How to boldly go where the wealth is

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 what many of us would say.

Yesterday I had a conversation with two people who have just finished our Centonomy classes. One of them, let’s call her Susan, used to have a car, then sold it at some point because it didn’t make financial sense.

Then she started using taxis. After evaluating how much money she was using 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.

She said her neighbours and other people now look at her in a peculiar manner. But she knows where she is going and does not see the need to spend Sh500 for a distance that costs Sh30 by matatu.

The second was a young entrepreneur. Let’s call him Peter. Peter won a scholarship to the class because he danced on stage. While most people sat and didn’t move, he quickly ran up and did what he had to do.

His parents had told him that he couldn’t run a business, and he has decided to show his family a different way of doing things. He is steadily growing his cleaning business, learning, getting clients, and because of his attitude, attracting a lot of assistance.

He is thinking big, and even being asked to mentor others on the business of running a business.

As I listened to the both of them, all I could think was how bold these two are. Let’s start with Susan. Is your dream worth some discomfort? If not, it’s not big enough. We want to achieve big things but if we’re stuck in a comfort zone, it’s not going to happen. To the comfortable person, Susan has ‘downgraded’ her lifestyle. What Susan has actually taken is a giant leap towards financial freedom.

SOCIETY THAT SETS LIMITS ON US

We live in a society that sets limits on us because of our lifestyle. That is what Susan has broken out of. Leave the ignorant people to say what they must; be bold enough to take a stand for what you need or want to achieve.

Peter could have dwelt on all the reasons his family gave him not to follow his heart’s desire. But he chose to believe in himself. If he can do it, so can we. We must stop playing victim and take action.

It is very important that we move from a spending nation to saving one, and from there to a wealth creation one. This is going to require us to be bold and do away with complacency.

It is complacency that makes us only admirers of others, never of ourselves; it keeps us huddled in bars, boardrooms, restaurants and dining tables discussing how bad things are.

The reason there are less jobs than there are job seekers is also because there are few job creators. Institutions have collapsed because there are people who turn up at work for the sake of a salary instead of turning up to add value and to 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 few 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.

There are few people bold enough to ask the question: What am I going to do about it? Not my employer, boss, client, parent, bank, government, but me. And there are even fewer people who are bold enough to take action.

From Peter and Susan, I have learnt that livingly boldly is a choice 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.

Waceke runs programmes on personal financial management and entrepreneurship. Find her at [email protected]| Twitter @cekenduati