About My Life, Essay Example

Introduction

My name is Peter, aged 32, a sales agent. At the age of 18 I was profoundly excited by winding up college studies and getting a well paying job in a leading pharmaceutical company. I couldn’t hide my joy since I knew I had  acquired financial grounding; I plunged in to lotteries  and gambling and no amount of persuasion from my relatives and friends could get me to out  of the habit. My turning point as far as dropping the habit came when I talked to a financial adviser with whom I was involved with romantically. I changed my mind, stopped the habit and channeled my time energy and money to investments and savings. Right now I take much pride in my change of mind.

Opinion 1: Newly Employed

After watching ordinary people, some young win huge amounts of money just by participating in lottery, I developed great interest and quickly embarked in a quest for procedures that one had to follow in order to win big. That was when I had just settled on my job and given that I had disposable cash I could buy tickets from lottery companies and wait restlessly for results based on draws held. Whenever results from the first draw proved negative, for example, I could not despair. Instead I would look forward to the next one with much optimism.  Severally, I could win some amounts that were not significant, depending on what I expected. It reached a point where saying that I was addicted is an understatement. I moved a head, hit casinos, won money, lost some but insatiable as I was, finally ended in debt. In addition, it affected my output at my work place

Through my escapades I was attracted to a charming lady who I came to learn was a financial consultant. Owing to the fact that I respected her immensely and of course got into the habit of asking for cash from her whenever I got broke, she was able to quickly decipher that I was in a predicament.

Opinion 2: Tuning Point

It is through her intervention that I pulled out. She at one sitting told me, “If your goal is to win lottery, forget it. Winning the lottery,” she added, “is a great way to create instant wealth, but playing it is definitely not.” She could joke that if I won the lottery I would have a financial burden to bear especially given that the money would be instantaneous and therefore unexpected. Upon my goals being rendered impractical, I embarked (through her advice) on setting up more realistic goals and set out to achieve them.

Karimi (2008) says that setting goals is not important. It is figuring out how to reach them that is requires dedication and effort.  With her assistance, I was able to jot down my long term and short term goals. In the short term I envisioned setting up an emergency fund with a view to paying off debts that I owed people. On the long term I made the plan on five year basis: five, ten, fifteen and twenty. Specifically, in five years I had to buy a house, send children to school in ten years see them through college in twenty years and retire in thirty. This was followed by writing down amounts of money each goal required. Suffice to say that I succeeded.

It can be seen that I started with little knowledge and self discipline.  We can learn that knowledge is only power if and when put to use. After embarking on a stringent saving regime and striving to keep money in my wallet am happy to say that ten years down the line I have not only acquired a house but also sent my children to a good school.

Works Cited

Karimi, Leah,Get Rich By Making The Most Of Your Money ,Nairobi: Quinex Publishers, 2008