GOFAONE NINA TLADI
“You can rise from anything. You can completely recreate yourself. Nothing is permanent. You are not stuck. You have choices. You can think new thoughts, learn something new and you can create new habits. All that matters is that you decide today and never look back.”- @awaken_healer
I love all the hope and positivity on my timelines! The New Year is like a breath of fresh air,a new opportunity to start afresh and improve ones life. Year in and year out many people make New Year’s resolutions, losing weight and being better with money amongst the most common but hoping for these things is simply not enough. Change is a mental thing, from the inside out and if we carry the same bad habits, mind sets and attitudes into the new year, 2019 will be just another year of being broke, overweight and unfulfilled.
I came across a video on Facebook that spoke about the difference between conviction and repentance by Daniel Fusco entitled, “You might be destroying your life!” He speaks about how aware we are of the things that are destroying our lives and how we often feel bad about these things we are doing to destroy our lives. Conviction is good but repentance is better. Conviction is when you feel bad about certain behaviours but repentance is going beyond just feeling bad to make actual change to better your life. With the New Year we are all filled with good intentions to change certain behaviours but never go beyond feeling bad, do we hate how we handle money enough to change? Though he spoke from a religious stand point, it is still applicable to the destructive habits and beliefs we carry forward year in and year about getting our financial acts together. It is simply better to feel the occasional pang of guilt but never actually change and laugh at the played out Janu-worry memes. “Ke lantha mo botshelong jwame ke sa chona ka January,” a friend of mine told me with such glee. I think he shook his head in disbelief, and as I sat a couple of days later to start the year with pretty pink nails I was so proud of myself.
I am often perceived as someone who has it all figured out in respect of getting my financial act together by the kind strangers who send me dms thanking me for my weekly contribution. I have moments when it gets to me and I want to join other kids at the mall and the weekly brunches but I made a promise to myself to be debt free and build wealth for myself and my children’s children and that means I have to develop the character and habits that will get me there and keep me there.
Along with all the hopes for the New Year, I was greatly amused by the “things we are leaving behind in 2018” tags which are hilarious as often times we are the people we describe in those posts. We really are often times our own haters and enemies of own progress and not so much the people we are. Moghel has to put in work and feeling bad about my financial situation is a waste of time.
Let me get into the 2019 spirit and give my list of things we are leaving in 2018:
• Peer pressure: A friend showed me a bill of nearly P 9 000 on New Years eve and told me that the group split the bill equally among themselves despite the fact that he did not have some of the pricier beverages. Let us keep our bills separate and not be pressured to spend recklessly.
• No emergency savings: Life happens and we need to have money set aside for rainy days. You can not afford to NOT have an emergency fund. PSA: A credit card is NOT an emergency fund!!!
• Debt as a way of life: You can not live without debt is the lie we have held true for so long we actually believe it. As for me and my people, we reject this and are kicking debt to the curb in 2019!
• It’s too late for me: In the words of Dave Ramsey, “loser language!” I used to think affirmations were silly until I started doing them and now I remind myself daily that I can do anything I put my mind to. For many people there is a lot of guilt about their finances which causes them not to try. Face your mess and start cleaning it up, slow and steady.
• Not reading: “Formal education will make you a living; self-education will make you a fortune.”Jim Rohn. Wealthy people have this in common, they are readers. Show me an area you are having challenges in and I will show you an area you have not read and studied about.
I hope this year is different for you, that this year you don’t just feel bad about where you are financially but are brave enough to do something about it. Conviction is good but repentance is better. Keep that same energy of conviction to power through the work. It will be tough and you will want to quit but if you keep at it, you will win, if you don’t quit!
PS: You don’t have to be a hero, you just have to be what most people aren’t, consistent!
Visit the “ Help, I’m broke with Nina Tladi” Facebook group for more discussions and encouragement.