Teach Middle East Magazine Jan - Mar 2020 Issue 2 Volume 7 | Page 51

Personal Development
goals and lastly identify any potential
challenges so we can mitigate for
them (see Fig.2).
endeavours. However, to be successful
we must ensure that we prioritise
Quadrant 2 activities and learn to say
no to other activities, no matter how
urgent or important they may appear
to be.
Financial Planning
Another important thing in life is
money. However, just like our time we
often fail to put ‘first things first’ when
it comes to our personal finances.
When spending money, many of us
will do what we think is right by paying
for necessities such as the mortgage/
rent, bills etc. first, then paying for
consumables such as clothes and food.
We then end up feeling discontent as
we do not have enough money left
to pay for the things that are really
important to us. To avoid this, we
simply need to pay ourselves first. This
means saving a minimum of 10% of
our earnings before spending any of
it on anything, even expenses and
especially luxuries. A simple change in
the order that we pay for things and
paying ourselves first, means that we
should never be left feeling discontent
and all essentials will have still been
paid. The next step is to develop a
financial plan that makes our money
work for us so we can pay ourselves
even more.
As previously mentioned, first things
are important things that contribute to
our life goals or purpose. Therefore, it is
only right that identifying our life goals
is the first step in our financial plan.
Now, it’s really important that we think
big and identify our ultimate life goals
if time and money were not an issue,
and there were no other barriers. We
can then identify what opportunities
are available to help us achieve our
Once we have established our life
goals, the next step is to deal with
our financials. To have a greater
understanding of our financial position,
the first thing we need to do is identify
our net worth by subtracting our
current debts and liabilities from our
current assets and investments. Next,
we need to know our current spending
habits by identifying our essential and
non-essential spending. Knowing our
net worth and spending habits will
enable us to prepare a realistic budget
to help us achieve our financial life
goals. Life goals identified and a budget
set, all that’s left is the actual financial
decisions we make in life. Below is a
list of recommended actions to help
ensure financial success by paying
ourselves first at the top of the list.
1. Save towards short-term goals – this is
the 10% that we pay ourselves first
2. Pay essential expenditure
3. Reduce non-essential spending (this
will provide us with more capital to
spend on achieving our goals)
4. Save towards an emergency fund (this
should equate to at least 3 months’
salary)
5. Purchase
financial
protection/
insurance and make a will if not already
in place
6. Contribute to a pension
7. Invest for medium to long term goals
(caveat; it may be better to pay off
large debt/high-interest rates first)
8. Pay debts
Life Balance
Last but by no means least, is striking
a healthy life balance. We sometimes
think that securing a balanced lifestyle
involves a considerable sacrifice or
a grand gesture when, in reality, it
doesn’t. Securing a healthily balanced
lifestyle occurs when we put ‘first things
first’ by prioritising YOURSELF and the
things that are the most important
to us, in every aspect of our life. This
doesn’t mean that we will never have
to make sacrifices or compromise;
instead, it means living every day of
our life with our life goals and interests
as our driving force. That way life will
be more fulfilling as it will feel less
like a trade-off between our personal
happiness, our jobs or anything else.
Martha is the Founding Director of Da Cosme Consulting, an International
Education Consulting and Capacity Development Organisation, as well as a
Financial Coach with Hatch, the UK’s leading Financial Coaching provider and an
Executive Function Coach with Connections in Mind, the pioneers of Executive
Function Coaching in the UK
After the Bell
Term 2 Jan - Mar 2020
51