If you start now, you can do so much in the rest of 2020 and the new year when you implement the ideas I’ll be sharing. Ideas still rule the world but they do so through action takers.
Sometimes the best ideas are the ones offered to you, not the ones you generate. In the spirit of that maxim, let me indulge you with a few.
1. Create Content Consistently
Most netizens believe that content creation is a special art reserved for a few. After winning the African LinkedIn Influencer Awards for content creation, I realised how many lies people tell themselves about creating content.
The biggest? “I’m not a writer.”
Well, turns out that “content” is an all-encompassing term for anything you share on your social media handles. Words, pictures, videos, voice notes and all.
If you’re caged by the I’m-not-a-writer demon, I must remind you that most people are content creators before they acknowledged they are one.
You create content for school and work presentations in the form of PowerPoint slides. You create content in text messages, emails, WhatsApp and other direct messaging platforms. You post highlights of your life on social media; that’s content!
Once you’re aware of how much of a content creator you are, you will face the fact and get intentional about it. This time, you’ll become aware, conscious and deliberate about the content you’re putting out.
It’s too simple to be true. I know. You’ve probably known about this since forever, but have you tried it? Can you do it more often?
When I started creating content on LinkedIn in early 2020, I didn’t know that my picture would sit side by side with people who have created content on LinkedIn years before I started. And it happened in 9 freaking months!
The internet has democratized content. You can leverage that! A quick assignment; decide today to show up at least every working day of the week. You can rest on weekends. But commit to putting out useful content consistently. Share your experiences, stories, lessons and expert opinion. You don’t know where it’ll take you.
2. Study How Money Works
Money is one thing we all think we understand until the reality sets in.
Perhaps there’s no better reflector of your financial literacy than your bank balance. Numbers don’t lie. And if you pretend not to notice, then it’s only a matter of time before the reality catches up with you.
In the last half of 2020, I “went back to class” to up my financial intelligence. I took a 3-month financial mentoring course. I bought tons of books on finance. I read them too.
A part of that journey is what I shared with members of my online book club when I announced finance-related books as our titles for September and October. I couldn’t deny the joy of learning how money works.
For the umpteenth time, I learned that it’s not about how much money you earn. It’s not about how much money you save. It’s not about how much money you invest. It’s not about how well you diversify your investment portfolio.
Your wealth is tied to your financial education. In the last few months, I’ve read several books, articles and documentaries about stocks, cryptocurrency and the future of the financial market as we know it. Learning about money have forced me to question some of my long-held philosophies about finance generally. You think you know until you start learning anew.
What differentiates buying stocks directly and buying stocks through an index fund? Why does it matter? What are mutual funds? How do they work? What differentiates Real Estate Investment Trusts from the other real estate models we know? How do they even work?
In the wake of the pandemic, the US government printed and injected trillions of dollars into the system. What does that mean for the future of the dollar?
Stocks, real estate, mutual funds and other financial vehicles aren’t what you think they are. When it comes to money, go for in-depth knowledge. When you don’t know, you will have your hair shaved in your absence.
Thanks to the internet, you don’t need a university degree to be financially literate. Go on YouTube and follow blogs to learn the basics. Then seek professional advice. You will live the quality of life you want when you invest time and money educating yourself about how money actually works, not how the government say it works.
3. Travel Somewhere You’ve Never Been
Healthy exposure is a powerful growth stimulator. Your mind can never conceive beyond what it already knows. As much as I advocate for reading, I also understand that some journeys are better taken with your legs not just your mind.
All you need to do now is decide where you want to visit in 2021. It could be an economic hub in your home country or somewhere outside your country. Make the plan.
What events will you like to attend there? What opportunities are you rooting for? When you finally taste the air of farther lands, when your mind is exposed to cultures you never knew existed, you will realise that the world doesn’t revolve around you. It will humble you and keep you hungry for growth.
Make that list. Decide today! Don’t worry about how it will happen. Just decide!
4. Be Wary of the Books you read
Not every book is worth your time. Trust me!
Some books will set you on course for the good life while others will confuse the hell out of you. I pray you never encounter the latter.
This is why, in the last 2 years, I have carefully curated the reading list for members of my book-reading community.
As a former victim of crappy books, I care about them too much to allow them suffer the same pain.
In my yesteryears, I took book recommendations from random people. I burnt precious time reading books I had no business reading. Because I didn’t want my money to waste, I stuck with every book to the finish. 10 years later, I’m ashamed of my petty thinking back then.
As you walk through book stores, you will see bestselling books seducing you from the shelves. Like an amorous partner, they will bite their lips at you, they will lure you with their charm and spicy promises. Don’t fall for the trap.
Most of those books are not for you. Here’s how to know; read the introduction of the book and if your baby doesn’t kick, drop it ASAP and move on with your precious life. The longer it stays in your hands, the more tempting it becomes to buy.
Learn to say “No” to some books the same way you should say “No” to demands from certain people without feeling guilty.
5. Learn a High-income skill
The skill that will transform your earning power is probably not in your hands right now. It may be out there, locked in an unassuming course on Coursera, Udemy, Teachable, YouTube or your next-door neighbour.
In this day of digitisation, online courses no longer cost a fortune. They are everywhere—this is both an advantage and a risk.
Like books, choose your online courses wisely. First decide on the skill you want to learn, research the best or mid-level performers in that field and dig out for their courses.
Go for digital skills. Here’s my reason; the pandemic has changed the nature of work. In a work-from-home era, digital skills will give you uncanny flexibility. Upskill! Upgrade!! Out-earn your former self!
6. Stop Letting Apps Rule You
Quite frankly, most of the apps on your mobile phone are dead weight. You don’t need most of them. In my opinion, most mobile phone apps are carriers of business models crafted to rid you of your money and time. You must guard your attention.
Here’s how I do that.
I disabled all push notifications on my phone, sparing only emails, text messages and calls. I also went cold turkey by uninstalling some apps. I felt lighter and more in control.
Now I can see social media messages when I want to, not when the apps want me to. When I’m reading useful articles on Medium or Harvard Business Review, I can’t get distracted by a sudden notification.
Finally…
7. Document Your Thoughts
For 10 years now, I have written my thoughts in well-kept books. They might be published someday. Some might not. I’ll leave that decision for those who’ll be here when I’m no more.
Writing down your thoughts and persuasions might sound like a blatant waste of time. After all, you will always remember them when you want, right? Well, you can. Except that, you won’t remember them accurately in the future.
When you get rich and super successful, your writings today will be the only traceable lessons left when selective amnesia creeps in.
We successful people have the habit of forgetting what made us successful. The new seasons of plenty gradually relegates the dark seasons to the back of our minds. We forget! And so we cannot tell others where we’re coming from.
If you’re serious with posterity, you cannot entrust the precious lessons you’re learning today to memory alone. That’ll be a disservice to those coming after you.
The thoughts in your head can be manipulated by events. When you have them written down somewhere, there’s no way of lying to yourself.
There’s a permanence about putting ink to paper. If the Bible were transferred by word of mouth, think how skewed the message would’ve become centuries later.
Keep a Journal!
Which of these lessons hits home for you? Please share in the comments.
