The first quarter of the year comes to an end today. This is always a good time to reflect on what we have done, haven’t done or still need to do for the rest of the year. There are many people I have met who just feel like they have not made any progress. There are some who feel they have no room to move. People started the year with goals to save more, invest, start a business, have a retirement plan etc. However, day to day activities get in the way and survival kicks in. If you are feeling that you haven’t moved at all, here are five quick things you can do to get back on track.
- Have a plan, to begin with.
I have had many conversations with people who did in fact set goals but they were not written down and if they were, there was still no plan attached to them. A lot of things we want to do may be verbalized but not initiated. This is why we don’t move. If you want to go on holiday at the end of the year there must be deadlines when you have booked tickets, accommodation etc. In the course of the year there needs to be a fixed plan where money is being put aside somehow. The plan is the steps you need to take. Write this down somewhere.
- Carve out some time every week to think about your money.
You are good at your job because you do it every day. We are not so good at money because we give it proper attention only when there is a crisis. Give yourself thirty minutes per week to sit back, plan, reconcile, collect documents etc. Your money then becomes part of your life and you will notice that you are more conscious of it. Take this time seriously. Put it into your calendar the same way you would treat a meeting at work. It will seem strange at first, like your first day in a new job, but you will get used to it.
- Collect information about your finances.
We don’t move because we don’t know where we are or we are afraid of where we are. Many of us would rather avoid the truth. For example we really don’t want to face up to how much debt we actually have. Instead we just keep spending. Face the man or woman in the mirror. You can’t get to the airport from town if you don’t already know you are in town and more specifically which area, building, floor etc. make the calls and know where you are.
- Do the simplest action you can as quickly as you can.
We get stuck because we are overwhelmed. The big picture is sometimes just too big so we freeze. Paying off the entire debt looks like a lot. Starting that business today or buying that property was a nice goal to set at the beginning of the year but the reality can be scary. Look for the easiest and simplest step you can take. You can simply go and have a conversation with somebody who has started a business and learn from their experiences. Sign up for a course, save the ten thousand shillings you can today instead of waiting for the fifty thousand you hope to have. With this step under your belt you will develop the confidence to make the bigger moves. What is your next best move? Do that.
- Sometimes we don’t move forward because we don’t have the money.
Or we believe that we do not have it. Start tracking your spending. Where does your money go? We do this exercise in our courses and many people have found that they are wasting quite a bit of money. Don’t complain about not having money before you know exactly how you spend it. You can then make a decision to cut down on something. Also start thinking about how to make more money. How to increase your income. What do you have to do at work or in your business to justify an increase in income? Do you have a hobby that can make money? Are there certain investments that you can do? Be intentional with your spending habits as much as you are making the money.
Waceke runs a courses on Personal Finance and Entrepreneurship. Get in touch with her on waceken@centonomy.com|Facebook/WacekeNduati| Twitter@cekenduati