Written on :
Tomie and phones
Whew...that's like a match made in heaven NOT
If you ask my husband, he'll say 'We need to build a phone whose screen can't break (even if you smash it on a rock), is water resistant, won't ever have issues with voice speakers and has, at least, a 20 yr warranty.' Lol
This week was a tad frustrating.
My house didn't get flooded (Due to heavy rainfall, we experienced a flood in some areas in Lagos last weekend), but my phone fell into water.
I couldn't make any calls , post on Instagram or do anything (funny how our phones define our lives)
I went from almost pulling my hair out, trying to use an old patchy phone, to calm
Yes, calm.
and suddenly, I realized I was actually enjoying the calm
Now, this is not a lesson on how phones are intrusive, so you need to deliberately get unplugged more often. That's important
But this is me sharing how to make the best of every situation and connecting it to some of the questions I get from those who want to start investing.
When I took my phone in to get fixed and I was told it would take 3-4 days to get fixed.
Once it hit me what my reality was, clarity came like a bang and I told myself
'
Tomie, stay calm, set priorities and focus on what is within your control'
That's when I remembered I had an old phone I could scrub up to manage for a while.
When I saw that I had received so many messages on WhatsApp I had to respond to, I remembered I could respond using WhatsApp web and I took time off some other platforms.
I've had a couple of conversations and sessions recently that make me realize clarity is a treasure.
Clarity helps you make the best of every situation.
So, I'm going to be addressing a couple of foggy points for quite a number of people on my list.
I don't have enough money to invest
Do you think you don't have any money to invest? How about tracking your inflows and outflows to see where the money is really going. You might be surprised to see you can squeeze something out.
Try tracking your 'flows'
with a mobile application I wrote about here
You don't think what you have is enough to start investing? You can start investing with as little as N5,000 ($10-$15). There are investment options you can invest in with that bill point.
What are my investment options with that little money?
To be honest, not a lot.
However, you shouldn't be focused on making the quick buck with that little money. Anyone that says you can is lying to you (Sorry, I just had to say that. Big ouch, right?)
At this stage, what you need to focus on is building the habit of setting money aside to invest on a regular basis.
Investing is a long term play. It requires the discipline of habit and timing is very critical. If you keep waiting till you get a lump sum of money, you may lose precious time.
Ok, fine. I get it, I need to start early, but I really need additional income
Yes, I totally understand, additional income is BAE.
This is where you need to get creative. Have you considered free lancing?
hmm...you don't have enough time during the week. How about a few hours during the weekend? No, that's family time.
Fine. Can you create something you can sell based on your skills? Do you have people asking you to help them out because of your deep knowledge in a certain area?