The feelings and experiences for each one of us are usually varied each January; but the cycle usually repeats itself each year. For the majority, December incomes disappear with the Christmas festivities only for people to wake up when Njaanuary bills start knocking.
I can bet for the majority of people, rent & school fees shall be paid with either emergency loans, mobile based overdrafts or advance salaries. This happens even for people who got end year bonuses. It is never different each year.
Equally true, many of us start the year with lofty New Year resolutions that never survive beyond the January pay cheque. Everything gets forgotten as soon as the first pay of the year hits the bank account, only to be remembered the following year when the same mistakes play all over again.
Dangerous as this way of life is, it is the reality for many folks, and soon retirement comes knocking with zero readiness for the majority of the people.
Unfortunately, each year gone by and wasted cannot be recovered. That is why retirement poverty is quite high in the country. Today I share simple thoughts on why you should make each new year count for you:
- Each beginning of new year offers you a blank cheque for you to write your number and it is the same for everyone else – while this is true, we all will end up at very different positions both financially and in personal development by December 31, 2024. The fact is that each one of us will be somewhere, the question to ask for yourself is ‘what will be your somewhere after the 366 days of the year are over’?
- Each day matters – the years drag on without noticing. It is already many hours into the new year and time simply flies. What you achieve each day cumulatively adds to what you get at the end of the year;
- Do not fancy many resolutions that you can’t see through – what you need are simple, clear targets that you can track the milestones weekly or monthly. The year is only 366 days, 52 weeks or 12 months. Take stock of your progress along these specific time periods, whichever works best for you;
- Know when you miss a target and what corrective action you need to take – back in 2017, I set a very ambitious financial target for myself that I hoped to achieve in the turn of 2024. As I write this article for you, I have just remembered I have missed this target by a very huge margin. While I have achieved significant milestone in-between this period, the fact remains I have missed that target, and partly because I did not track this 5-year target diligently;
- Build resilience as the year drags along -no one likes the hard work, the difficult choices and the setbacks that come along the way for sure they will always be there. What makes the difference is the willingness to keep going and never letting up. This is what sets apart the winners from the losers.
#For this page, we heartly welcome you into 2024 and for another amazing run for the next 52 weeks ahead. Hope you will not only enjoy, but also find immense value out of it.