Why Being Goal Oriented Is Still Important – part 2

On the 5^th of February 2016, I posted an article titled “Why Being Goal Oriented Is Still Important”.

It’s one thing to set a goal and another to work it. Goal setting is like making a marriage proposal and committing yourself to walk through the journey of love in both the good and bad times, choosing to love no matter what, adjusting and changing yourself to accommodate the other person in your life. It takes work, time and commitment to realize what you put your heart into.

“Setting goals is the first step in turning the invisible into the visible” – Anthony Robbins

As I had written in that article, my wife and I had the goal to build our home however we knew that for us to have a home, we needed a plot of land. We were able to get the land in our first year of marriage. It really took us making some deep sacrifices, we chose to live a modest lifestyle, nothing flashy but still happy within our means.

“If you don't have any goals in life, it is high time you start thinking of some and start living by them, you will live a life of purpose and bring fulfillment not only to yourself but also to those around you” – Arthur Kmo

Moved into our home

On the 8^th of April 2018, My wife, children and I moved into our home. The home is not done up to standard however the basics of power, water, plastered, undercoat painting, windows, doors, and roof are all there. We thank God for enabling us to get to where we are. His word says you shall build homes and live in them. We took that in the literal sense believed, worked hard, putting money aside so that we could be able to do what he promised in his word.

As we live in our home now. We know very well that the home needs maintenance, bills still need to be paid for but we also know that we aren’t under any pressure to pay rent. One of the things that pushed us to leave was the fact that rent had gone up and we told ourselves that we would rather use the rent money to keep doing finishing bit by bit.

You can not develop without a loan

I grew up knowing that for development like building a home to happen. It was impossible to do this without a debt. Almost everyone who said that, after doing some research, many of them have never really had a saving culture. What I heard is that you can only get a loan to invest in an income-generating asset or build a home. However I read up on some who have done that impossibility and I realized how frugal they were, how they patiently multiplied their income by creating other streams. I chose to follow the advice of the latter. I even read in the bible, that the borrower is a slave to the lender, I told myself that the only way I won't be a slave is to avoid debt at all costs.

Life is indeed about lifestyle choices. I strongly believe what Dave Ramsey teaches about personal finance. He says that it is 80% behavior and 20% head knowledge. We did and continue to do a lot of reading it has helped a lot. We surely live in an economy where the urge to borrow is so strong. Debt is sold to us at the highest level possible. While driving your car, you will hear all sorts of adverts pulling you to go get a bank loan. We get so happy while getting the loan but are so gloomy while paying it back. I agree that loans have helped very many people develop, but my story is different, my wife and I made some hard sacrifices to make sure that our home was 98% debt-free. We got some money here and there to push us, but we are grateful for what we have, the state it’s in, we shall only get better. This experience has taught us the value of working together, saving together and putting these ideas into reality. It is possible to develop at your pace without debt if you can avoid it please do if you can't seek as much advice as possible so that you can get good rates and understand what kind of agreement you are getting into with the bank. So many people who have used their loans well and put it to good use, they are there to tell you what it takes just seek them out.

To find out some of the things my wife and I did, you will possibly need to read these articles and many more. Enjoy!

1. Invest in your mind
2. Attitude 
3. Attitude towards money and the value of work
4. Make sense of saving
5. Don't stop planning
6. Decide today
7. Pay yourself since no one is paying you
8. Deal with consumerism
9. Deal with debt

#Impact #Empower #Transform

How To Brace Yourself For Worse Economic Conditions

Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay 

I have been reading a lot lately and also hearing so much about our economy in the news. We all know that the Parliament of Uganda has passed the Tax on Social Media, Mobile Money Tax, and many others.

We have come from a recent economic meltdown where a bag of cement was going for almost 40,000 UGX or $10.6, the cheapest you would get was probably 35,000 UGX or $9.28, it has reduced but it's affecting the development of infrastructure, I know of people who have put the construction on hold just because of these high costs, imagine if you wanted to move to your place, what would you do? some just go in however bad the situation is, others wait.

They say our taxation hasn't hit a high ceiling but even when you are buying a loaf of bread or fueling your car, you will realize that the normal fuel of 20,000 UGX or $5.30 can no-longer do you good like it used to, now you need 10,000 UGX or $2.65 more on top of the $5.30. We also know that there are groups that are fighting this tax tooth and nail.

We have seen political actors try to increase or double their pay, remember they don't even pay taxes but this is when we see some of them rise up like never before, this what Robert Kiyosaki said, 

"History reminds us that dictators and despots arise during times of severe economic crisis". 

Imagine the pressures in a home because certain needs can't be met, couples are failing to support one another because it's the other person's duty, my encouragement in this area is finding a way of working, for us Our Motto is "My money is her money, and her money is my money, so it is our money" this enables us to plan together. This combined force has enabled us to sail through hard times.

These economic times are going to demand a seriousness on your side like never before. If you haven't been a good planner, it might teach you to become one, if you haven't thought of passive income, that could also be an awakening, if you haven't thought of investments, it could be the time to reevaluate and cut back on consumerism. I read this statement and it made it a lot of sense 

"Man is born free, and everywhere he is in debt" - Paul Mills

The debt our country has is bad but the debt individuals have is bad too.

With all this conundrum happening in our country today, I sit back and ask myself, "Will things get any easier?" and my answer is, "I don't think so". The people managing this economy probably have forgotten where they came from. Almost every corner around Kampala or in areas that we live in has someone running a mobile money stall, some of you on this platform are affected too. Can you imagine how many will be kicked out of business especially in a time when unemployment is so high? 

While listening to Radio-one talk-back, interesting views came in concerning this issue and I agree that this tax should be scrapped however we are at the mercy of the leaders of this great nation Uganda.

In other words, I am writing to let you know that as much as the economy won't get any easier, this is also when the best entrepreneurs arise, especially when our backs are against the wall. 

Could you be that person beaming with some creative idea, my prayer is that you will stand strong and not waver. It takes hard work to prevail through certain things, don't stop digging those wells even if you are chased from one after the other, you will eventually find one and have peace with it and you draw your own water that you will use to replenish others as well.

Let me end with this quote from John Mcain

"You raise taxes during an economic crisis time, as we did in - back in the time of Herbert Hoover, you send the country into a depression "

Remember this, A FOOL SPENDS WHATEVER HE GETS (Proverbs 21:20), don't be a fool.

This is what James Abola said on 24 June 2016, principles could apply today see video