One of the greatest tragedies in life is going through the motions. As Sir Isaac Newton discovered, an object in motion continues in the same direction at the same speed unless acted on by another force. 

Could that be the story of your life? Living each day as it comes, hand to mouth, day by day, month to month? Granted, the environment is as much to blame for the situation. But for how long? I put it to you that there must be a different way; a force great enough to nudge your life in a different direction perhaps?

Enter self-leadership.

The only way to break free and take command of your finances is self-leadership. When you refuse to settle or accept the realities, you become a force unto yourself. This article will look at what you can do to step into your role as a self leader and turn your financial situation around. 

Self-leadership and your personal finances

Leaders are responsible for determining strategy, organising and controlling. Do you want your personal finances to change direction? Take up your God assigned self-leadership role. Plan the course of your finances, organise your life and more importantly control yourself. 

Apart from the obvious plan to save more, one of the best self leading strategies you can implement is to make more money. 

However, there’s no universal way to make money.

As a self leader, you have to identify what works for you and stick with it. You see, some are social butterflies, while others do better in the shadows. Some thrive in office roles, and others know how to work the streets. So whether you have street smarts, book smarts or no smarts at all, find where you fit and dig in deep.

Regardless of how you do it, there a few basic fundamentals that have been proven to increase income. 

1. Learn more

If you’re a bookworm, by all means, go for it, get that MBA, PHD, CA, or whatever other sets of acronyms in your industry. It sets you apart from the rest and might open a few doors.

If you belong to the school of hard knocks, know what’s what. Stay on top of your game and don’t blink, not even once. 

Bottom line, don’t stop learning. There’s always room for improvement. 

2. Make more money

Always hunt for opportunities to make more money.  Do you have a hobby you can turn into a side hustle? A piece of land you can cultivate (even your backyard or rural land)? Are you tech-savvy? Can you write? Or maybe you can sell?

Still no? 

Maybe you have a good voice, and you can do voice-overs. The point is, find a way to expand your income bracket. 

There’s a lot more to the internet than following the lives of the rich and famous. There are loads of great side hustles you can try. Simply google, and you’ll get a bucket-load of options. Just remember to do your due diligence, so you don’t fall prey to scams. 

And on that note, think of ways to invest what you make. Did you know that you can make significant monthly returns on the ZSE? Even accounting for inflation, you’d still do pretty well. 

Have you heard of something called cryptocurrency? No, that’s not a pyramid scheme. You can make real returns trading on a cryptocurrency exchange. 

Forex trading, binary options, crowdfunding – expand your horizons. 

3. Focus

You may have heard that you need to follow your passion and whatnot. But what if you live in Zimbabwe? Who has time to be following passions when you need to eat?  I propose that you focus and get passionate about whatever you find yourself doing. Because that’s what leaders do, they keep their eye on the prize.

4. Nurture relationships

Opportunities come through connections. Someone you know refers you to someone they know. Or you hear opportunities through a friend of a friend. See the pattern here? One way of destroying your personal finances is burning bridges.

Unfortunately, short-sightedness has gripped our culture. One would rather buy expensive champagne (read shampopo) for the gram to keep up with the Jones (read mbingas) while they’re deep in debt or haven’t delivered on clients’ orders. Sooner or later, it catches up, and your name is splashed all over social media. Next thing you know you’re high and dry. Why not tread carefully in the first place? 

The moral here, never burn bridges. Keep your connections open; you never know where your next referral is coming from. 

In conclusion, take up the call to self-leadership, its the only force great enough to get you out of the rut. Learn, hustle and invest above all don’t get swayed by trivial things, keep your eyes glued to the finish line. Become a master of your own destiny, take up your role as a self leader and change the course of your life today. 

by Evelyn Shumba 

Evelyn is a freelance finance and business content writer for hire. She leverages her background and education in Finance to create engaging, informative, and authoritative articles. You can find her on LinkedIn or visit her website to view her services catalogue.