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Being the last day of the year, I know you must be thinking about what difference 2017 is going to have in your life. Some of us have actually written these changes down as resolutions while others are still mulling about them at the back of our minds. Whatever the case, a new year starts with everybody desiring to do certain things differently and to progress in one way or another. As usual money always features. We want to earn more, invest more, save more, get out of debt, buy a house, start a business or basically just get our financial lives in order. But as I talk to people, many are unsure about what the New Year will bring. This (2016) has also been a year when certain things that are out of our individual control have happened that have affected us financially. We have seen banks go into receivership and/or our hard earned savings held up in banks. Many people have faced or are starting the year with retrenchment, redundancy, business closure, or even just unprepared retirement. You may have experienced personal financial challenges – debt, expenses, bad investments, emergencies that have left you financially worn out. We have unfortunately had to continue listening to never ending stories on theft of the country’s financial resources through corruption and shortsighted leadership. Many businesses have found this year particularly difficult. 2017 is an election year with the drama that accompanies an election year already starting and so on.
The things that have happened that did not go our way are many. We can run the risk of celebrating the New Year already overwhelmed and despondent. But I believe we must always come back to the things that we can do. So many things, have happened but we must ask ourselves; “What am I going to do about it?” No matter what has happened, good or bad, here are some things that are actually in our control and we can declare ‘Yes I can’ too. Some things I have written full articles on but in a period like this, it is always good to recap the essentials.
- Watch the company you keep. The crowd that is going to continue pity party conversations about how bad things are and how broke they are is not going to help you progress. Crowd is just not people. It’s also what you read, who you follow on social media, what you spend time watching on TV etc. Just remember most of the information out there is not actually structured to progress you, (Click to Tweet this thought) so you must be the one to set boundaries on what and how much you take in.
- Learn to say No. You don’t have to save everybody and your role is not to validate his or her victim mentality. A lot of people are in financial problems because they could not say no. So they have overspent and even borrowed to continue saying yes or to fit in. This year you do not have to be part of the group that buys someone that special wedding gift if the individual contribution is too much for you.
- Remember time is a bigger resource than money. Time can create money but money cannot create time. You can lose money and recover it. If you lose time you can’t even get a second back. How you use your time will determine how much progress you make on your goals. (Click to Tweet this thought) When people are wasting time and having conversations that will get them nowhere, they are usually also wasting money. You can also say No. You don’t have to attend everything.
- Have a relationship with your money. The best way to do this is to simply know where it comes from (usually simple enough) and where it goes. More than just keeping a budget, which is important, track your spending. Even for the next one-week just write down what you have spent money on. Yes, even the fifty bob for parking. Then analyse it. If you do this you will actually realise that you spend money where you don’t want to spend and you can change. Just like in a relationship, you need to know what behavior is wrong in order to change it. Awareness of why and how you spend will reveal this to you.
- Feel the fear and do it anyway. Fear does not go away. It will not be less next time if you do not face it. Probably you want to do something new this year. Starting a business is usually very common for most people. Changing careers. Making certain investments or even running the risk of taking time out from the norm to think. Doing something that is not” expected’ of you is scary. Anytime you want to stretch out of your comfort zone, you will be afraid. Do it, otherwise fear will control you forever. Live a little. Be bold.
- Opportunities are everywhere. Train your mind to see them. Take on the attitude of a student. Know it all’s do not get very far. Take every opportunity to learn. You can learn while sitting in a group of people having a conversation rather than trying to prove to everybody why you are the expert. If you took time to talk to the watchman who opens the gate, he may point you to a fantastic opportunity that you’ve never thought of. Your business needs new thinking to move forward. Take a course or a program that is in line with what you want to achieve. Real education doesn’t end with a degree. You only got started. You have gotten where you are with what you know. To get to a different level, you have to learn something different. Go ahead and learn it.
Happy New Year!
To learn more about how to use your money as a tool to reach the heights and goals that you had only imagined, click here to learn more about the Centonomy Personal Finance program, Centonomy 101! Ready to register? Click here!
Waceke Nduati-Omanga runs programs on Personal Finance Management, Entrepreneurship and Career Success.
Find her at waceken@centonomy.com| twitter @CekeNduati| Facebook /CekeNduati