You sabi wetin you dey do and you plan make dem pay you more for am. You fit carry project cross four teams without dropping anything, you fit hold hard conversation without your voice shaking, and you get clear enough idea of wetin you want your life to cost. Then di banking app dey there, wey you either no dey open at all or you go open am nine times for one day, plus one rough figure for your head wey you no wan talk out loud in case e turn out say e wrong.
Dat gap no be character flaw. Na appointment wey no dey. Money na di one part of ambitious life wey most capable people dey run without any scheduled review, so dem dey handle am for di worst condition wey dey available: late for night, from memory, as reaction to something. Money hour dey fix di conditions instead of di numbers, and na di conditions dey cost you.
Wetin actually dey happen inside money hour?
You sidon di same day every month, open every account wey you get, and write six numbers on one page for one fixed order. Then you answer four short questions and comot with exactly one change.
Na di whole practice be dat. E boring on purpose, and na di boring part be di feature. Because di order no dey change, you fit read dis month page against last month page inside like ten seconds without doing any arithmetic at all, and di trend go do di work wey spreadsheet for do. Because e get end time, e no fit spread reach whole Sunday and discourage you from ever doing am again.
KEEP CALM founder talk di shape of am plain. E hustle im whole life, e want plenty, and e find ways to stay calm through am, and standing appointment with im own numbers na one of dem ways. One hour per month no be smaller life. Na wetin dey buy back di right to stop thinking about money for di other seven hundred and nineteen hours, and dat attention dey go straight inside di thing wey you dey actually build.
Which six numbers I suppose write down?
Cash wey you get for hand, money wey you owe, money wey people owe you, fixed costs for dis month, free money for dis month, and di cushion. Write di same six for di same order every time, because comparison na di whole point and comparison only dey work when nothing dey shift.
- Cash wey you get for hand. Everything wey you fit spend today, add am up across every account.
- Money wey you owe. Cards, loans, di thing wey your padi cover for June. One total.
- Money wey people owe you. Expenses wey dem never refund, invoices wey dey outside, deposit wey person dey hold.
- Fixed costs for dis month. House, light and water, insurance, subscriptions, transport, and di food wey you go buy for any month.
- Free money for dis month. Wetin remain after di fixed costs. Na dis number most people never even calculate once.
- Di cushion. Money wey you keep aside wey you no dey spend. E get im own line because e dey behave different from everything on top am.
Six lines on one page. Phone note fit work. Ruled page inside notebook dey work beta, because page wey you fit hold beside last month page worth ten spreadsheets wey you no go open.
Where giving fit inside hour wey be about my own money?
Draw seventh line under di six and label am: who I helped dis month. E fit take name as easy as e fit take figure, because introduction wey you make and course wey you pay for na di same entry as far as di hour concern.
Di reason dat line belong on di page na mechanical, no be moral. Wetin person dey write down twelve times a year na wetin dat person dey turn into. Line wey you must look once a month dey quietly change wetin you dey notice during di other twenty-nine days, and na di whole trick be dat. KEEP CALM founder dey describe giving back as one of di secrets of im own success, wey e do all di way up, no be after e don arrive. E dey always look for chance to coach, train, advise, lift people up, commend and champion di people around am, and e talk say di energy and support wey come back na tenfold. Na im account of im own twenty years be dat, no be law, and e worth exactly wetin honest first-hand account worth.
Two rules dey keep di line useful. Most entries no go be money, and dem no suppose be money: name wey you call inside room wey person no dey, one hour of di skill wey dem dey actually pay you for, one figure wey you tell junior colleague when nobody else for talk am. And blank month na blank month, no be failure. Page wey dey scold you na page wey you go stop to fill, and dat one go cost you di other six numbers too.
How I go take finish inside di hour without falling inside hole?
Put end time inside di calendar, no be only start time, and write down anything wey go take pass five minutes instead of doing am now. Di hour na for looking and for one change. E no be for rebuilding your system.
Running order wey dey hold:
- Two minutes. Stand up, breathe out long one time, then open anything.
- Fifteen minutes. Di six numbers, for order, written down.
- Fifteen minutes. Last month page beside dis one. Wetin move, and by how much.
- Fifteen minutes. Di four questions.
- Ten minutes. One change, written as sentence wey get date inside.
Di four questions fixed too, and na dem be di reason di hour dey produce decision instead of mood. Wetin change since last month? Wetin I buy wey I go still buy again? Which one number I want make e different by next month? Wetin be di smallest thing wey go move am?
One change. No be five. One subscription wey actually stay cancelled beta pass whole new system wey go last till di fourteenth.
Wetin I go do if di numbers worse pass wetin I expect?
Write dem down anyway and finish di hour. Number wey you don write down na number wey you fit work on, but number wey you dey avoid dey grow for darkness and dey carry your attention go.
E dey help to know say di avoiding na ordinary thing, no be personal. Economists wey review di research on information avoidance for di Journal of Economic Literature find say people dey regularly refuse information even when e useful, free and e no carry any strategic cost, purely because of how dem expect di information go make dem feel. Dat one dey free mind small. You no bad with money in some special way. You just dey do wetin almost everybody dey do with any number wey fit land carrying verdict.
So remove di verdict from am. Di six numbers na instruments, no be scorecard. Dem dey describe position, di same way fuel gauge dey describe position, and position na something wey you fit change before Thursday.
One hour per month dey buy back di other seven hundred and nineteen
Di reason to do dis one no be to look tidy. Na capacity. Person wey sabi im six numbers dey negotiate with level voice, because e sabi wetin offer actually mean for am. E fit leave di cushion alone for five years, because e fit see am. E fit take risk wey worth taking and refuse di one wey no worth am, sharp sharp, without one week of dey trouble head first, and speed like dat dey compound across career for way wey no single good decision fit do.
Habits dey form through repetition inside consistent context, wey na plain way to talk say di calendar entry dey do more work here pass your willpower. So pick di day. Put di end time on am. Write six numbers and one name, then go back to building di thing wey you actually care about.
Sources
- British Journal of General Practice, Making health habitual: the psychology of 'habit-formation' and general practice
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Find out your financial well-being
- American Economic Association, Journal of Economic Literature, Information Avoidance