Updated: Sep 23, 2020

This topic evokes various emotions such as anger, anxiety, hopelessness, stress, despair, frustration, etc. and all this totally understandable because as Humans beings, our first reactions are almost always emotional until we are forced to start acting rational in order to find solutions.

Life is never a smooth ride. Life is designed to be a massive roller coaster and one roller coaster is never the same as another. The engineer of these roller coasters has made sure of that. Hopefully, the roller coaster that you are on has more than one seat.

Similarly, the economy, which is a major part of Life, is also a massive roller coaster. There will be ups and there will be downs. As you will experience, the upward movement takes much longer to reach the top and the downward movement gets to the bottom much faster. All that we can strive for is that our stay at the top lasts much longer than our stay at the bottom. But be rest assured, with every fall there will be a rise and with every rise, there will be a fall. Our ability to successfully adapt to these rises and falls is what defines our success and survival.

Now, in South Africa, we on the downward cycle as far as the economy is concerned. So, what can we do to navigate ourselves through this down cycle effectively:

1. First and foremost, Breath. Stop whatever you are doing and take a few deep breaths. Get rid of all the emotions. Cry if you need to cry, scream if you need to scream, go, and punch a punching bag if you need to. (just do not injure yourself or others). Try and get rid of as many emotions as you can because you cannot find effective solutions and a way forward while been in an emotional state. Get yourself in a state of calmness.
2. Stop the blame process. There will always be someone or something to blame (sometimes rightfully so) for the situation you find yourself. So yes, blame may lie with the Government, corruption, capitalism, our bosses, etc, etc. Here is the thing, we cannot change what has happened, so rather than wasting precious energy in the blame process, let us use the energy to find solutions so that the light at the end of the tunnel becomes more and more prominent.
3. Take stock. Sit down and do an honest budget. To plot a way forward, you need to know where you are. I will be the first to admit that doing a budget can be very scary because honestly admitting where your money is been spent can be very daunting. But you must get it done. You must find out where the “wastage” is. How else are you going to prioritise and get rid of the “wastage”?
4. Have the conversation. Yes, another challenging thing to do. You must have the conversation with all the persons that are occupying seats in the car on the roller coaster. An honest, non-judgmental, and blame-free conversation with all the members of the family, especially the kids, is essential and must take place. The budget needs to be tabled and explained and a collective, collaborative way forward needs to be plotted. You need the support, guidance, and effort from all to ease the pain.
5. Prioritise, Prioritise, Prioritise!!! Make two lists. Name one “ESSENTIAL AND IMPORTANT” and the other “NICE TO HAVE-NOT ESSENTIAL”. Unfortunately, in tough conditions, the “nice to have” things need to go. So slowly, day by day, get rid of spending that is not essential nor important. The question that helps me make those decisions easier is “Do I need this, or do I want this?” as soon as it is a “WANT”, I get rid of it or do not purchase it.

As the adage goes, tough time call for some tough decisions. But I am a firm believer in “with every pain, there will be ease”. I also believe that with every pain, there are lessons to be learned. So, while going through this pain, reflect on what lesson are you supposing to be learning so that the mistakes of the past should not be made in the future.

I leave you with this affirmation and prayer
“Day by Day in every way, your life continues getting better and better because your life is wonderful, your life is beautiful and it’s yours to enjoy”