5 Lessons I Learned from a Panel Discussion on Money Management: Debt & Loans

1. You can never be too prepared for anything in this life.

“Technical challenges” – the big buzz words we all use to cover anything and everything surrounding internet mishaps happened to me.

I thought I knew my way around anything virtual conferences etc but 20 minutes into session start, I was logged in. Not as a speaker but as a listener.

I could listen in to everything nice happening within the space but I couldn’t comment. I had a lot to say, but I was still “persona non grata” to the best of my knowledge.

The calls from over, people wanting to know where I was, were not making it easy on me. From frustration, I nearly opted out.

You could be the world’s best Etymologist, but there is always room to learn a new English word.

2. Be fluid. Be water … or whatever Bruce Lee quipped.

A wise man adapts himself to circumstances, as water shapes itself to the vessel that contains it.

Everything I had planned to talk about was already being covered by the rest before I sorted my “technical issue”.

So what next?

3. In the midst of chaos, there is also opportunity.

I had to restrategize on my comeback as I had already lost much on speech lead time.

Albeit late, I decided to add vodka to my lemons. I only had two choices ;

– Share my book knowledge with theoretical examples to boot on the topic and bore the world.
– Choose storytelling to be different and be remembered for something.

With the help of our able host Kwambox – the Queen of Good Vibes (lovely soul that one btw), I chose the latter and spilled the beans with my own messy story on lessons learned from broken relationships and debt, and how my first boda boda startup business steered my debt levels to new highs.

4. Real is rare and authenticity indeed sells.

Many retweets and 50 + followers later, my Twitter DM was abuzz with activity and questions.

People related to my banker story and how my keeping up with Joanesses messed my personal finances.

Many wanted to hear the unedited copy of the real story. Others wanted a book from me 🤗🤗🤗

Am I ready?

Opportunities multiply as they are seized – Sun Tzu.

Maybe with time, I will get the steel balls to have a no holds barred conversation with the world. Might be the testimony one young man needs to get out of cyclic debt.

5. Never be the smartest person in a room.

As the only man in the panel, there was warmth from the ladies that were in tow – I call it the ladies in the personal finance management space intelligence gala.

This was nothing short of a showcase of beauty with brains. None of the ladies left their coherence in financial matters at home.

There are not more than five musical notes, yet the combinations of these five give rise to more melodies than can ever be heard.

There are not more than five primary colors, yet in combination, they produce more hues than can ever be seen.

There are not more than five cardinal tastes, yet combinations of them yield more flavors than can ever be tasted.

– Sun Tzu

Important to note, I was in the right company with people smarter than me to emulate.

Bonus point: If you only play for the applause, then you place your happiness in the hands of the audience.‼️

By Joseph Njuguna (CERM, CFCP).