Moment of Discovery : with Ik Anyanwu
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Topic: Financial Independence
On Mon 27 March , 2017, I was Guest speaker at the Christian Pentecostal Mission Youth Seminar where I made the following Presentation.
I hereby publish the paper I presented at the event :
*Financial Independence* seminar with Ik Anyanwu of Arise Afrika
Definition: financial Independence is the state of having sufficient personal wealth to live, without having to work actively for basic necessities.
For financial independent people, their assets generate income from dipping into the assets that is at least as great as their expense
*\”I wish above all things that thou may prosper and be in good health. Even as they soul prospers\”* 1 Time 3:18
It is the will of God for us to gain financial independence.
If you want to have financial freedom this month, this is very important:
*It is not about knowing how to make money.
You must know how to save.
The first time there is a downturn in the economy, if you lost your job, recession or accident. How do you survive?
The way of measuring how financially independent you are is *\”how many months you can live without any income coming in?\”*
You can live on the amount of money you have saved.
*laws of money/financial Independence*
1. *Know what you make net*
Identifying a problem is the beginning of the solution.
Most of us have issues when it comes to finances.
Most times when it comes to financial management. You would not believe it when I sit with people and ask how much they make and find out that they don\’t know.
You have to identify your income. Not *\”ifcome\”*
Write down all your sources of income
If you don\’t know how much you earn, how can you work on what you are spending?
*2 Be Disciplined*
For you to have a proper financial management you have to be disciplined.
Write down all your expenditures, cut down on the unnecessary things
Most important thing in money or financial management is discipline.
Develop discipline to win when it comes to financial management
*3 Always have a financial Plan*
Form the habit of writing down your expenses.
Budget and plan
Review expenses and be accurate.
You spend from what actually comes in not what you are expecting.
If you want to have financial Independence, you have to apply this principle
*4. Open Several Multiple streams of income* [Entrepreneurship]
If you find out that you have less money coming in than what you spend then you are broke.
You can control what you spend by putting yourself on allowance and living within that.
Get your expenses to be 75% of what you make net.
I believe in working hard but let\’s consider this for a moment.
The truck pushers, the people at \”ogbo osisi market \” they work so hard but that is not the place you will find the richest people.
You can become rich by applying the mental more than the physical strength
*5. Never finance/spend on anything that depreciates*
Most things do depreciates.
Learn to say no to many things in life.
Set a law on purchase. Never buy anything above 1,000 without sleeping or thinking about it first.
Follow 24 hour rule and don\’t be impulsive
*6 Apply the principal of compound interest*
If you go to bed at night and wake up in the morning and have less money than you had before then \”compound interest\” is working against you.
But if you go to bed and wake up richer than when you slept then you have compound interest working for you.
7. Save
If you spend everything you make, you will never be secure in life.
*8. Invest in your personal development*
The most important thing you have is your brain. They may cease your assets. If you loose everything else, you can never loose the investment in your brain.
Invest in developing your mind. If you buy books, it\’s not an expense but an investment.
The information age is upon us and the only weapon that allows us to go to battle in this age is your brain. So don\’t starve your brain.
*9 Focus on quality of life and peace of mind if you get wealthy*
When you make money and start doing well. People would start tracking you and start pestering you.
You have to learn how to say no.
We don\’t have financial problems.
What we have is *wisdom problem*
That is why the scriptures says *\”in all your getting, get understanding\”*
*To do list*
Take a pen write everything you spend on a day.
Every money you spend changes your net worth.
So get organized.
*10 Center your business on core values*
When I started Arise Afrika Magazine, GCFN Consult & Sommies foods Limited it became important for us not to think about the above brands as for personal gain but more as a gift to the world. This I constantly reminded my team members.
We established our brands on the following values:
*Integrity*
*Leadership*
*Excellence*
*Passion*
*Quality*
*Service*
When your business focuses on adding value before taking value, you will make decisions that will stand the test of time.
I was quite surprised to be invited by Christian Pentecostal Mission youth arm to come and speak on this subject because when it comes to money, there is no one more horrible with finances than myself.
I was pretty emotional, so poor in my finances
But by God\’s special grace and with conscious applications of these principles that I am sharing with you. I was able to conquer in this area.
The \”mess\” in my life was turned into a \”message\”
One of the ways you can gain financial independence is through *Entrepreneurship*
*Entrepreneurship* requires taking risk. You have to check a whole of variables. If you want to open up a Barbing saloon for instance in this area, you have to do a market survey. Quite important to know how many people are living in this neighborhood. How much is the rent?
An entrepreneur has a dream of getting things done. They think about making a contribution to the society.
If you think about money before getting into a venture, you will fail if you are moved by passion and the aim to make a difference then you can be an entrepreneur.
What is your purpose? How persistent are you?
There are millions of opportunities in the ICT today. Are you good in chatting? Do you love action or watching movies? Many people are multi millionaire from these tools that we are toying with. We all have smartphones but we don\’t use them optimally. We have a tool in our hands that has made people prominent, pulled down government, that have changed cause of destiny.
The president of Turkey was overthrown, he went online and made a video. Which he uploaded to the world and immediately he got the power back.
You can make lots of money through blogs. You can blog on sports, fashion, jobs, gossip. Just calve a nitch for yourself and be known for that particular thing. Not dancing with the wind .
Find a novel idea, it could be student life, Linda Ikeji does gossip and most people like it. Just be original with your idea. Ideas rule the world. Everything you see in the world today is run by idea. The TV, camera, airplane . All of them was someone\’s idea. You may not have money but you can partner with someone . You must have the \”I can do it spirit\’s. Never, Never give up live your life to the fullest and make out time to read, research in that particular area to ensure a safe landing.
Being emotional would damage a whole lot about you. It\’s not enough reading books . It is the application of that which you know that really matters
*11* Take Responsibility
Never stop your dream. Once you stop dreaming, you are as good as dead . You could make more money and yet become more and more broke.
Making a decision is easy but managing the decision is the key. Take responsibility for your personal finances. If you don\’t, no one would do it for you.
If you need to change that strategy, do it now. If it means relocating. Move!! Doing more things that doesn\’t work. Insanity isn\’t doing same thing every time and expecting a different result.
Our financial problems can be solved by simple application
Ecc 10:19, Proverbs 13:22, 12:27, 10:4, 12:24
General Principles of Financial management
If every month, you spend everything that you make, then you don\’t have a clue on how to handle money m
Every money you spend changes your net worth. So live a life of thrift. Never make a purchase without sleeping on it
If you financially can\’t buy an iPhone and you don\’t buy it that\’s is not delayed gratification, that it\’s not being foolish. Delayed gratification is that you can buy a car, iPhone but you don\’t. Because you have more important things in life that you want to do.
We all should work hard so as not to be broke.
12. You can be the next millionaire success story via the internet
Internet can be used to drive your business growth .
Internet is the most valuable real estate business in the world more valuable than land
Strive Mayisiwa said \”Every entrepreneur should have knowledge about the internet. See internet as valuable real estate in much the same way you see a piece of land for building like a hotel. Challenge yourself each time you visit the internet. This website am visiting, how do these guys make money? How does this App make money? \”
Every business must have a website. It\’s importance can not be over emphasized. People are able to look at your website from anywhere in the world. So when doing one, make it world class.
The internet also helps you in interactive e-learning, computer and internet education, e-commerce, websites, cheaper communication, global opportunities, network marketing.
Network marketing is also known as multilevel marketing is a method of marketing that utilizes independent representatives to reach potential customers that a company otherwise would not reach with traditional online or offline marketing methods.
There are over 90 million Direct sales and network marketing people around the world.
Looking at the speed of the internet and internet driven business against traditional business and other brick and mortar kind of business.
The internet in its 5 years had over 50 million users, TV took 13 years to reach that stage and radio took 38 years.
The internet helps you network with lots of people from all walks of life and be able to do a whole lot of business. There are lots of potentials in the internet today, it means you can be here in owerri but have someone in Manchester as your customer.
Companies like Google, Facebook, EBay, PayPal, Yahoo among others have all proved that the internet can be a gold mine.
Now that you know the power of internet, network marketing, you can be the next millionaire success story!!
I appreciate you all for your attention, time
My name : Ikechukwu Anyanwu
Founder of news, human empowerment and leadership blog www.ariseafrika.com
CEO Gcfn consult, Sommies Foods Limited
By God\’s grace a Human Resources Specialist, Social entrepreneur, Publisher
Motivational speaker, Life Coach
I love to educate, equip and empower people.
Come 7th – 19th April, 2017 we will be impacting people with various skills that would help them survive in this failing economy under the platform of Unique Arise Afrika Skills Training.
I will appreciate your contributions towards ensuring that it\’s a huge success.
Thanks