12 Tiny Habits That Will Make You Rich in 2025

1. Realizing the importance of consistent habits leads to financial freedom.
2. Facing fears can unlock new opportunities and boost confidence.
3. Stop seeking permission and take risks to explore your potential.
4. Understanding the psychology of self-perception influences success.
5. Active seeking of help can drastically shorten the learning curve.
6. Viewing wealth-building as a game encourages resilience and adaptability.

I don't wake up at 4:00 am, I don't journal, and I don't read three books a day.
But that didn't stop me from achieving financial freedom in my 20s.
It's all about the small, consistent habits that you do in the long term that makes you rich.

So here are 12 habits that made the biggest impact for me, starting with removing the words someday from my vocabulary.

So I realized that whenever I said things like "I'll start a side hustle someday" or "I'll start investing someday," then I already subconsciously deprioritize the task.
You'll never get rich if you keep saying the word someday because that word is like a get out of jail free card that people use because they think their future self will be better than their current self.

But that's not how it works.
Your future self only gets better if you take action today.
If something is important enough to you, you have enough time to start it today.
You don't have to finish it, but you do need to start blocking out.

Just 10, 20, or even 30 minutes can make all the difference because tiny action and progress creates motivation.
Soon you'll have done a bunch of tasks that eventually lead to a goal.
Do the first small thing to get to the next.

Next, I smacked my biggest fear in the face.
So I used to be terrified of being on camera because I looked pretty nerdy for most of my life.
When I was younger, I was pretty insecure with myself, so I would actively avoid trying to be in pictures and videos just because I didn't want to see myself.

And it's pretty sad because nowadays I don't have too many pictures from when I was younger like in elementary school or middle school outside of my family pictures.
But in 2018, I decided that I had enough and I really wanted to face this fear, and it was this moment that kind of became the catalyst that changed everything.

I filmed my very first YouTube video showing my actual face, and obviously, I was terrible on camera.
I stuttered, I slurred, and then one after another video, and then I eventually got better.
I got more confident, and now I run my own media company with my face on it.

So nowadays whenever I'm worried about something, I just remind myself, if I can beat my lifelong fear of being on camera, what else can I achieve that seems impossible?

Next, I stopped waiting and asking for permission.
So my parents are immigrants and they're Asian, obviously.
So I was always taught to ask for permission to do things so I wouldn't step outside of our bounds and not stir up some things.

And because of that, I grew up seeking approval and validation.
Like even if I thought I deserved a raise or promotion, I'd ask my friends and family, "Do you think I should ask for a raise or promotion? Do you think this is worth it or will it come off as greedy?"
And I realized I asked these questions even though I knew the answer in the back of my head because I was scared of being wrong and I just wasn't confident in myself.

But the most successful people I know seek approval and praise the way a cactus looks for water.
They take it when they can get it, but they're fine without it for long periods of time.
Most people think that the boundary of what they can do and achieve looks like this, when in reality, it looks like this.

And understanding just how big the box is is one of the biggest obstacles that people need to overcome.
So the next time you want to start a side hustle, you want to start something that you believe has potential.
Don't wait for anyone's approval.
Don't wait for their validation or assurance to do it.
Just go out into the unknown and do it with confidence.
Become a cactus and grow where they said nothing else could.

Next, I listen to decades of psychological research.
This is William James. He's known as the father of American psychology.
And he was once asked to give a two-hour presentation summarizing decades of psychological research.
He said, “Sure, I got you.”

But then when he walked up on stage, he said just one sentence and then he left and went home.
Although his presentation only lasted a few seconds, he fulfilled the ask.
And all he said was, "People by and large become what they think of themselves."
If you think you're not smart, then you won't be smart.
If you think you'll never be rich, then you'll never be rich.

Decades of psychological research taught us that you need to act the way you want to be in the future today so you can become that in the future.
Believe in yourself and start the work to get there now, and you'll eventually grow into the person you want to be.

Next, I started time blocking 30 minutes every single day to work on my side hustle.
No excuses.
It's just 30 minutes.
This amount of time is not going to overwork you.
It's not going to make you feel overwhelmed.
It is the shortest amount of time where you can still make some progress.

But even more importantly than just making progress, it helps you view the world differently.
For instance, for me, it allowed me to see opportunity and possibility outside of my 9 to 5 job.
The real goal of these 30 minutes isn't necessarily to be productive, rather it's to get addicted to seeing this world beyond your employer and to see the potential of side hustles.

And at least for me, very soon that 30-minute time block turned into 45 minutes, into one hour, into two hours, and then I just stopped thinking about time blocking because I was actually looking forward to working on my side hustle.
Remember, tiny action in progress creates motivation.
As it grows, you will grow too.

Like one of my very first side hustles was e-commerce.
I used to sell used phones on Amazon and then I started an online store where I sold phone cases.
It took a while for me to build this up because I had to learn everything from scratch and buy all the products up front.

But if I were to do it again with what I know now, I'd definitely use the dropshipping model because then I won't have to keep the products in my garage and only have to pay for the products after a customer buys them from my store.
So first, I would just need to partner with a trusted supplier who will send the quality products directly to my customers with fast shipping time.

Next, I use Shopify AI to set up my online store.
Easy now for the products.
I know there's a lot of analysis that goes into this, but I can use product research tools to help.
I checked out a bunch of options and I've decided to go with AutoDS because they have a huge focus on analytics to make data-driven decisions.

Not only do they show proven bestsellers, but they also use data to spot growing product trends on social media including TikTok.
Also, I didn't notice initially, but AutoDS connects you to suppliers on their platforms who can automatically fulfill your orders, which solves my problem of finding a supplier.
Then I can list the products on my Shopify store in just a few clicks, and now all that's left is to drive traffic to my store with TikTok.

By the way, since I used AutoDS a lot in this example, I sent them an email and asked if they'd like to sponsor this video and give you guys some sort of discount.
They said yes. So if you click the link in the description, you can get started making money online by selling products you don't even own for just a dollar.

Next, I started asking for help.
Now this might sound obvious to some of you, but for a long time I hated asking others for help even when I needed it.
In retrospect, it's probably because I didn't want to look incompetent or I didn't want to feel like I was burdening someone else.

Like I'd make any excuse in the book to avoid asking.
Like I tell myself that they're going to judge me or it's going to make everything awkward or they're obviously going to say no.
But I've come to realize that one of the smartest things you can do to get rich is get help.

Nowadays, I actively seek help.
I not only ask for it, but I will offer people money for it.
Because getting help saves me time.
If I get help from an expert, then I can get to where I want to go a lot faster.
Like, I don't want to just sit down for the next five days and figure out from scratch just to learn how to build a website or how to start investing.

I would much rather speed up the process and pay someone who can teach me the same thing in an hour.
As the saying goes, "time is money."
So if you can save time and it makes financial sense, then you should take that opportunity every chance you get and stop looking at every time-saving opportunity as an expense.

Next, I started seeing building wealth like a game.
So when I was younger, in addition to looking nerdy, I was actually pretty nerdy.
Like, I was addicted to playing video games, right?

I once spent an entire winter break just doing nothing but tricking people as a spy in Team Fortress 2 and destroying zombies in Left 4 Dead.
Nearly all my friends and my family said that I was just wasting time and that I should be doing something better with my life.
But they were wrong.

Video games taught me to see making money as a game, like getting rich requires the same three things that winning in video games: skills, strategies, and resilience.
For instance, if you want to beat the game of the year, Black Myth Wukong, you need to see challenges as opportunities and setbacks as valuable lessons.

Like, it took me a long time to beat the Wandering White on level one, Chapter One because he was OP.
But each time I died, I analyzed my mistakes, my strategy, my approach, and I learned from them.
Like instead of just spamming my attacks, I had to time my immobilized spell perfectly to break his heavy attack.

And every single time I kept trying to get better until I finally beat him.
This video game mindset forces you to see wins and losses as just part of the game.
You learn when the game has those tricky moments and then you adapt and you start to make smarter moves and then outmaneuver your opponents.

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Next, I stopped blaming time.
When I worked full-time on Wall Street, I used to complain that I didn't have enough time to make more money outside of work.
But then I realized that time wasn't the right thing to blame.

Instead, I needed to blame my focus.
Everyone has the same 24 hours in a day, but what sets people apart is how they use that time.
Focus allows you to maximize the hours you have by cutting through distractions and honing in on the most impactful things.

You could have five hours to spend on something, but if you're distracted, then the quality and the quantity of what you achieve will be limited.
If you have focus, then even short bursts of time can lead to progress.
Like I trained my focus by progressively overloading it.

It's something that I picked up at the gym where I would slowly just increase my weight in my workout routine to get stronger.
And it's the same process.
You want to gradually increase your ability to focus.

Instead of jumping all in on day one, like instead of focusing for one hour at a time, you want to just start with 20-minute focus sprints and then you move on to 30 minutes and 40 minutes and so on.

Next, I worked on my luck surface area.
Most people have a very binary view on luck.
They think that you're either born lucky or not.

And while I partially agree that people are lucky if they're born to millionaire parents, they're born with the genetics of Olympic athletes, or they win the lottery, the problem is if you always just think that you were born lucky or unlucky and that there's nothing you can do about it, then one of two outcomes will happen.
You either stop trying or you don't try as hard.

Neurologist Dr. James Austin said that there are four types of blind luck: luck from motion, luck from awareness, and luck from uniqueness.
Blind luck basically determines your early years of life.
You're a kid, you don't know anything, but as you get older, your life is determined by the rest of the luck types.

Like luck from emotion, awareness, and uniqueness are things that are within your control.
And this is where you can actively expand your luck surface area.
Think of it like the board game Monopoly.

The objective in it is to buy squares on the edge of the board, which represents property.
Every player who lands on your property must pay you, the owner, money to win the game.
You need to focus on increasing your surface area of the board.

The more squares you have, the greater your chance of winning.
So the next time you have to decide between multiple options, you always want to choose the option that allows a larger luck surface area.

Next, I stopped trying to be everywhere.
I used to work on 10 different side hustles at a time.
Like I tried everything from freelance graphic design to a photography business.
I was everywhere.

If there was a new shiny way to make money, I was on it.
But very soon I realized that I was everywhere but I was nowhere because I had no focus.
I was just spreading and praying and hoping for the best instead of getting really good at one thing.

I was just a beginner at 500 different things, and in my head, I thought I was crushing it, right?
I thought I was doing a great job.
I was hard-working, but I was just running around doing a bunch of dull work.

Instead, what you want to do is get really good at one thing and master that one thing and then expand from there.
Next, I reframed what discipline meant to me.
Discipline isn't about forcing yourself to do something whether you want to or not.

It's not about waking up at 4 am or 5 am or working out every morning and eating super healthy.
And the longer you think that's what discipline is, the harder it will be for you to improve yourself.

Like nowadays, I view discipline as an act of care and an act of service to my future self.
My future self is one of the most important people in my life.
No one will care about your actions in the present more than your future self because everything you do today will compound into the future.

So start doing things that feel tough now but will pay off later because you want your future self to be stronger, healthier, and smarter.
Next, I started betting on myself more.
Many people are full of doubt.

They're not confident about their skills, their abilities, or their experiences.
So instead of betting on themselves, they decide that they want to become someone else’s bet.
And then you end up betting on your boss.

The issue is when that happens, someone else defines the rules, the incentives, but more importantly, whether or not you have a job.
And it's not entirely your fault because it's how we've all been raised.
Everyone tells you to go, study hard, to get a good job, and to work until you retire.

But if you want to start taking bets on yourself, it all starts with something small, like a side hustle.
Like when I started taking my side hustle seriously, I was working a steady job already with great benefits and great pay.
But I knew that I couldn't imagine myself working in that cubicle for the next 40 to 50 years until I retired.

So despite the security and the benefits that my job gave me, I quit and I decided to better myself.
I focused on my own business, and yeah, it was tough. It was really, really hard.
But then I doubled down, and within a year, I was able to double my income.

Betting on myself instead of betting on comfort pushed me to where I am today.
So if you're going to bet on anything, then it might as well be yourself.

But the most important thing to keep in mind is if you're trying your hardest to get rich and you're not seeing any progress, then you're going to have to ask yourself, "What am I missing? What am I doing wrong?"
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