SUCCEED BY PLANNING YOUR OWN GROWTH EVEN WHILE IN AFRICA

Planning is defined as the act of making plans, formulating of a course of action, or trying to make something possible.

ABOUT/ CONTENT OF THIS ARTICLE/POST:
In this post I'll be discussing or shearing:

• PHASES OF LIFE

• HOW TO GROW FROM YOUR EARNINGS (WHAT EVER THE AMOUNT)

• WHY YOU NEED TO SAVE

• WHY YOU NEED TO CONTINUALLY SAVE/INVEST

• AND SIMPLE STEPS/RULES YOU CAN FOLLOW TO LEARN HOW TO SAVE

INTRODUCTION:
It's a pity that most families in Africa suffer a lot, yet most of us work so hard yet we remain in the same place for years without significant progress. We tend to earn to survive most of the times, without any plans for our retirement, maybe, we hope on our children, who at the end, end up like us ( earning to survive).

I met a guy who earns a good amount of money, and he was very young, so he lived well, enjoyed his life, had whatever he needed and wanted, he had fun with friends, and all was well. Most of his expenses was on food and drinks, and comfort in general. But one day he lost his job, nothing tangible was in his account, no other source of income and no support from family nor friends. He became stranded.

Have you ever asked yourself why these big business men can never go hungry?
Well, let's discuss the PHASES OF LIFE with respect to growth.

PHASES OF LIFE

Source:

In biology, we have about four(4) stages of growth, as in the life cycle of a bacteria, something called the growth curve.
In the curve in the picture below are phase a,b, c, and d.
Well for a bacteria and most living organisms,
phase a is the phase at which the bacterial is still adapting to growth conditions and things like enzymes, RNA etc are still being synthesized, at this stage they is no proliferation.
Phase b is the phase of rapid growth
Phase c is a phase of little or no growth
and phase d is the decline/death phase: this could be caused by lack of nutrients, environmental factors, age, etc.

APPLICATION OF THIS CURVE TO US
Phase a: this is the time we were still kids, we knew nothing, don't have any earnings. At this point our brain is still gathering the materials it needs to earn, which includes:

• Schooling
• learning of skills
• learning of trade and so on
  At this phase we have not started any growth, and we might not have started earning.

Phase b: this is the most important phase in this my discussion and in success generally.
This is the phase of rapid growth, the phase were you are expected to grow like no other.
In this phase you have started earning, and SHOULD grow as much as possible, because as you can see in the curve, there is no better growth phase.

This is probably the most challenging phase in your success growth curve, because it is the phase where our youthful desires tend to fight against our success. It is the phase where our wants tend to overcome our sense of reasoning. In this phase we have a primary problem of not being able to discipline ourselves to save enough and also invest enough.

So we move to the third phase of the curve, expecting a miracle, which sometimes so happen of course, but leaving our fate to chance for me is not wise.

Phase c: is a the stationary phase, in this phase we experience little or no growth. Reason is due to commitments and responsibilities, which includes:

1. Getting married
2. Taking care of your family needs
3. Children's Schooling and welfare
4. And maybe your extended family members.

At this point savings becomes extremely difficult, if not impossible, which results in a stagnant or plateau phase.

Phase d: is the decline phase or phase of death, which is inevitable by anyone, but your previous phases can contribute to its time. In other words, a well planned phase a, b, c and lead to a delay in the commencement of phase d.

NOTE: The above phases is not absolute as anyone can die at anytime, and not entirely dependent on age, it's never too late to start your life phases and make the necessary corrections.

HOW TO GROW FROM YOUR EARNINGS
You are now in phase b of your life but does not know how to save,
you think you are not earning enough to save?, your annual earning is low, so you think you can't possibly save from it, else you'll die. Lol.
I used to think one has to save a little fraction of his earnings after his expenses, until I met a mentor who taught me one should spend what is left after saving. So savings comes first.

No matter how much you earn make sure you are saving from it and not just saving but also have a plan or an idea you wish to invest it on, that way you have a target, you wish to meet. At this point you need to consider your decision very carefully, your investment has to be on something that can give you freedom to still do whatever you were doing and your investment still brings you some cash, it does not have to be so huge, but you have to be able to control bot comfortably.

WHY YOU NEED TO SAVE
the need to save can't be over emphasised, I'll list a few general reasons you need to save.

• Emergency situations:
  This could be due to a number of things: medical expenses, loss of income, unforseen occurrence. You will need money set aside for these emergencies to avoid incurring debt to pay for your necessities.

• Retirement :Everyone will retire someday, whatever you do, and you'll need something to replace the earnings you used to have, in other to survive.

• Average Life Expectancy : With more advances in medicine, people are now living longer and needing more income to get by.

• GROWTH : this is probably the most important, as a person, except you want to remain where you are, you need to save and reinvest in something else, irrespective of how much you are earning.

WHY YOU NEED TO CONTINUALLY SAVE/INVEST
There is a saying ;"money does not full the Tommy", meaning, money, no matter the quantity does not satisfy anyone. Human wants are insatiable, so your investments should never seize, you need to always expand, because to one knows tomorrow.

Take for example ALIKU DANGOTE, probably the richest man in AFRICA is almost in everything, ranging from oil, to little things like spaghetti and noodles, yet he is still investing, note he is arguably the richest man in Africa, yet he is still investing.

SIMPLE STEPS/RULES YOU CAN FOLLOW TO SAVE
first of all, you need to acknowledge the fact that being able to save is difficult and requires strong will and discipline. And you can save in many ways, whichever one you think will work well for you, use it. This is my own way of saving, and the way I think is best.

1. You have to decide to save first: it's very important to make the decision, if possible write it somewhere that every month or week or year I will save this amount of money

2. Always have a target: it can be inspired by what you want to invest on. That way you will have an amount you will always keep in mind that you need.

3. Spend what is left after savings: you have to make sure to always take out your savings immediately you receive your earnings, before spending any dime.

4. Know your place: you don't need to make unnecessary expenses when you know you don't have enough, this is usually the cause of pressure to touch your savings.

5. Save your money in places that are not easily accessible: you can decide to open an account specially for savings, without a source of withdrawal(ATM, cheque book, withdrawal slip and so on).

CONCLUSION
The road to success is quite rough and sometimes unpredictable, that is probably why the ratio of the poor to the rich is so large. Some people where born with a silver spoon, while some where born with deformities, you have to recognize your challenges and think of a way to overcome it. For irrespective of who you are, or what you are, always believe you always have a chance.

Thanks for reading..
If you think people needs to see this, then you should resteem it.

I am @apeximomen