Give up the waiting

I have received a lot of responses for the article I did on Jack and Bob. You can read the post here who-are-you-without-the-money. Given the amount of interest on the topic I feel compelled to continue this conversation in a different light.  If you have been following this column over the last month, you will note I have really been trying to delve into our thinking. By the time you are reading this article we will officially be in 2014, and there is not better time to ask this question so we can start the agenda on the right note even as we proceed to cover the more practical elements to money and wealth creation as we get into the New Year.  When I wrote about Jack and Bob, I was exploring the characters beneath the money. So lets us look at it in another way.  If you had all the money in the world, all the money you craved for who would you be or what would you do? I am not referring to the material possessions you could have with money. As we inferred with the previous article, those are not supposed to be make you who you are. I have however found that on some level many of us are waiting for money to be something or to do something. We think with the money we would be somebody better right?  Maybe you would spend more time with your family, volunteer, engage in what you really feel inspired to do, generally feel better, see the world etc. So right now many of us are waiting and this waiting is what I want to tackle.  If there is anything I have learned is that the waiting has to stop.  You have to be that somebody today and actually do those things, and that is the only way you will actually attract the resources – financial, time or otherwise to achieve the life you want. It is the same way we don’t watch movies because we know the ending and we don’t wait just for the movies with perfect endings.  We watch movies to experience the story as it unfolds.

In life we have been taught and wrongly so to wait until we can see the evidence of what we want and then that is the right time to take the necessary steps towards it. The truth is, it actually works in the complete opposite way. If you have surmounted any challenge in your life or even had a chat with people you may deem to be wealthy or successful, you know that many times the proof is not actually in the pudding.  The proof may only be in the recipe that exists in your head. And the only way to actually translate that into a physical pudding is to pretend that the pudding exists and start doing something about it. The mobile phone, Mpesa, I Pad, Facebook etc. all existed only in someone’s head before it became what we consider normal today. I am not denying that yes, money will allow some acceleration in the things you want to do.  I am challenging the starting point. I am challenging the notion of not doing anything at all because of waiting to have money. And like my previous article, thinking that you will become a better character because you have money.  More money will not make you spend more time with your family because you will always have a bigger amount of money to chase after.  If this is a habit or the character you have formed, it will not end because money has come in. Start spending more time with your family today. If there is something you feel passionate about or feel inspired to pursue. Just start.  You don’t have to quit your job; you can start on a small scale over the weekends.  This is the only thing that will show you where this can go and how to get the necessary resources to take it to the next level. You want to travel.  Yes you may need lots of money to go “round the world in eighty days”.  However your starting point may not need that much. Have you seen other counties even in your own country?  Some of the most beautiful places we have in this country can actually be experienced very economically.  It just requires that we remove our heads from the sand and allow ourselves to think differently.

Have you been waiting for money, other people’s approval, the right relationship, increased salary, the right job, your kids to finish school, the perfect circumstances etc. to actually do what you would like to be doing? Then you are playing the self-induced role of victim rather than hero in the screenplay of your life.  As you begin your life in the New Year can you recall how many years have passed that you have been waiting? Start being the person and doing the things that you have previously been waiting for money to do. I am not saying it is easy and will not come with challenges but if the waiting has not worked (and all your dreams fallen on your lap) then maybe it is just time to try a different route.  And don’t get me wrong. I am not in anyway suggesting you get into debt to buy a luxury car because that is what you would do if you had money. I am talking about areas in your life that have true meaning and fulfillment to you over and above material possessions.  Have you made any effort in first becoming the person that the life you are waiting for, is looking for?  Happy New Year!

Waceke runs a program on personal financial management. Find her at waceke@centonomy.com| 

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