How to get wealthy in the next 12 months

We all want to do something new, bigger and better next year instead of just making – and failing to keep – the same resolutions year in, year out. Many times people give up before they start.

When it comes to wealth creation, somebody somewhere (and maybe it is you) thinks that you have to first have money to make a difference. If we were all to complete this sentence: ‘If I had more money next year, I would …” The list would be long, right? You believe if something just happened that trippled your salary then you would have a fighting chance of achieving those goals.

Or if you just started the year with a million shillings you’d approach those resolutions with zeal and confidence.

Today I’m scrapping the money excuse. You may have plenty, you may have some, you may have a little or you may have none: there are still things you can do that I can guarantee will make you sing to a different tune by the end of next year.

In other words, I’m talking about removing money as the obstacle. Here are a few tips to get started. They have absolutely nothing to do with how much money you currently have.

Change your crowd. I wrote an article some time back about the poverty support group. If you are in one of these, it is time to ditch them. If we really are the average of the five people we interact with most, then we need to take a deep, hard look at these people.

DITCH THAT POVERTY SUPPORT GROUP

The poverty support group may be the crowd that sits together at lunchtime to complain about the boss (no surprises that promotions don’t come their way), the ones that huddle together to complain about how broke they are or how rich people stole.

If you want something better for your wealth creation journey next year, you have got to change your environment. Usually, that environment consists of the people we are with and the conversations we are having.

Change your language. You don’t have to have money to speak properly about money or wealth. When you are speaking about how hard life is and how broke you are, guess what will show up? A hard life and brokenness.

You can look at Sh1,000 and declare how broke you are. But you can look at the same amount of money, buy unga, make mandazis, sell them and double the money. It’s really a matter of perspective.

What do you want that Sh1,000 to mean to you? Is it brokenness or opportunity? The meaning we give things usually comes out in how we speak, so watch your tongue – literally!

Get out of your comfort zone. Nothing will change unless you do something different. The comfort zone is the place where you need to exert no extra effort or thinking. Maybe it’s your job. You can do it in your sleep.

You go in and you know exactly what to do and how to do it. Money is simply not generated in the comfort zone. The rich people we discuss in the poverty support group do not live in a comfort zone. We have to identify specifically what we will do different. Sample these New Year resolutions:  ‘I want to have paid off my debt/made a particular investment / bought a house / started a business.’

Granted you may not have the money in the beginning, but you still have to perform a certain action you were not doing before. Maybe at the very least you have to stop doing the actions that were getting you into debt in the first place.

Maybe you will have to figure out a way to earn extra money; maybe you have to have a conversation with somebody, or maybe you simply have to go and place a standing order to make extra payments towards your debt.

One of the things that we can definitely do differently is commit to learning. The great thing with learning is that you can do it without a penny in your pocket.

Say you would indeed like to make certain investments this year. Take time to learn about them. Nothing stops you from doing research on property.

Nothing stops you from talking to somebody who can teach you something. Nothing stops you from reading relevant books, articles, blogs, etc. If you can, take a programme that teaches you about investing. If you are not learning something you can’t grow.

You can always choose to use your time differently as well. The similarity between you and the richest person in the world is that you both have 24 hours a day.

It is worth evaluating how the people you want to emulate use their time. You’d probably find they dedicate actual time to work on their goals. Things don’t happen if you don’t allocate the time.

They may also spend time networking, learning, planning, etc. Try and come up with a list and figure out how you will spend your time differently in 2016.

Create time to reflect. We’ve spoken about using time differently but this stands on its own. We all need space to drown out the voices of the world and connect with ourselves and what we want.

If you don’t think for yourself, people will do the thinking for you and before long, you will have lived other people’s lives.

If you start your day without having taken time to decide what you want to achieve that day, you end up running around in circles with everybody else dictating what you should be doing.

If that can happen for a day imagine a year. Before 2016, take time to sit down and think, plan, strategise. What do you want? What will you do different? What do want to learn?

Who do you want to have a conversation with? Where do you want to travel to? What do you want to change in your relationships? Make your 2016 a prosperous one by planning it right.