When firecrackers announced the start of a new year Sarah felt 2019 would herald many good things. Although a corporate lawyer, she had drawn up plans to open the biggest boutique in town, increase her investment portfolio by N5million, start an online baking class and achieve 20 other similar goals carefully outlined in her diary.
The year was off to a great start and Sarah seemed to be on top of her game until events started spiralling out of her control. “Time waits for no one” and Sarah is no exception, with just three months left in the year the once confident lawyer wants to throw in the towel.
Like Sarah, many Nigerians have not been able to actualize the objectives they had set out for in January. If you are in that category, here are a few tweaks to help you bounce back.
·Don’t waste time regretting
Do not spend the next minute thinking about what could have been or trying to beat yourself for missing your plans. One thing about regret is that you assume it is all over but the year isn’t and you can still achieve your plans-even if not 100 percent.
·Go back to the drawing board
One of the first things to do is to revisit your diary, journal, phone app, down memory lane or wherever you might have stated as your financial goal for the year.
Once you have identified them, critically examine if the plans are S.M.A.R.T; that is Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. This is so because it might be futile to plan to buy a private jet on a N120,000 per month salary. Also, a plan to “become rich” at the end of the year is doomed to fail because it is vague.
If your plan doesn’t meet the S.M.A.R.T criteria then you have your reason for lagging in your New Year resolution and you should adjust your plans. On the other hand, if they pass the S.M.A.R.T test then you have to go a step future.
· Identify factors that have hindered you
Since your goal is measurable (and achievable), how much progress have you encountered in the time-frame you desire? What have been the drags? This is vital because you might have encountered circumstances you had not anticipated.
Take for instance a person that has diligently saved N500,000 per month from the start of the year for a brand new car.
If the person’s account took ill and had to spend most of the savings to get treated, it would be a very different situation from another that did not have the diligence to cut down frivolous spending and save for the car. Whatever the case might be, a problem identified is half-solved.
· It is never too late to learn a lesson
Now you know the events that distracted you from your goal, you have to make plans to counter the effects of prepare you to handle them if they arise another time.
From the example above, the person can simply create an emergency fund the next time he or she would be planning to purchase an asset. If saving for a car would require setting aside 20 percent of one’s monthly income for 10 months, then the person can either extend the duration for saving whilst saving less than 20percent for the car and the remainder for unforeseen events.
If the issue has been a habit, then you might need to take classes or course on personal development or simply read a book that can teach you to be better.
· Strategize again or rescale the goal given the timeframe available
If you had planned to save N12 million by year’s end and you have been woeful at meeting the target you could consider a different approach like creating a standing order to make deductions straight from your salary or main account into another created specifically for the N12 million.
Another way would be to reduce the monthly target to a more comfortable level you can meet. While this cannot be applied to all goals, the underlying logic could work.
