Financial Intelligence: The financial number line

Financial Status Number line

Knowing your financial status is the most critical stage on your journey to proper financial management. You cannot move on to the next step if you do not know exactly where you are. Having an idea of which specific financial status you are currently in will enable you to take stock and move into a better one.

There are basically five financial statuses: 

1. Deficit 2. Neutral 3.Financial Security

4. Financial Independence

5. Financial Freedom.

Definitions

1. Deficit: Deficit is where your monthly expenses far exceed your total income and hence you either have to borrow to meet your financial obligations or you consistently live an impoverished life at the latter end of the month. More often than not anyone who is in a deficit financial status stage has debt and poor financial habits.

2. Neutral or Balanced: This is when your expenses are always equal to your income. With this you are always at zero. In effect you always spend all you make. There is no money left for savings, much less investments. Living like this is called living on the edge. Any emergency or unexpected expense becomes a huge headache for the family or individual.

3. Financial Security: This is where you have at least three to six months’ worth of your monthly expenses in an account you don't touch except for emergencies. With this status, you can maintain your lifestyle without having to sacrifice anything for the specific number of months you have saved as security.

4. Financial Independence: This where you have been able to create several multiple streams and passive income from other sources that is either equal to or more than your current income. In effect, you can decide to quit your regular job, take longer vacations and holidays or simply take time off to develop other interests without having to worry about money.

 5. Financial Freedom: This is the ultimate destination of financial intelligence. It is the state where your systems and processes that ensured your financial independence are absolutely shock proof and ran by themselves perpetually. In effect, beyond your budget, insurance and emergency expenses, all you could ever need are catered for.

in my next post, we will discuss how to move on the number line.

 

My Life, My way, Journey to the East.

I had lived my whole life in Kumasi and built my life around my family, friends and colleagues there. After my internship at a prestigious public hospital, i had an offer for permanent appointment. Suddenly i was not content any longer. I felt a deep dissatisfaction with my "good" life that transcended simple comprehension. So on a whim with 200ghc in my pocket and just a verbal assurance of a place in a private eye clinic, i took my bag, sat in a bus and arrived in Koforidua, Eastern region. For the first time in my life i was completely alone, no friends, no acquaintances, no accommodation, no job and most interestingly, no experience in a city i had never visited before. Little did i know that, two years down the line I would be launching a book, starting a business and leading a movement? Looking back, I am surprised at how far I had come and already accomplished. This is how it all began.

The decision to move to the Eastern region was not premeditated. Contrary to a lot of decisions in my life, coming to work in Koforidua was not a planned activity. One day I saw the notice in my mail of a place in an eye clinic and I applied for it. A day later I was contacted on phone and asked to report the next day. That was it! No interviews, no letters, no meetings. To tell the truth it was scary but completely exciting.  So I took off the next day, with no idea about where I was going to stay or even if I would like the place I was going to work. So I arrived in the town at around 5pm and was shown a room to lodge and rest. I reported to work the next day, was introduced to the staff and an hour later, I was treating my first patient. I have been doing that every day for the last two years now.

There have been lots of ups and downs. Successes and failures. Tears and laughter. Through it all I have always held on to this mantra that countless times in the midst of severe disadvantage and trials, heroes are born. The fire that burns the chaff and chars the wood is the same that purifies the gold. The pressure that breaks the rock, flattens the hills and move the earth is the same that produces the diamond. Most of the time, there is very little you can do about what happens to you, but your response to them is completely in your power.

Along the years, I have learned to transform the lessons of failure into the raw materials of success and have grown and matured in several areas of my life. There have been times I almost gave up. Sometimes it was so easy to just retreat into my safety zone and stop advancing, but I came to believe that the essence of life is not stagnancy but consistent growth. Tomorrow the 31^st of May being my birthday, I wish to tell my story today and share two of the most significant lessons I have learnt so far in the flower city.

 The lessons are;

1. Be prepared:

Life is a never ending rollercoaster of activity. To succeed you have to say alert and conscious of your environment and decisions. Success occurs when a prepared mind meets a great idea. There is nothing worse than an opportunity that comes to meet an unprepared mind. The Bible says, be prepared in season and out of season. If you will achieve anything, it is critical that you stay alert and sensitive to your environment. It is better to be prepared and not get the opportunity than to get the opportunity and not be prepared. I was prepared for an adventure. An experience of a different sort so when the opportunity came, subconsciously I was ready.

The next lesson is to;

2. Take a chance:

Action! Action! Action! It is the oil that lubricates the wheel of success. It is the ignition that starts the machine of accomplishment. Take a determined action now! Having a great vision and not taking any action to bring it into being is like day dreaming. It produces no results. Add momentum to your goals. Take a step towards attaining that goal.

The story still unfolds and I am so sure that it will only get more exciting and adventurous as the years roll by. For today, take the lessons I have shared and make your life an adventure too. Perhaps I might share more lessons next year on my birthday. For now, wish me the best of the year.

What i learned at the AYS 2014 part 1

On the 29th of March, 2014, history was made. 25 of Ghana's young, prolific and trail blazing achievers were gathered at the Central cafeteria of the University of Ghana, Legon, to share their stories, motivate, inspire and mentor other young people to become global impact makers. To say it was awesome will be an understatement. Amongst the several things i learned listening, mentoring and interacting with other achievers and attendees were lessons on failure, planning, integrity, thinking big and starting small, building personal wealth and pursuing projects that have global impact. Today i bring you, three of the lessons i learned.

1. Roadblocks: Prepare for failure

Ones best success comes after their greatest disappointments.

Henry Ward Beecher (1813-1887, American Preacher, Orator, Writer) 

Do not despise the lessons learned from failure. Failure shows you what you did wrong and how to get it right the next time around. The experience you gain from all the wrong ways, will eventually lead you to the right way. Failure says this is where you got it wrong, so get up and put things in place and try again.

Do not entertain fear of failure. It may come, but do not allow the fear of failure to cripple you. Dorothea Brande said “To guarantee success, act as if it were impossible to fail.

Many are caught in stagnancy because they fear they might not succeed. Fear is false evidence appearing real. Your passion to succeed must be more powerful than your fear of failure. Failing cannot stop you, but the fear of failing can cripple you.

2. Life is not a race

 

The measure of a man's success must be according to his ability. The advancement he makes from the station in which he was born gives the degree of his success.

Sir Walter Besant (1836-1901, British Historian and Novelist)

  

You don’t need to be number one to become successful. Do not compare yourself with anyone in your measure of success. Success must be on your own terms and definitions. It is not a competition with other people, but a challenge to you to make something of your lot and situation.

3. Success is always a choice

Very often we are our own worst enemy as we foolishly build stumbling blocks on the path that leads to success and happiness.

Louis Binstock (American Minister)

Life is what you make it. You may not be able to decide what happens to you, but you always have the power to decide how you respond to what happens. Your journey to happiness and success can only be hampered by your own actions and in actions. 

Resolve to be kind and supportive to others. Decide on how you will respond to challenges and stick to that, every time. Make adjustments as when necessary and clear your own path to success.

Get out of your own way!

to be continued.......