IS THE PAYSLIP YOUR PERCH?

In a discussion I was having, one of my students blurted out in frustration that he had realised his pay slip is the biggest liability he has. This is someone with a good job and a very decent income. You wouldn’t think generally he would have anything to complain about. The reason he said this is that after weeks of learning about Wealth Creation, he realised he had been in what we call a Comfort Zone. When eagles are learning how to fly they first cling tightly to their perches spreading their wings and pretend to soar. They want the security of their feet on the ground but also longing to know what it would be like to fly free and soar high. They soon realise they can’t perch and fly at the same time. They have to let go of the perch, flap their wings, and experience the actual flight.

Many people get stuck in this comfort zone i.e. clinging to their perches and at the same time pretending to soar. This can be the business idea you talk about starting but the pay slip keeps you imprisoned. It’s knowing you need to change career but the pay slip keeps you stuck in a dead end job. It’s taking a job because of the pay slip instead of genuine growth prospects. It’s knowing you need to learn more; look at different ways to accessing investment opportunities but there’s no rush to do it because of the salary transfer at the end of the month. It’s using debt to consume more rather than invest more because after all, the pay slip will still be there when the next investment opportunity comes. It’s knowing an adjustment of your monthly expenditure can enable you to build up capital, but next month is always a better time to start and besides what will other people think.

Unfortunately many people will talk about “how they will make it” but very few will take any kind of action towards it, primarily because of the lack of immediate urgent incentive to do it. The bills are still getting paid, children are going to school and the cars have fuel. For many people to shift away from this has meant a disaster such as losing a job to jolt them into change but it doesn’t have to. Just like the eagle can’t perch and fly at the same time, you want a different result simply make a different choice. Where you are financially today – what you like or don’t like – it is simply your choices that have created it. Ask yourself what you really want to achieve and what specific actions will put you on the way there. Let go and flap your wings. Isn’t it time we actually take responsibility regarding the direction of our financial future? Over the years I have heard too many people blame everyone else but themselves as they continue the same comfortable, but self defeating lifestyles and patterns. The pay slip can be a powerful resource for the journey if used in the right way and with the recognition that it is a resource for you and you are not a prisoner to it.

Waceke Nduati

The author teaches personal financial management. Find her at www.centonomy.com or on twitter @centonomy.