29th April, 2013
We shall devote this week to answering some money questions from the mail box. We are treating two of such questions in this edition. To get your questions featured in this column, send an email to [email protected]. You can also sms it to 07031217797.
Is it ethical to do PP?
Hello double A, I read in one of your articles that we need to develop other sources of income. I work with a ministry and we are not allowed to do other work. Will it not be unethical if I start do something by the side
I don’t think you would be behaving unethically if, after the office hours, you engage in something that does not conflict with what you are employed to do. The truth is that we all have so many skills we can deploy profitably after office hours. As a civil servant, for instance, you can open a saloon, you can open your bakery to make cake or bread, you can start a career on motivational speaking. There are quite a number of things we can all do in our private hours. Doing something that is fulfilling during private moments will even make you do better at work. You must serve your employer faithfully and refuse to steal on their time to do private work. God will bless every work you do legitimately with your hand.
How do I overcome procrastination?
Double A. I must thank God for what he is using you to do through your column. I am a journalist too and I knew you when you were still at Concord Press. I am encouraged by the strides you have made. My challenge is this: I have planned to do so many things for the past 10 years but I have not been able to do any. Even the ones I started, I abandoned them. I must confess, I fear too much. I feel a paralysing fear any time I feel I should take a decision. I have spent over 19 years in journalism and I am not happy with what I have achieved. How can I break this habit of procrastination?
The truth is that you are not alone. Everybody is afraid of one thing or the other. Some of are afraid of flying. Some are afraid of birds. Some of are afraid of speaking in public. One author says the easiest way to overcome fear is to do that what you are afraid of. There is no other way. Look at what you fear in the face and plunge into it headlong. Usually, most of the things we are afraid of, preventing us from taking liberating decisions never happen. Fear is almost the same as worry and someone once said worrying is the dumbest habit you can ever cultivate as it amounts to paying interest on an overdraft you have not taken!
Another reasons people don’t complete what they start is that they do not count the cost from the start. A friend was once involved in a project .A television station had asked him to start a programme with them. He was very excited as he thought that would give him all the necessary publicity for the other arms of his business.
He got everyone in his company on the pedal working day and night to make sure that he beat the deadline set by the television station. But one day, someone just asked as a question if he had found out what the objective of the television station was. He never did. He later discovered that the television station would have simply ridden on his enormous goodwill to promote its own programme. There was no financial reward for his own company. Besides, it also occurred to him that the television station could actually dump him any time it had achieved its own objective. He opted out of the arrangement after he had expended quite a lot of time, energy and money in vain. But he could have avoided that pain if he had counted the cost from the beginning. Planning and programming are some of those costs.
Cost can come in various forms. It can be money. It can be the energy involved. It can be analysing what other aspects of your business would suffer if you embark on that particular project. All costs associated with the projects you are about to start should be counted before you embark on the project.
Some people who believe they are called by God into full-time ministry resign from their paid employment before sitting down to think through what it would take to work fully for God. Some people resign from their work apparently to start their own businesses. Some find their ways back into their former places of work because they do not count the cost of their action. Any project you start without full appreciation of the cost involved at the beginning is likely to be abandoned.
Again, you must ask other people who have done what you want to do. It may not be as difficult as you imagined. They should share with you their mistakes, the road you can take and the one you should avoid. Usually, when we are in traffic, we usually ask those returning how it is down there. With timely information, we can make a U-turn. That is the way mentoring works, too. Get a mentor before you embark on that project.
After you have done all this, go ahead and do what is in your mind because really you cannot fail. Everything is already completed in creation; you only need to figure it out. If you make mistakes along the way, rise again and move on. You can fail as many times as possible on your way to achieving your dream. All is well with you because you are blessed and highly favoured.
How do I get my children to be wise in money matters?
A friend of mine said that getting children exposed to money at an early age could ruin their future. At what stage should they be exposed to financial information? Do you have some tips? I have two kids, aged 3 and 6 respectively.
The starting point should be to open a savings account for each of them and make a definite commitment to be saving money in the accounts on their behalf every time there is an opportunity to do so. When they celebrate birthdays, money realised should be saved first in bank savings accounts. After some time, you can then begin to invest part of the fund in some investment instruments that can generate better returns than what the banks can offer.
Once the children are of age, you can begin to get them involved in the financial transactions on the accounts. Take them occasionally to see the manager in the branch of the bank you are using. Get them to ask questions no matter how silly such questions may be. I believe very strongly that over time, your children will be well-adjusted to money matters which they would find useful later in life.
I do not see how exposing them to money matters at the early stage can destroy their future. It depends on what you expose them to really. When someone gives them money, tell them to put it in a piggy bank. Don’t allow them to squeeze money. Teach them other little tips can help to build up their financial intelligence. All this can only help them in future, not destroy them.
Can I Start All Over Again?
I need your advice on this dilemma. I am 53 years old. I had worked hard to prepare for this period which ordinarily should be my retirement period which I want to use to do the things I am really passionate about. Unfortunately all my nest eggs were in the capital market. I had built a portfolio of shares that were valued at N375m as 2007 and I had planned to retire at 55. As at the time of writing, my shares were value at less than N45million. What can I do? Can I pick up a job again?
Any time you discover you have fallen into an error either the one you caused or the one foisted on you, the wise thing to do is to stop and take stock of everything. Take inventory of what you have, the contacts available to you and re-ignite the passion for your vision. With clarity of mind, you can start all over again.
Falling or making mistakes is not the issue, it is the perspective you bring into assessing the mistakes that counts. There are always opportunities even inside those challenging circumstances in our lives. The major work I think you should work on is your mind. You should spend some time listening to some good motivational CDs. Read books on those who have stumbled and got back on their feet again. You can do successfully whatever they did to come back.
Initially, you may have to find engagements that suit your temperaments for the purpose of generating cash flow. Set another deadline for yourself and work hard towards achieving your goals. If you do not faint, you would be surprised how far you can go and how many opportunities still lie ahead of you. If you need counselling on how to start out, you should go for one. All is well with you. Don’t ever give up.