‘Aim to thrive, not just survive’
President of the Master Class Institute, Rosh Khan
President of the Master Class Institute, Rosh Khan

…persons must adapt a lifestyle that will hone financial stability, freedom

By Gabriella Chapman
IT is many people’s desire to be financially free; not having to worry about insufficient funds to last through the month, or not having to live from paycheck to paycheck every month or week, and even to be able to live at ease in the time of a potential economic crisis.

This desire however, can only be fulfilled if the right lifestyle is adapted. This lifestyle is one in which Management and Leadership Specialist, Rosh Khan, advises that each Guyanese should start adapting, for the betterment of their lives, and the prospects of Guyana’s economy.

With the coronavirus threatening lives and businesses, and a prolonged election, Khan said this is the most suitable time for persons, since they now have a lot of free time, to create a lifestyle that will transform their lives for the better.

The lifestyle that has to be adapted is one that is proactive instead of reactive.
“People need to focus on what they can do and what skills they can build during this time at home. That’s the key moving forward. We’re all leaders. We may not lead tens of thousands of people, but we all lead ourselves. And there is something we refer to as the ‘R and I’. You know a leader by their R and I; by their Resourcefulness and Initiatives. Persons can create and maintain a schedule. If you’re not careful, you can have a whole lot of time in front of you, but you’re not being strategic about how you’re spending that time. We all have that power to decide how we’re going to act, and that goes back to being proactive,” Khan said.

General Manager of Franklin Covey, Dennon Lewis, also shared his sentiment on the topic of living productive lives.

General Manager of Franklin Covey, Dennon Lewis

He said that people have to start thinking of ways to create passive income.
“So instead of having income that only requires you to physically be there, or physically do something in order to achieve that, how can you, through various strategies, create means of passive income. Things that you don’t have to do. You create it, start it up, and you leave it, and there’s income coming in. So these are some of the things that cushion any event of this nature, if it is to happen again. We all go through different seasons of life, collectively as the globe, and individually. So this might be something that is happening on an international scale, but we all go through summer, winter and fall in our own everyday lives. So it is important for us to take this time to look at these income generating strategies, and then use these strategies so that we end up better off, coming out from that end of the tunnel,” Lewis said.

With putting certain practices as part of your daily lives, and generating several streams of income, Khan said that this will eventually allow for businesses to emerge and this will put a person in the economic market to contribute more to the overall economy of the country.
“And the economy is built on small businesses. And if small businesses falter, imagine what that is going to do for the greater economy. How does the government have funds to do it’s projects?

Taxes. What do you pay taxes on? Businesses. And people pay taxes. Businesses, specifically, pay taxes on the profits. So if we don’t have a lot of profits coming in, then we don’t have a lot of taxes coming in, which means that the government has less money to spend on projects. So it is very important that more people create businesses, and these businesses should do everything they can to not just survive, but ultimately, to thrive. That should be the end goal,” he posited.

Advising further on the individual’s lifestyle to achieve financial stability, Lewis said that people have to understand what their financial capacity is on a monthly basis.
“A lot of people don’t know how much money they make on a monthly basis. They need to know that, and how much necessary expenses they have on a monthly basis (essential things). And once you know these two, then you can see what’s the difference between the amount I have coming in, and the amount I dear sure need to spend, and what’s the amount that’s left. And what people often do, is just pay the bills and then spend the rest. Or sometimes pay and spend in between and hope that it works out. The key is to develop a lifestyle so that you live at a max, 80 per cent of your overall income. So that way, at any point in time you will be saving just around 20 per cent. That’s a good place to start. Some persons evolve to live on 50 per cent of their income, and save 50 per cent, or even invest 50 per cent. So first get to a space in which you can understand and live by that 80 per cent, and then look for ways to develop that 20 per cent,” Lewis advised.

Additionally, he said it is important to teach children financial literacy at a very early age.
“So a lot of us don’t necessarily subscribe to the notion of a money allowance, but we do give our children some top ups from time to time. One of the things we came across that works really well, is that at an early age, your kids bring out their money into three parcels. One could be savings, one for spending, and the other for investments. And in doing this at an early age, what you’ll be doing is giving your kids a road map/ blueprint that they can use in the future because, if they’ve been taught this very early on, they grow with that habit and do the same for their monthly income. In fact, if we are all to adapt to that mindset, I believe that we all will be more financially sound, we will all be more financially stable, and we can then continue to grow and expand,” he said.
Citing that as the key to future economic strides, Khan said that in addition to teaching children how to spend money, and about financial literacy, they ought to be taught how to be self-sufficient as well.

“Let your skills pay your bills. It is time to expose children to the amazing opportunities online, and they’re a lot that have opened up for free. Libraries open up at no charge, this is a nice time to read and expand their minds, and learn a skill that the market needs. Even for adults, because children will model the behaviour of the adults… It is time we stop being problem identifiers and start being solution providers. Identify a problem you can build a skill set for,” he said.

With economical thinking people, thriving economic lifestyles, thriving businesses, in the time of hardship, persons, businesses, and the overall country, will not be vastly affected, since practices have been implemented in our lifestyles to survive times of hardship.

SHARE THIS ARTICLE :
Facebook
Twitter
WhatsApp

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

All our printed editions are available online
emblem3
Subscribe to the Guyana Chronicle.
Sign up to receive news and updates.
We respect your privacy.