Thread by @diaryofa9jagirl

Today, I’d like to - once again- address people in their early 20s.

When I graduated from Uni in 2006 (22 years old) I had a plan - Work for a movie company, save, write my own movie. The plan didn’t work after NYSC when I realised those movie companies didn’t pay much/at all.

Sometimes, I would walk to Opebi from Maryland Bus-stop because I couldn’t afford public transportation so I changed plans: Get a job that pays you, make money, then write. My goal was to be a writer so any job I took at the time was okay as long as I was making money.

In 2008, I worked in a wealth management firm as a receptionist- my first real job. I would hear conversations about investments but mostly they were huge sums that seemed far-fetched at the time. I was just striving to survive and my belief was that only rich people invest,

struggling girls like me had no business investing; many of my friends were already traveling to other countries on holiday, some had bought cars and others had gotten good jobs.

I was happy for them but their journey wasn’t mine to embark on.

That same year,

I read a book titled, “nice girls don’t get rich.” It taught me that I wasn’t thriving, that I was simply striving for survival, not wealth. From that moment on, I began to save costs so I could get N5,000 out of my salary to invest monthly,

as I had researched and found a wealth management firm that could invest 10k a month for me. Boy, was it hard! I wanted so many nice things, I wanted to eat rice and turkey for lunch like everyone else, instead, I took care of the clothes I had, took lunch to work from home,

and hitched rides with colleagues who had cars.

The first month I made my decision to do this, I saved N2,500. It felt so small but I kept at it. In the second month, I saved N8,000 and some change. I had gotten better at cutting costs and adapted to a particular lifestyle.

I finally made my first investment with N10,000.

Going forward, I made sure to automatically debit N10,000 from my salary monthly, that no matter what happened, the 10k wasn’t mine so my budget was based on what was left after that deduction.

When I got my statement in the mail after 10 months and saw that I had 100k plus interest, I began to feel powerful, knowing that my discipline was paying off and I was on a path to financial freedom. As time went on, I increased my monthly contributions,

which in turn increased my net worth. This process taught me patience and discipline which has helped me in my business to date.

I believe that what made me stick to this was that I transcended from dreaming of what my life could be,

to actually envisioning what I would like my life to REALLY LOOK LIKE- without limitations and WITHOUT PRESSURE.

I had N100,000 plus some change in investments, but my vision was to travel the world luxuriously, to buy a house in every country I liked to travel to,

and most importantly for me, to have enough money to be able to write without being a struggling writer. My vision has expanded since then but these were the things I started with.

For some reason, you seem to believe that overnight success is the only way to succeed,

you put yourself under pressure, compare yourself with what others are achieving, and then get depressed or anxious because that’s not what your life looks like.

I want to implore you Dear 20s, to pause in your quest to put money in trends, especially money that you don’t have.

I want you to think of what feels impossible right now and then work towards making it possible.

Just like racing, I want you to have an idea of the path you’re going to follow while running. Remember, during this race, you can change course. Why?

Because many things won’t go as planned but what you should never do is look left or right to check who’s catching up with you, to stop when you meet a roadblock or to be discouraged when someone races past you. The only thing that should be in sight, is YOUR DESTINATION.

While you’re on this journey always remember to pause and breathe baby… breathe.

I love you.

#DANG