clear brain fog

• Saying no to obligations that only feed guilt or optics

• Outsourcing repetitive design work so you can focus on storytelling and research

• Buying higher-quality basics that last years instead of chasing trends that fall apart

6. Embrace seasonality

There are periods for growing and periods for resting. Each one requires different expectations, and I’ve learned this the hard way by mistakenly applying the same expectations to different seasons of life.

I don’t try to grow when I’m still in a time that I need stability. I don’t try to rest when I know I’m meant to expand. Scarcity mindset festers when you think that circumstances are permanent, and that life will never change.

Respecting the season I’m in keeps me grounded, and shifts me into a growth mindset. It gives me permission to change priorities without guilt and to understand that progress often looks uneven (and that’s very normal and OK).

What season of life are you in, and how can you loosen the reigns of your own expectations to respect it more?

7. Have hobbies (that aren’t making money)

Hobbies keep your identity wider than your income, and this is so important for a happy life.

Hobbies remind you that your time can be valuable without having to be productive.
Writing, photography, cooking and sports has become that for me, a space that belongs only to me.

When I make time for hobbies, I notice my spending drops, my creativity rises, and my self-esteem balances out. They teach patience, focus, and presence, which are the same traits that make financial wealth sustainable.

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Focus on these 7 micro-philosophies daily instead of trying to make one big, massive change in your life and see what happens.

This newsletter and everything shared in it is to help you build a well-rounded, aspirational life that includes money. I hope it was a