When it comes to financial fitness, becoming financially fit may be simpler than you think. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s necessarily going to be easy. Depending on where you’re starting from, it can mean some hard work to change bad, thoughtless, or uninformed habits into good ones. (But a little hard work never hurt anyone, right? And it can actually be fun.)

Plus the good news is, once you take some basic steps toward financial fitness, each step after that becomes easier. So what are the steps that will help you in becoming financially fit? To me, the most important ones are more maxims to live by. They are:

• Spend less than you earn. (Which of course also means not spending money that you don’t already have.)
• Plan ahead for emergencies and irregular events.
• Accept responsibility for your current and future financial state.

That’s it. Those things alone will make an enormous difference in how your financial life goes.

Each of them will also naturally lead to more in-depth steps that will help you become even more financially fit.

For example, when you start living below your means by spending less than you earn, saving and investing are likely to become a priority. As you plan for emergencies and irregular events, things like building an emergency fund, making sure that you have adequate insurance, and creating an estate plan will come into play too. Chances are, the more you know about becoming financially fit, the more you’ll want to know.

And of course, the things that we pay attention to grow.

Finally, since all of the things you do or don’t do are connected, if you start out with a good financial foundation by keeping key concepts in mind, you’re likely to end up in good financial shape.

What’s your experience been like? Would you add anything major to my list?