WINNING YOUR FINANCIAL MARATHON

I have been jogging in an attempt to keep fit on and off for a while.  I go through seasons of intense training then find myself unable to get out of bed and back to square one. About four weeks ago my younger brother run a total of 16 kilometers in a marathon.  I got curious and asked him how he got this fit.  He said he would simply run or walk short distances (sometimes even one or two kilometers) every morning depending on how he felt.  Sometimes he would get surprised and find himself simply enjoying the run so much that he would comfortably go to five or even up to eight kilometers.  The trick is though he would get up every morning and just do what he could.  Even if it was simply to walk a short distance he would get up and go.  I would start off well but the mistake I did was thinking I needed to surpass that last achievement each and every time.  If I run two kilometers, I would pressure on myself to ensure I did at least three kilometers the next morning.  If I did five kilometers, I needed to do seven kilometers the next time.  And if I did not surpass what I had last done I felt like I had failed and not even exercised. I would get so overwhelmed at the sheer thought of having to run six, seven or eight kilometers that sometimes I just stayed in bed and did nothing.  Sometimes it has taken me months to go back and then I start the same cycle all over again just to end up in the same place not realising that this formula was not working for me. My brother in the meantime caught on to a very important principle.  Walking one kilometer is better than not getting out of bed at all.  Secondly this consistency, in small bits will get you to your goal. The many small distances allowed him to gain the necessary fitness level to run 16 kilometers.

So did my brother intend to end up with the ability to run long distance?  Yes he did, and that bigger picture definitely plays a big part in helping him get out of bed in the morning. However he did not procrastinate and get overwhelmed by the end goal, or try mapping out the perfect running regime to get to the end goal.  He came back the moment called “Today” and did what he was able to at that point. Next year many of us will once again set the same New Year Financial Resolutions that we set last year. What did not happen?  There is nothing wrong with having big goals and I would in fact encourage it.  For many of us, I believe what happened is we did not ask ourselves what we could do today irrespective of the fact that we may not know the exact path to getting to the end result. The end result and the fact that we don’t know how to get there overwhelm us.  There is nothing like a perfect financial or investment plan.  In fact most of the times you cannot figure out how to get there until you are a player in the game. You cannot go to Mombasa by thinking about Mombasa.  Its great to plan but even that will not get you to Mombasa. Entering a bus is the only thing that at the end of the day gets you to Mombasa. There may be potholes and diversions but at least you are on the way. The problem many of us face is that we want to achieve the financial goals by standing at the bus stop. Sometimes we hope for something miraculous like an “unspecified deal landing on our laps at a unspecified point in time, that will sort all our problems out”.

I get many emails from people asking how to get out of debt.  They want to get out of debt immediately but that’s not possible.  I can be in this position, be overwhelmed at my debts and in my misery spend one thousand shillings without thinking about it. Alternatively I can start putting that money into extra payments on my loan – because that is what I am able to do today.  Just that step puts me in the bus and only then I can then start seeing other ways or making money or cutting expenses to reduce the debt faster.  You will not get your solution from the bus stop. I may want to invest in land and can only save Sh 10, 000 per month.  I can again get discouraged by thinking about why Sh 10, 000 is not enough or I can get in the bus and open a savings account and save that amount consistently.  In a year that will be Sh 120, 000, which is land in some areas.  Since I am in the bus I will be inclined to investigate and research on opportunities. While in the bus I may come across other people I can partner with to buy this land. Even if I loose my job and I am only able to save two thousand shillings, I should still do it and not worry about the Sh 10, 000 I was once able to do.  The ways of getting to an end result are limitless but you have to be in the bus to see them. Don’t get overwhelmed about starting a business and how many clients you need. Just get your first client and see your assignment with them thorough to completion even if it is over the weekend. That will teach you more about the business and what it will take, than any Internet research will ever do.

So I am taking my brothers advice and getting up in the morning to do what I can.  I have had days when I have really surprised myself and just kept going and going.  There are days when all I can do is walk but at least I am out of bed and in the bus. The difference between seeing your goals through or becoming a broken recorder with yet the same resolutions year in year out is the one step you can take today. Are you a runner in your financial marathon or a spectator?

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

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