Timi O, a single mother
in her early thirties, contacted me towards the end of 2013, asking me to coach
her through the process of paying her debt of circa N1.8million. We started the
coaching process and I received the testimonial below from Timi in December,
2014, saying she had paid off about 90% her debt and only had the sum of N235,
000 left to pay. Please read her testimonial below and be inspired:
Testinonial 2: January 2014,
marked another fresh start to the rest of my life…. I was excited, energetic,
happy, optimistic and so ready to face all that the New Year could possibly
bring.
You
see in the year 2013, I experienced more highs and lows than a musical
concerto. Personal triumphs over past
failures made that one year an amazing adventure for me.
A
fresh encounter with God gave me a deeper understanding of myself, my life and
world on so many different levels. All
this paved the way for the series of events- good, bad and ugly that shaped my
resolve and new found confidence.
In
all of this euphoria, what I failed to anticipate was the backdoor of my mind.
You can always count on the parasites that fate carries along with her….there
are a host of them lurking in the shadows of good fortune. Mine was debt, a lot of it at that. I was never particularly bothered or
frightened by it because at the time a great percentage of it was tied to my
business which was planned and managed to cover it over a specific time. Putting said business in order by developing
proper structure was in line and a major part of my plans for the New
Year. I had already made arrangements
for coaching sessions that would help effect all these plans.
The
thing is, it seemed everything just came crashing all at the same time….the
business took a major hit, issues on the home front, my car just packed up
overnight and I had 2 corporate debtors that I had to pursue legally. It was a huge wreck and I was anxious, angry,
doubtful, tired and confused. Now this debt was threatening to drain and rob my
brand new year of hope, focus and peace.
One
minute I would think up and play out clever plans to salvage one wreck and the
next I would stay up all night in front of my computer churning out documents
and budgets I felt could justify the activity.
Everything
I did seemed to make it worse. The small
‘cash cow’ business I started as a means to tide me over this hard season only
kept swallowing every kobo I did have, did not have, borrowed and earned to
keep it all together.
It
wasn’t long before the effects started telling on me physically also. I was embarrassed, mad, very scared and even
more miserable. Fed up and not wanting
to make yet another bad move, I turned to a dear childhood friend, turned
confidant, financial guru and life coach, Omilola Oshikoya.
I
hated that she was not in the least bit interested in the effect this debt was
having on me Lol! She just wanted to
know the extent of the debt so she could start a plan at dissolving it.
She
started with a review on my business activities and income. She made key
observations and advised I take a militant approach to putting my finances in
order. Her approach seemed rather harsh
and callous for my sore self at the time, now I know it truly was the only way
to move forward with me.
The
points she made I doubt I would have ever really considered outside of the
circumstances. In a nutshell she noted
how it was only a matter of time before I ran into trouble financially and with
the business as my income was faulty for my personal situation. She explained how my income was under too
much pressure and how I had crippled the business by tampering with cash flow
not letting the business fund itself properly.
It was simply overloaded with the weight of
funding itself, my expenses and that of my family. Being a single mother, I bear all financial
responsibility of raising my son.
Dipping into the business kitty to shoulder my responsibility was the
status quo, I never thought twice of it or otherwise…
Omilola
pointed out that the ‘well’ had run dry and would remain so if I did not set up
a plan for spreading the weight such that the business could be funded properly
to sustain itself and myself in the long term.
We discussed options and then she sent me away with home-work asking me
to list my debts providing details of each account.
I
ignored the home-work, it was not until the very day we were due to meet again
I powered up my computer and opened an excel sheet. Hmmmn… by the time I was done with the
document, I was actually smiling. It was
a nice colourful chart as I had colour coded the columns according to each category etc.
The real reason I was smiling was because looking at the sheet, it was
clear my debt was not in fact endless nor were the funds unaccountable
for. I was relieved and eager to see
what Omi would make of it.
She
went over it asking me to make some adjustments and asked what I thought my
options were in paying back all the “gbese” I had accumulated.
Being
fully aware of the state of my business and the other ‘handicaps’ I had, I
wondered why she would ask such….was she even listening to anything I had been
saying this whole time????
We
engaged in a long and sometimes heated discussion in which I argued I thought
it made sense to pay off the debt according to how persistent, aggressive,
intimidated or ashamed the creditor was or made me feel. I could not bear the thought of dodging
people and with my integrity at stake I really did not want to commit to
specific figures and dates not readily knowing where and how I would generate
the funds from.
After
Omilola explained in detail the importance of scheduling repayments, we
structured a repayment schedule that was regular and flexible enough to
accommodate my living expenses and would have me debt free in 11 months.
It
sounded and looked very simple but I was still somewhat skeptical because in
all of this I still did not have any source of regular income. I was working on a major project that would
take several months to start off meaning I could not to commit to paid
employment. My business having been
restructured to operate seasonally, I wasn’t confident could carry the weight
of this repayment plan without some form of intervention at least.
But
you see God is not a respecter of me, any debt or balance sheet, He is an
extraordinary and SUPREME being and will always do the extraordinary, even if
just to humble skeptical children like me….
It’ll
take a whole day to detail each episode as it occurred but it wasn’t up to one
week later when things just started to happen….It was like our old clients just
remembered us all of a sudden. Jobs
started rolling in steady and what we had reduced to a seasonal source of
income was regular enough to cover 2 of my monthly installments. I was offered a couple of opportunities to
provide services that would bring in daily income through the comatose cash cow
business I had left in limbo.
One
day, my mother summoned me to discuss her personal concerns and randomly
concluded by stating she wanted to start taking care of her grandson’s school
and extracurricular bills with immediate effect even insisting that I include a
few more I had cut out when my financial crisis started.
Weak
is an understatement…I was faint, simply dumbfounded and could not stop
crying. My son was 7 years old and I had
always taken care of his bills regardless of how difficult it was at times
borrowing from my own mother to meet up with school fees etc. From nowhere, this same mother just decides
to assume that responsibility, I must add exactly 4 days before said fees were
overdue. So much for my prayerful * side
eye*.
When
I told Omilola, she was overwhelmed with emotion and in true coach fashion got
charged. She started, “Timi, you’re
free, God is answering, you can do more, you have to push, push for more, try,
don’t stop trying”…Lol
A
whole lot happened on my journey getting debt free in 2014. There were times it was really rough, however
on the whole, I am extremely grateful for the experience and lessons learnt on
this journey.
My
payment schedule allowed me to discuss debt openly (without cringing) and calm
tensions with creditors by showing them exactly where they stood in the
plan. I would answer the phone with
confidence and facing the debt itself was the release from the fear and shame I
once felt.
Basic,
factual and plain truths packed with no shame and wise financial principles;
sacrifice, saving, cut your coat according to your material! I have learnt this now and I’m glad I am
teaching it also to my son. My friends
were kind, understanding and overly generous many times treating me to the
various stuff they knew I was forced to cut out of my expenditure.
Most
importantly, getting in and out of this debt I believe was an act of God to
teach me the true value of money which is nothing. I say this because I did not earn half as
much as I ever have yet I did more than I ever did back in the days when I
thought I was ‘loaded’. In my lack, I
was able to recognize the hand of God in my business, affairs and pocket. I met amazing people and had meaningful
experiences I could only have dreamt of.
The
bible says ‘Remember the lord your God for it is he who gives you the ability
to produce wealth’. I was forced to
‘remember God’ as none of the events that enabled me to get debt free were my
doing. But it was He that gave me to
see, choose and use the opportunities that presented themselves to help me get
out of debt. I am a lot more financially
literate and mindful than I ever cared to be and I do not play with my tithes,
it is all God’s money not mine.
The
project I have been working on these last year has matured and with a lot more
earning potential will launch in the first quarter of 2015. As of 17th December 2014 a debt of
N1,824,000 has reduced to N235,000(only): the circumstances not having changed significantly and with
regular income still in the pipeline.
Surely
there is PLENTY of hope for you this year. The choice is yours, the year is
very young but you have got to choose to DO IT AFRAID. Kill your parasites, whatever they may be. If
it is Debt, set yourself free, throw some light on your finances and get help.
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