The challenges you face in a bid to cultivate a habit in saving and getting a saving plan working are diverse. There are internal, self-inflicted setbacks and, you must watch for this, societal perpectives that sometimes tend to stigmatise and disparage saving. If you are not careful, they will shape your thinking and drag you to the low point where the majority are, which is really the intent of it all.
Beat Detractors
Have you ever tried to negotiate price with a market seller in Lagos, for instance, only to be nicknamed 'baba-ijebu' just because you sought a fair price that saves you some money? What about being referred to as a teacher, just because you tried to work with some budgeting, a principle many still think was the preserve of colonial-time teachers and should have gone with that age. Yet those people learnt to do so because they worked closely with people who operated such money-management systems in their societies, even back then. How many times have you been cajoled by somebody or group of persons who considered you stingy because you tried to operate within your means and couldn't indulge in a spending spree? These things happen all the time, and the danger is, if you are not well-routed in the financial principles you want to implement, you can be derailed, distracted or discouraged by the negativity of people around you or who you deal with. These peoplle believe that how to make an impact is by living for the moment and flaunting the little resources they have. That is a challenge you must overcome and develop the single-mindedness that enables you accomplish your goals without being diverted by people who don't mean well or who can't get their own act together.
Work Your Plan
Mind you, the suggestion here is not for you to live for savings alone and now neglect your basic needs and the care of your family. No extreme position works well as the downside costs could always outweigh the benefits. That's why a deliberate plan is what you need. A plan necessarily considers your various needs and how to meet them with available resources and rationing may be an important part of the solution. The good thing is that such plan includes saving as a critical need element, ensuring that it doesn't get displaced or overshadowed by other needs. That way, you take care of the immediate as much as possible, but without losing sight of and control over the need to build financial power for tomorrow. That's the game. When you package yourself that way, you obviously know your direction and destination and can't just give a damn what some crank somewhere thinks or says. You need that to get the results you target.
Develop a Mental Envelop
It's clear from all of this that you need a tough mental attitude to achieve the goal of setting and implementing a saving plan. The reason is that progress can easily be stalled as a result of factors that emanate from without, just as internal weaknesses or aberations can run your effort to a halt. Factors that can derail you from within include saving fatigue (you run out of steam and choose not to 'purnish' yourself anymore), falling to the temptation to 'enjoy' what you've saved so far, suddenly wanting to consume like everybody else around you, etc. How do you develop a mental framework for maintaining the course? You must focus on your goal and see the future you are aiming for. You must re-inforce your belief in the wisdom of your action in choosing to sacrifice some immediate consumption for a stronger capacity to meet tomorrow's needs. You must assure yourself that you have a right to save money and so cannot be cajoled or derided into spending more than you want to or paying an unfair price or buying an item you can overlook. You must convince yourself that the problem is not you but the other person who hasn't known what you know and who will continue to burn his resources, missing a great opportunity to put his earnings to work in good time. Yes, assure yourself that you are rightly on track and getting somewhere, eventhough it might not be obvious to the guy who is not seeing your growing portfolio of assets that are strengthening your financial capacity, day in, day out. Obviously, you will get round to doing more, enjoying more and doing these in the circumstances where you have enough to always retain a comfortable reserve.
So, if anybody ever suggests that it's something to be ashamed of to save money as part of managing your financial resources, ignore that person and forgive his/her ignorance. More importantly, don't ever be embarrassed, discouraged or diverted from the lofty, self-preserving course you have taken. Your future will bear out the wisdom of your actions
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