THINGS in our lives change not from just wishing they do. Neither do they change because we have written them down. They will not change because they have been legislated for. Your current financial situation will only change when you move from desiring, wishing and dreaming to doing something.

There is something precariously dangerous about comfort. It leads to sloppiness and mediocrity. Instead of facing the future with boldness and confidence, we waste time reminiscing over half backed achievements when we know in our hearts we can do better.

Dr Myles Munro, in one of his profound teachings, talks about how an eagle trains its young ones. He says during the time of training the young ones to fly, the mother eagle throws the eaglets out of the nest. Because they are scared, they jump into the nest again.

Next, she throws them out and then takes off the soft layers of the nest, leaving the thorns exposed. He adds when the scared eaglets again jump into the nest, they are pricked by
thorns. Shrieking and bleeding, they jump out again this time wondering why the mother and father who love them so much are torturing them.

Next, mother eagle pushes them off the cliff into the air. As they shriek in fear, father eagle flies out and catches them up on his back before they fall and brings them back to the cliff.

Many of us were thrown off the cliff of our motherland, Zimbabwe, by harsh circumstances that prevailed a few years ago. Now that we have comfortably settled in our adopted destinations, the temptation comes to forget why we moved there in the first place. Was it not to achieve certain personal, family and financial goals? Have they been accomplished already to the full? If not, what are you doing about it?

Two months of 2011 have sneaked by fairly fast and we are losing the third month by the day. Any early review of our 2011 financial goals would be in order, particularly if we broke them into 12 monthly sub-goals. What practical steps have we taken to fulfill them? What have been the main hindrances? What is the practical plan to over them? If you still have zero on your 2011 goals sheet, what steps are you going to take to accelerate them?

The major practical financial plans are not only written in books and cannot only be learned in a class. They can also be imparted, person to person, by mentors who have done it and succeeded in their fields. A mentor will help you with financial skills and business advice, motivate you and accelerate you towards your goals. A mentor, like a soccer coach, can inspire you to run onto the pitch with confidence, but ultimately you need to take full responsibility for achieving your goals.

Is the money you are working for helping you achieve your goals or are you just the conveyor belt between your employer and uncontrolled expenses, debt and government taxes? Have you instructed the money you earn what to do for you in this life or the money is telling you what to become?

Your employer is not responsible for your financial goals and ultimately your financial freedom, they are just a buyer of your effort and time in a purely business transaction. If you are financially weak, the employer can determine entirely the price of this transaction without your input. Financial freedom and independence gives you the ability to bargain in this transaction. If you are helplessly weak, then you would need the collective effort of a labour union to take your case forward.

The purpose of this article is to prickle your behind so hard that you are left with no option but to evaluate your financial position in 2011 and take decisive action. As you do that, you start to discover that it is practically fun and success will breed more success. Before we know it, you become sufficiently strong financially to make decisions which are not driven by fear of poverty.

Choice is the most powerful tool that we have in our lives and expressing ourselves through choices gives us the opportunity to establish ourselves as unique individuals. It enables us to go from who we are today to whom we want to be tomorrow. Our financial plan for 2011 should be designed around our individual goals and we are responsible for it, not some overpaid executive behind the desk of some financial institution.

It is not the amount that you earn that determines the successful implementation of your financial goals. It is what you do with the amount you earn. They say money is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. If you spend too much time worrying about it to pay mounting debts then be careful that it will not soon become a God on whose altar you have to worship.

My desire for you in 2011 is that you take some practical steps towards financial freedom, which means you are not constrained by your finances. It means being in control of your finances, free from worrying about money and free to enjoy your money as you choose. This would also give you joy in your current vocation as it becomes the labour of love not just a means of paying the bills.