On the 6th
of January, 2014, Sola Afolayan, a newly wed in her thirties, contacted me
saying that she was in debt of N4.2million and wanted me to coach/mentor her
through the process of paying off her debt. I spoke to Sola and advised her
based on my expertise as a finance coach. On the 16th of October,
2014, Sola sent me a message saying she had cleared her entire debt in just 9
months. Please read her testimonial below and be inspired:
Testimonial
1: My journey to
financial freedom included the need to be free of bad debt. This journey started in my mind about a year before I was coached
by Omilola Oshikoya. I said ‘mind’
because; I am a determined person with drive and grit but given my personality
type, I failed to realize my dream of being debt free because I was dancing
around the issue and didn’t know I needed to approach this issue from a
behavioral angle. This was why I failed, not until Omilola helped me look at
the real issues which were: “How did I
get myself into this debt in the first place?”, “What belief systems was I
running when it came to financial management?”, “Who am I accountable to?”,
“What does wealth mean to me?”, and “How will I feel when I am completely free
of bad debt?”. Basically, she helped me navigate the murky waters I was in
by helping me identify a key weakness in my personality (I have a load of steam
at the start of a project and the steam runs out not long after because I tend
to launch out on another project, not long after). I had a short attention
span, hence, low staying power to commitments. So, yes, she helped me find the
need to be accountable. Interestingly, I chose to become accountable to the
dream I had so long neglected, self-care. All my dreams had hitherto been push
to the back burner.
Secondly,
I had to rethink my ‘giving policy’- I was an over-giver, an emotional one. I
was fond of funding needs, not dreams. And since there will never be an end to
‘needs’, I was always finding myself in situations where I had to rescue
people. But that has changed. It changed because I had a coach who made me see
reason why balance is key and why giving without purpose was ultimately
hurtful. You see, the belief systems I run, hence my values and goals, are
entrenched in my religious beliefs. She helped me re-align this too. This was
very vital as it helped free me from guilt and stay focus on ‘putting the first
thing first’. A practical step she helped me with was to have an account solely
dedicated to ‘charity’ and after I had expended it that was it. So, I didn’t
feel guilty when I said ‘no’ to ‘needs’. Infact, it helped me do more for
people.
There
are a number of other factors that also helped me stay on course which she was
immensely instrumental to:
·
Do it afraid: I was afraid of the mountainous
N4.2million.
·
Start now: Aside from acknowledging my fears,
she taught me not to accept its crippling effect but to start NOW.
·
Start small: She knew I could be a steam in
January and then a spring by March. So she advised I start small by paying
N500, 000 per month instead of my ambitious N1million. This I followed through
religiously, which helped me payoff my N4.2million debt as at Dec 2013, by
first week October 2014.
·
Share your goal with your spouse: How would I have accomplished this
goal and stay on course practicing what my coach advised if I hadn’t had my
husband’s support? No way! With his support, we had to adjust our budget
activities.
·
Learn, Unlearn, re-learn: She helped me seek out books
related to financial management- I re-read ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad’, a CD book:
What got you here, wouldn’t get you there’- this helped me unlearn some myths
and re-learn some self-prospering beliefs and practices.
Omilola
Oshikoya is Africa's premier life, finance and business coach,co-author
of the money book, a columnist for the second most widely read
newspaper in Nigeria and a co-host on the talk show, The heart of the
matter, which airs on Ebonylife and Niger Delta TV.
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