How To Stop Being Broke

The truth is that being broke is not an accident; it is a product of living in a certain way. It is okay to be broke once in a while, but to consistently find oneself
in the state of being broke is abnormal. Something is wrong somewhere that has to be fixed or adjusted. No matter what may be the cause of your being broke, I am sure that one or more of the points I suggested below will be of help to you.

CHANGE YOUR THINKING: You started life from dependency to independence. When you were young, you depend solely on what your parents provide for
you. Since your parents are the one responsible for your upkeep, you quickly shift blame to them anytime you have any financial problem. This kind of thinking has the likelihood of following you into adulthood. You believe certain persons are responsible for your being broke. For instance, you may blame the
government for not creating job, or your parents for not giving you a quality education. If you fail in business, you tend to blame certain factors that are
beyond your control. The first step in stopping being broke is by changing this kind of thinking. You have to stop engaging in the blame game, and accept total responsibility for your life. If you must be free financially, you must accept that you are responsible
for your being broke. Stop expecting factors outside your control such as uncles, aunties, parents, government, good luck etc to bail you out of your
financial predicament. When you put too much hope in these things, and your expectation is cut short, where you will find yourself is the state of depression
and frustration, and you will ultimately become sad.
When you accept total responsibility for your financial situation, you will find yourself in the position of power where you can take action that will help you turn the table in your favour, and if
otherwise, then be ready to remain where you have always being. Without accepting personal responsibility for your financial situation, every other step in this list will definitely be difficult to carry out , but if you can achieve this first step, then you are on the path of liberating yourself from being broke.

HAVE MULTIPLE STREAMS OF INCOME: Some people find themselves in the state of being broke because they don't have sustainable source of income. If what you do for a living does not guarantee you steady income to meet your needs, then you will likely be broke at one point or the other. Also when you depend solely on one source of income as a means of solving your financially problem, you will likely find yourself in the state of being broke when that one stream of income fails. To avoid this, first you have to make sure that what you do to make money is viable enough to give you steady income, and second try as much as possible to create other streams of income which will serve as a back up when one stream fails. If you are a business person, what other business opportunities in the area of your business can you harness to
generate more income? No matter what you do for a living, you can create other streams of income. If you don't have the needed skill, go for the training. The
big question is what else can you do to make money beside your current source of income?

LIVE BELOW YOUR MEANS: it has been said that "it is not how much you make but how much you keep that determines your financial future." This list will not be complete without adding this point. So many persons found themselves in the state of being broke not because they are not making enough money but they have refused to learn how to spend wisely. No matter how much you earn, if you are of the habit of not living below your means, you will always be broke. You have to learn to adjust your lifestyle and
spending to the kind of income you earn in such a way that you will always have some savings to meet emergency. If you spend all your money as they come, then you will never be free from being broke.

PLAN YOUR EXPENDITURE IN ADVANCE: To stop being broke, you need to live your life like an economist. Back in my secondary school days, I learned in economics what is called scale of
preference. A scale of preference is a list which shows your needs according to their importance. It is a fact that human wants are unlimited, so as result,
there is the need to always make a list of your most important needs according to their importance.
When you have this list, you will be able to spend your money on things that will bring more value to your life at certain time and not just spending money on unnecessary things. Planning your spending in advance will prevent you from the trap of impulse buying. You are expected to spend money on what
you need and not what you want.

DON'T COUNT YOUR EGGS BEFORE THEY ARE HATCHED: Sometimes you will be expecting certain amount of money to be paid to you, such money maybe gift, salary or wages. No matter what, it is
wise not to place 100% hope on any money you are expecting, because there is the likelihood of not getting the money as at when expected. There are cases where employers refuse to pay their employee for months without prior notice. I am also sure that
at one point or other, someone has promised to give you money and fail to fulfill his promise as at when due. So to put 100% hope on such money is to set
yourself up for being broke. Even when you are expecting money, you need to plan your finances in way that ensure that there is left over cash to cope in
case your expectation fails.

I am of the opinion that if you can act on the five points discussed in this post, you will always have cash with you to meet your financial needs.
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from Ogwuche Abel

6 Mistakes You will Likely Make Between Age 20-30 As A Young Nigerian

6 Mistakes You will Likely Make Between Age 20-30 As A Young Nigerian
It is a general belief that experience is the best teacher. As true as this may sound, learning via experience has a lot of disadvantages. It is expensive to learn from experience. I learn as much as
possible from experience when life forced it on me, but I rather prefer to learn via evaluated experience by studying those who have gone ahead of me and learn from their successes and failures.
After taking a deep observation of the life of an average Nigerian, I discovered that majority of people are likely going to make the mistakes highlighted in this article and most of them have no
choice but to live with the consequences when they reach age 30. These mistakes include:
1; Thinking you are too young to achieve great things: Most Nigerian who are in their 20s are still pursuing their tertiary education, some will not even graduate until they reach their late 20s. In your 20s there is this tendency to think you are too young to pursue your dream. You will often feel you don't have experience and that people won't take your seriously. This mindset will make you defer some of
the things that would have speed up your success in life to a time you feel you will be competent to live your dream. The truth is that thinking you are too young to live your dream in your 20s is nothing but a limiting belief. Once you reach age 18, you are not too young to pursue any dream except where a higher age is required. People who made it big in their 30s started in their 20s. And if you are just waking up at 30, then you will be disappointed in yourself. You will regret wasting those precious years of your 20s by the time you reach age 30.
2;Focusing your life only on academics: In Nigeria formal education is overrated. The reason for this is because we have not been able to differentiate between education and academics. The object of
education is to help you understand your
environment, and learn how to adapt to it without constituting nuisance to others. Education also empowers you for success in every area of your life.
Academics on the other hand focuses on certificates or degrees. A person may have a degree but yet not educated. However academics can help to enhance
one's education.
The average Nigerian believe so much in the power of certificate and all his hope is bent on securing a good job after graduation through this certificate. In
order to achieve this end, he tend to put in all the possible efforts needed to get good grades. It is important to note that this formular of getting good grades to ensure a good job is no more valid in
today's world as we have graduates with first class who are not employed. In a situation where all your efforts was put into getting good grades without having a plan B for a situation where your certificate does not give you your dream job will only land you in regret, depression and frustration, which is the lot of so many Nigerian graduates today. TRUE EDUCATION PREPARES YOU TO SURVIVE WITHOUT YOUR CERTIFICATE.
To avoid this mistake, as you pursue your academic degrees, also find time to acquire some or at least
one vocational skill. There are many of them out there that can fetch you real money the moment you become an expert. If you have graduated from the tertiary institution and you don't have any vocational skill yet, it is not too late to acquire one.
3; Not working to earn an income: There is this tendency for you to rely solely on your parents for every dime you spend. All you are exposed to is how to spend money. This will put you in a position
where you don't know how difficult it is to make money. All you will have in mind is, as soon as you graduate, you will hit your dream job and you will be able to do what your parents or guardians are doing.
This kind of thinking is not always true. By the time you graduate and your dream job doesn't show up and have no option but to take care of yourself, then
you will wish you understood earlier how difficult it is to make money. This period will be the first time in your life when you will have a genuine appreciation for all the money your parents spent on
you. If you are currently relying on your parents for your up-keep and still in your 20s, then I say to you that you have not started living.
LIFE BEGINS THE MOMENT YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR ACTIONS AND FOR EVERY DIME YOU SPEND.
You can't afford to just be sitting at home eating, watching television, and hanging out with friends. Start doing something that can fetch you money. It may be a paid employment or personal business.
This will expose you to how difficult it is to accumulate money. The moment you know this by experience, you will begin to appreciate money and become wiser in the way you use it.
4;Thinking there is still time: Thinking you still have all the time in the world is one of the illusions of the 20s. You tend to live your life carelessly and spend your time on frivolities. However by the time
you hit 29, and moving towards your 30 birthday, you will begin to realize that you are no more a baby. You will realize you have been sleeping all this years if your achievement does not measure up with your age. It would be done on you for the first time that you no longer have time on your side. At this period you will wish you have done so many things in your 20s which you felt you were too young to accomplish.
5;Not equipping yourself with skills to survive in the real world: If you are not the discipline type, you will likely spend your 20s engaging in frivolous activities, which will prevent you from having a grasp of basic skills needed to survive in the real world.
Some of them include, ability to save money for a project, empathy, understanding, ability to delay gratification, and so on.
Also Young Nigerians who are academics oriented may end up spending their 20s pursuing only degree without any practical vocational skill that can
guaranteed them job after graduation. When the dream job doesn't show up, these youths tend to end up being underemployed, doing job they hate
out of no choice.
TRUE EDUCATION PREPARES YOU TO SURVIVE WITHOUT YOUR CERTIFICATE.
To avoid this mistake, as you pursue your academic degrees, also find time to acquire some or at least one vocational skill. There are many of them out there that can fetch you real money the moment you become an expert. If you have graduated from the tertiary institution and you don't have any vocational skill yet, it is not too late to acquire one. If you look around you, you will notice that most of the people who are making real money are not necessary those who are working with their certificates, but those who have answers to the problems of people around
them. Beside your certificate what problem can you solve for people and get paid for? If you don't have an answer, it is high time you identify major problems of the people around you, and proceed to
acquire vocational skill that can empower you to provide answer to such problem. The more problem you can solve, the more your capacity to make money. In zig ziglar's word ''you will have all that you
want if only you can help enough other people to get what they want.'' ONLY PEOPLE WHO DON'T HAVE SOLUTION TO OTHER PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS DIE IN POVERTY.
6;Not reading enough books: It has been said that if you want to hide something from an African, hide it inside a book. This tells about how poor our reading culture as Africans is. One of the major problems the average Nigerian will make in his 20s
is not reading enough books. We are all born into this world without a manual, all that we know and that we will know are all products of learning. The 20s is a time of preparation for the future ahead and
reading good books will definitely assist you in your preparation. Reading good books will expose you to the life time investigation of those who have gone
ahead of you. Learning from their experience is the best way to learn. Reading good books will enable you to begin from where previous generation left off. It is important to note that every form of success has its own governing principles. Books will expose you to the principles that govern the kind of success
you desire. As an African most of the things you were indoctrinated to believe while growing are myths, only reading and critical thinking can help you flush those erroneous beliefs out of your mind.
If you don't read enough books in your 20s, then you are an accident waiting to happen . Every youths in his 20s is expected to have a full grasps of the
principles that govern money, relationship and success generally. This can only be achieved by reading books that teach the principles governing
them. There are millions of them out there. I want to suggest here that as a Nigerian in your 20s that if you have not read the books I am going to list below
or the ones related to them, then you are probably not ready for life. The books include the following:
-Think and grow rich by Napoleon Hill,
-7 strategies for wealth and Happiness by Jim Rohn,
-The richest man in Babylon by George S.Clason,
-Rich dad, Poor dad by Robert Kiyosaki,

-Why you act the way yo do by Tim Lahaye,
-7 habits of highly effective people by
Stephen covey,
-The science of getting rich by Wallace
wattle,
-From poverty to power by James Allen, As a man thinketh by James Allen,
-Acres of diamond by Russell Conwell and many more.
These suggested books contains timeless truth of how things work in this life and reading and acting on the content will help save you from so many mistakes you would have made in life if you have not read them.
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from Ogwuche Abel

Welcome to Ogwuche Abel's Blog

After a great deal of Thinking,Reading and Learning I decided to create this Blog not Just for creating sake but to enable me share and pass out things I have learnt that I felt other youths should learn also.

Before I continue let me quickly Introduce myself, I'm Ogwuche Abel Ofuoweicho, I hail from Benue state Nigeria, I am a Lover of music mostly Rnb,Blues and Reggae,and I play the piano keyboard. With that being said I believe you now have a basic idea of who I am now.

So like I said before my main intention for creating this page is to enlighten my fellow youths about things that we don't know or things we know and we don't take serious. Though most of what I will Publish here might be what I copied or culled out of other peoples Articles/ book but it won't change my purpose/intention which is to pass out quality messages, which I believe we the youths of this generation needs and I will always give credits to the original Authors.

Thanks for reading and once again welcome to my page. - Ogwuche Abel Ofuoweicho.
from Ogwuche Abel