Say the world ended today and we were all asked to give an account of what we have done with what we were given. I shudder to think of what majority of our responses would be like. Yesterday, I had a conversation with two people who have recently just gone through our Centonomy classes. One of them – let’s call her Susan – used to have a car, and then sold it at some point because it didn’t make financial sense. Then she started using taxis. However, after evaluating how much money she used on taxis, she now uses public transport. Please note this is a lady who can afford to be driving a car and a very nice one at that (Click to Tweet this thought). She said that her neighbours and other people now look at her in a peculiar manner. But for her, she knows where she is going and does not see the need to spend five hundred shillings for a distance that she now realises costs thirty shillings.
The second was a young entrepreneur. Let’s call him Peter. Peter won a scholarship into the class because he danced on stage. Whilst most people sat and didn’t move, he quickly run up and did what he had to do. His parents had told him that he couldn’t run a business. That it’s only for people from certain backgrounds or who have certain amounts of money who should even contemplate running businesses. But Peter has decided to break that cycle of thinking in his family. He is steadily growing his cleaning business, learning, getting clients, and because of his attitude, he’s attracting a lot of assistance. He is thinking big and is now exploring the possibility of setting up a board. Peter is even being called by various groups to tell his very inspiring story to others.
As I listened to both these people, all I could think of is that these two are extremely bold. What if everybody just did this in their own way? What if everybody thought like this, and then took the corresponding bold action? As I write this, I am challenging myself to do the same thing. Let’s start with Susan.
Is your dream worth the discomfort? If not, it’s not big enough. Most of us want to achieve big things in a comfort zone, and that’s just not going to happen. To the comfortable person, Susan has ‘downgraded’ her lifestyle. But what Susan has actually taken is a giant leap in her journey to financial freedom. She has also completely redefined previous concepts of what she can or cannot do. We are in a society that is setting serious limits on ourselves because of our lifestyle. That is what Susan has broken out of. When you cut down on something in order to achieve something bigger, you have not downgraded. Leave the ignorant people to say what they must, but be bold enough to take a stand for what you need or want to achieve. Moves like the one Susan made are also what we can use to get ourselves out of messes. For instance, if you want to get out of debt faster, there you go, use public transport. It’s not rocket science. If you decide not to, that’s also your choice. If not public transport, what else can you do? Answer that. The “do nothing” plan that most of us seem to be on is not going to work.
Peter could have dwelled on all the reasons that society accepts, for not progressing. Reasons such as background, money, social status, networks etc. But he didn’t, and as a result, he is progressing faster than a lot of people who have those same benefits. Surely if he can do it, we must stop playing victim, and we must also stop giving ourselves all sorts of excuses. We can all learn from Peter. He has chosen to break the cycle of defeat that is passed down from other people; in this case, messages from well-meaning loved ones (Click to Tweet this). As a society, we have accepted so many cycles of defeat – whether it’s from our peers, certain beliefs, our own past mistakes, our leaders and unfortunately sometimes, the person we report to at work.
It is very important that we at least move from a spending nation to a saving one. But even more importantly, from a saving nation to a wealth creation one. This is going to require us to be bold, and to do away with the complacency that we have gotten so used to. The complacency that makes us only admirers or gossipers of what others are doing, and never facing the man or woman in the mirror. The complacency that keeps us huddled in bars, boardrooms, restaurants, dining tables discussing how bad things are. The reason that there are less jobs than they are job seekers is also simply because there are less job creators. There are less Peters and more people sitting on great ideas, experience, networks etc. People who would rather dwell on what car they drive, what and where they will drink tonight, and so on. Companies and institutions have collapsed because there are people who turn up at work for the sake of a salary or other “fraudulent benefits” instead of turning up to truly add value and make a difference. Don’t even get me started on people in positions of influence who live selfishly and make decisions that only benefit them. The reason people retire poor is because there are less Susans. People who know what’s truly important, lucid enough to think about tomorrow and willing to give up meaningless spending to secure that future. Even if this is simply saying no to an endless upgrade of something or the other. Or being able to distinguish what spending has value and what does not. There are simply less people bold enough to truly ask the question – What am I going to do about it? Not my employer, boss, client, parent, bank, government, but me. Then like Peter who virtually sang for his supper to gain entry to the course, being bold enough to go seek the knowledge and information. You’ve done what you have with what you know. Perhaps it’s time to know something different. From Peter and Susan, I learnt that livingly boldly is a choice that we all have. That excuse that has gone through your head right now is simply that, an excuse. Let’s unshackle ourselves and move forward.
To learn more about Personal Finance Management: debt repayment, saving, wise spending, investing, financial growth and much more, click here to learn more about the Centonomy 101 program.
Waceke Nduati-Omanga runs programs on Personal Finance Management, Entrepreneurship and Career Success.
Find her at waceken@centonomy.com| twitter @CekeNduati| Facebook /CekeNduati
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