This is a New Year!
And just like everyone else, I couldn’t wait to see how I performed financially in 2022… then I went on to print my bank statement online for the year 2022.
Checking through got me emotional, kind of fulfilling feelings. A satisfying one.
You will understand why...
Just keep on reading…
At the beginning were records of my earnings and spending. The sight of “Paystack…” was a flashback memory of when I was a digital product creator.
Back in 2021, I created a digital product, a freelancing course by the way. I promoted the course with Facebook-sponsored advert. As at that time, I invested around $250 USD into Facebook ad, in which I got $400 as pure profit over the cause of running the advert. That was 160% ROAS (Return on Ad Spent).
Apart from crypto investment and arbitrage, it was my first time earning without actually working.
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The work I did was creating the product, writing the sales copy, setting up the sales funnel, and setting up the advert.
Just that one-time work… and money was dropping on autopilot. The advert ran from November till January (last year).
The advert later got fatigued. People started copying the concept and reselling the product, so I had to stop funding my Facebook Business Manager when there was no more conversion.
Here are the proofs of my claims…
Screenshot from my Paystack dashboard
Screenshot from my Facebook/Meta Business Ad Manager
As for those who can't use Paystack for payment, over N42,000 sales were recorded separately on WhatsApp via direct bank transfer.
I’m not doing this to show off, I’m just happy remembering who I used to be and who I am presently.
Writing this, I can say I missed writing too.
As much as I’m happy that I was business-oriented back then, I’m sad as well. Because, where did all that money went?
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Despite that much earnings, I couldn’t control how I spend.
As in, I could track how I spent N10K ($15 in today’s exchange rate) in just a day.
Although it was when I was in school, considering how disciplined I am with my money these days, I can’t afford myself the spending spree.
There were occasions where I spent more than N10K in a day, if necessary and demanding, but that specific day I spent N10K was unnecessary.
I tracked everything; it was a meaningless spending. I didn't manage my finance well.
And from that, it went on like that, until I ran into debt.
2022 was a big year, the worst year as well, but I persevered.
Even though it turned out the most difficult year for me, I checked my total income, it wasn’t as I expected.
The worst year, but surprisingly improved earnings, and I got nothing to show for it. However, I paid off my debts.
It was a rollercoaster.
Towards the end of 2022, things got better.
I camped as a Corp member at Abia State NYSC camp in November.
I calculated everything I spent when I was in camp… clothing and accessories expenses, every bill, from redeployment fee to transport bill to PPA bill (since I can’t afford them carrying me to where I no know, lol. I can’t be a village teacher. I no get strength) … then utilities and feeding bills... Summation of everything, and it was nothing less than N200K.
N200K just in 21 days! Oh My God!
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I was spending and I didn’t bother doing calculations. Even though I worked so hard for the money, it was still a lot of surprise to me that I could afford to spend that much. I see it as God's providence.
Someone who once got credited N3k from his friend back in April/May of 2022. As in, I was so broke I couldn't afford foodstuff.
All I can say is “Alhamdulillah”.
I haven’t been thinking recently.
All I’ve been thinking about is how to make more money fast, better, and improve in my skills, reach more clients in 2023 and finally get my own 1-bedroom apartment this year in a serene environment.
But checking my bank statement gave me relief that God is with me, that I didn't appreciate Him enough.
Even though I didn’t work hard as I used to, things ended up well for me. I was sick, I was depressed, my mental health was messed up, and my spiritual life was disturbed, and yet I triumphed.
All these metrics aren’t based on finance alone. I really can’t say much. It's all God’s love and favor. Looking beyond the financial aspect, checking the bank statement remind me of the hardship I went through and survived.
How nothing else made no sense to me anymore in life. A lot of habits and beliefs got filtered away.
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A lot of unnecessary relationships…
Happiness was rare. I learned my happiness and state of mind depend on myself alone.
If I’ve failed to learn a lesson from all that happened to me, I dare not disregard the lesson I learned today.
It’s funny and magical how our earnings can go from hundreds of thousands or millions to units, to zero, even to negative, and then bounce back to hundreds, millions, again… Ups and downs are just the norms of life. It’s where the lessons lie.
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In crypto, if there wasn’t support, there won’t be a pump. If there wasn’t resistance, there won’t be a reversal. In both cases, we look for entries and then trade the trends. Even if the trade goes against our plan, we learn from it.
And such applies to life as well.
No rise without a fall. As we grow, we can only fall to grace, the support line of nature.
We dust our backs, get up and get going again. We will keep on falling and bouncing onto the next steps if we don’t cower.
Even if you are a businessman, it’s not healthy to always expect profit. You will only end up disappointed and miserable.
There’d be some mistakes necessary to move your business further.
Most times, the hardest lessons are required to move further in life. All we need is to keep praying to God to never give us a problem more than we can cope with.
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There will always be problems. That’s how the world is designed. Getting over problems by ourselves is how to live.
You can’t complain about your problem and be happy at the same time.
Complaining can’t get it solved.
Wonder why we have a beautiful but more depressed generation? We embrace fantasy a lot.
It’s getting a lot easier to sit down and waste time doing nothing meaningful these days than before.
Apart from playing games, flexing at restaurants and parks, and going to cinemas… what other dopamine-enhancing activity have you engaged in? Have you ever tried hunting?
Even the gym and exercise, most of us are not committing.
Overall, I’ve learned the hardest lesson, the hardest way – to always embrace pains. I’m going to live a life where nothing has to scare me, not even the death, but God. How about you?
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