Be prepared to take your chances in these tough times

TUNDE OYEDOYIN  

Tunde Oyedoyin is a London-based personal finance coach and founder of Money Intelligence Coaching Academy, a specialist academy of personal finance. He can be reached as follows: +447846089587 (WhatsApp only); E-mail: tu5oyed@gmail.com

Times remain hard and the rising costs of living seems not to have any interest in slowing down.

As a matter of fact, the harsh economic situation does appear to have left its mark on most sectors. Another notable thing is that it’s not been discriminatory against the citizens of any particular country, either.

So, as former U.S President, George W. Bush will put it, “make no mistake about it.” Things are tough, especially in a country like our beloved Nigeria where prices don’t usually change direction once they go north. My mother reiterated this in my recent call to her. An Abuja-based businessman also mentioned this while I was on the phone to him last week.

However, hard times do not imply that you won’t get opportunities to better your lot and make progress. You just have to be prepared to cash in on those unique chances when they come round.

This reminds me of the morning after Manchester United outmuscled Liverpool, 4-3, in that seven-goal FA Cup quarter final thriller at Old Trafford penultimate Sunday. As it turned out, I popped inside my usual Pret A Manger outlet in West London, on the way to work on Monday. It was there that I read the Metro Newspaper’s account of Jurgen Klopp’s reaction to their loss.

Hear the lamentation of the German. “After 2-1 up, we had so many chances where we [had] to kill the game off,” but his players didn’t. He noted further that: “we [were] nearly there in normal time.” 

But Monsieur Mo Salah et. al ., fluffed their lines. Despite not putting United away in regulation time, he said we were even: “nearly there in extra-time,” but: “we lost the game.” Tough to take in when you’ve had many chances to hit a home run and didn’t do the needful.

That resonates well with personal finance. Like United’s game against Klopp’s troops, these seemingly difficult times are littered with opportunities as well. Whether it is in your quest to make the five percent class of Nigerians with over half a million naira in their account, or while bringing out the kitchen sink in order to achieve your financial goals; just be on the lookout and be ready to grab any opportunities you fancy.

Just last week, a group of fellow Nigerians I was recently invited to join made a presentation asking for prospective members to have a stake in a business venture. Looks good, especially as the seed capital won’t send yours truly to the poorhouse, should anything happen.

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