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[Column] Chioma Nnani: Your 90-day plan to a richer 2017

Happy New Year!:)
Yes, I know – the month of January is all gone.

Before you know it, it'll be the end of February, then March. The first quarter will come to an end, then the second quarter, it'll September before we can blink … and you know the rest.

I stopped making New Year resolutions some years ago. I'm one of those If you think something is wrong, why wait till a new year to try and fix it? kinda people. I get that not everybody is like that, and to be honest, life can get in the way.

It's as easy to have good intentions, as it is to feel overwhelmed by them … especially in business, where there's a fair bit to keep up with. Even if your previous year was good, you want to have a better new year. You don't want to tell so many stories, you don't want to waste your time and you generally want to be more productive.

I remember hitting the ground running in 2017, but by the end of the first week, I was starting to feel … scatty. You have all these dreams, but the reality of what it would take to achieve them is either impossible to put in a capsule, or looks like way too much work. So you struggle a bit, juggle as many balls as you can, crash out, lick your wounds … and you're still in that state weeks, months and a year later – with no real concept of exactly what you achieved in the past year.

I know that feeling and I was really keen to avoid that.
After happening upon a really cool resource, I've embarked on a 90-day plan (things are easier if you think three-month blocs instead a year's haul) and it feels amazing to tick stuff off the list.

One of the hugest lessons, I would say, is that a goal that lacks definition is just a dream.
It's very easy to go, “Oh, I want to make more money this year”, but what does more money mean? A hundred Naira? A hundred thousand Naira? A thousand dollars?

Then, there's also the issue of the 'how'.
Many Nigerian entrepreneurs have a bit of an idea of what they think they want, but no concept whatsoever of how they intend to get it.
So, if you think you'd like a hundred thousand Naira increase in your income, how exactly will that happen? No, money doesn't drop from the sky in real life; it's never happened, it never will.

The truly scary thing about get-rich-quick schemes (such as MMM) is that people continue to be blind to a basic business principle; money is given in exchange for goods and services. If there are no goods or services involved, something is very wrong. Chances are it's even illegal.

So, if you think you want to make more money in the next 90 days, your best bet is producing and marketing products and services. I'm also happy to share the resource with you, if you email me.

 

Chioma Nnani is an award-winning author, who also contributes to business, lifestyle and literary publications. One of Africa's most fearless storytellers, she is a 2016 CREATIVE AFRICAN Awards finalist in the category of “Best Fiction Writer”, and a DIVAS OF COLOUR 2016 finalist. Chioma has also been nominated twice for a UK BEFFTA (Black Entertainment Film Fashion Television and Arts) Award in the “Best Author” category, lives in Abuja, where she runs THE FEARLESS STORYTELLER HOUSE EMPORIUM LTD, can be reached on @ChiomaNnani and blogs at www.fearlessstoryteller.com for which she won the 2016 BEFFTA for “Blog of the Year”.

 


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