Thinking different is the key resolution to make it this coming year. When I give talks especially at this time of the year, it’s the same story. The intention of achieving New Year Resolutions was there n the beginning but you just never got round to doing it. Perhaps the truth of the matter is that those goals are not that important to you. They only sound nice and may look good on paper. You must get to the point when you realize that something has to change. That change starts in your mind. How you think about things.
Joseph had vowed to go into his family business year after year. His parents have a construction company which they want to retire from and leave it to him to run. For the last couple of years, he has intended to leave his job and go run the family business. Every year, he has been finding a reason not to do it. It has never been the right time or the right finances have not been in place. The truth is that this family business is his family’s ambition and was not his own.
It is very hard to achieve somebody else’s dream. Are the goals you are setting this coming year yours or are they the ones expected of you? Let’s start with the famous ‘I’ll save and invest more this year’. It is a good and sensible thing to do. Most people try and fall flat on their faces. Many of us have started the year well and by the end of the first quarter reverted back to our habits. The savings reduce or stop altogether. The question many of us fail to answer is WHY? Saving is a great habit but like anything else, it helps to have an end goal. Something that means something to you. Do you intend to go on holiday with that saving? Buy a car? Pay for your kid’s education? Get out of debt? add to your retirement investment plan? accumulate a balance? or even start a business? Do all these things have some sort of meaning to you?
If you are really honest with yourself, the things you truly want don’t seem acceptable to the people around you. You have been working towards what other people want or expect from you.
What if the things people expect are simply not right for you. Jane knew that the ‘right’ thing to do with her golden handshake was to invest somewhere safe. After all, she knew that the older she got, the less risk you can take. However, she just felt pulled to farm. She tried everything but two months into retirement she knew sitting back was just not for her. She shadowed a farmer and shortly she was farming. She invested her entire retirement package there. This is not what most financial advisors would tell you to do but she felt the pull and her instincts just drew her in that direction. She lost money in the first couple of years but is now doing well. In hindsight, she does not regret it even though it was a tough call.
Many success stories turn out like Jane’s, especially if people see the hardships through. There are no direct facts or logic to support it but it is what you feel you should do. Jane simply tested her instinct out by shadowing somebody else. That’s what is known as research. People give up on this pull which often comes packaged as a business of some sort or a career path completely different from traditional training because there are no immediate facts to support the move. It is an idea or feeling that you cannot justify. Every great investment or business was an idea. Even the things that have become normal to us were an idea. Think different.
This time, allow yourself to sit quietly and think about what you want; not what you have been taught, expected or conditioned to want. Also, what is your instinct telling you? There are obviously some practical goals in your life e.g. pay bills, school fees, retirement etc. but the momentum comes from figuring out yourself and what role you uniquely play. Facts serve a purpose but they are also not meant to box you in. So the key thing you need to do before you set all those goals is allowing yourself to think differently and ask yourself these two important question. What do I really want? Why do I want it? There are no wrong answers. Think differently!
Waceke runs programs on Entrepreneurship and Personal Finance Management. Registration is currently open and ongoing through our website centonomy.com For more information get in touch with her through waceken@centonomy.com /Facebook-Waceke Nduati /Tweet @cekenduati