Attaining Financial Stability
A tried and tested practice on how to bring your finances into control
When I got into college, I never had it smooth and easy.
But why is that?
After all, the freedom I had longed for was finally within my reach. Turning and tossing on my bed, I often wondered why reality did not play out as I had imagined.
For the first time in my life, I handled my finances and had to make crucial life decisions ALONE. It was a lonely experience.
Freedom and independence. These two words had me daydreaming as a kid.
Those dreams came true anyway. But not in the way I had imagined it.
My childhood dreams had turned into daytime nightmares. My finances, in particular, were in a mess, as I couldn’t account for my expenses.
After a series of trials and errors, I found a solution to the problem.
Though, It never came easy. Looking back, I wish I had followed the advice spelled out in this article before I went to college. Maybe I would not have made some silly errors.
Here are the bits of advice I followed to get my finances into order. You can apply them as well.
- Learn, learn and learn
In my sophomore year, someone gifted me a book, which turned out to be the best book I had read: Your Money or Your Life by Alvin Hall.
This brilliant piece of work conveyed all I needed to know about money. It took a broader approach to personal finance.
In the light of the information I had gained, I could see all aspects of personal finance from a big-picture perspective.
After which, I devoured the masterpiece: Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki, which gave me a head start on the psychology behind money. It was an eye-opener.
I could then see on a deeper level the reason behind my spendthrift nature and how I could ensure predictability in my expenses.
Those books set the groundwork for managing my finances effectively. And I believe by doing the same, you can, too.
So get to it!
2. Focus on transforming your mindset
As the scholarly Fola Aina points out, “It all starts from within. So grow from within. Win from within. Be transformed from within.”
The mind is a magnet: it simply brings alive what you feed into it.
Our immediate environment(family, friends and surrounding community) and accumulated personal experience over time play a huge role in our existing mindset.
Hence, if we had the wrong idea about money, transforming our minds would require a deliberate and conscious effort to internalize the correct information.
Reading alone will not do you much help. You must internalize and relate with the material, which is key to retention.
In fact, this retention act results in a mindset shift, which is required to instil a culture of discipline and personal growth.
3. Set aside a percentage of your income
In light of what I had read and internalized, I gladly took to the act of saving. And this remarkably changed my life forever.
It suddenly dawned on me that the same weekly income I had considered inadequate could cover all my basic needs, despite saving a portion of it.
What I claimed to be an issue of insufficient income was, in the truest sense, a problem with my mind, habits and self-discipline. I believe the same holds true for many of you.
So obey the advice of George Clason in his book, The Richest Man in Babylon: Pay Yourself First.
And watch yourself become financially free.
4. Invest, Invest, and Invest.
I am yet to rise to the occasion on this front. In fact, I am slipping up.
Well, I am not there yet. But I believe I will find my rhythm in time. After all, no one is perfect.
Though I have learned from the greats that investing is one sure path to financial freedom.
This sounds cliché. Yeah, I know. You have probably heard it countless times. But trust me, it’s an undeniable truth.
Here is a piece of priceless investment advice from arguably the greatest investor of all time, Warren Buffett: Invest in what you know.
Conclusion
In the end, a higher income did not resolve my financial plight. Instead, all it required was a mindset shift on my part.
Thus, I brought stability to my finances by learning, internalizing the information relevant to transforming my mind, and setting aside some of my income.
You can do the same as well.
How did you intend to achieve financial freedom? If you have, how did you come about it?