Finance coach and advisor Margaret Njeri believes that income growth in 2026 will favour those who intentionally prepare for it.
She says positioning yourself means preparing your skills, finances, networks, habits, and mindset so you can receive, recognise and maximise opportunities.
Opportunities, she says, gravitate toward people who have already created room for them rather than those waiting on luck.
She adds that preparation for growth begins with self-awareness. Many people miss promising openings simply because they are not attentive. A life that is too busy, overwhelmed, or anchored in familiar routines often keeps individuals stagnant.
“Lack of clarity on goals causes potential openings to pass right before their eyes. Others undervalue their abilities and assume they are not good enough for the opportunities they want,” she says.
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Margaret emphasises that resources alone do not guarantee growth. What makes the difference is having mental, emotional, and financial space to act swiftly when opportunity calls.
She differentiates between preparing for income growth and chasing money. Chasing, she explains, is reactive, a scramble for anything that promises quick returns.
Preparing, however, is strategic. It involves building competence, credibility, and the capacity to attract opportunities that are sustainable.
“The goal is to be someone whom opportunities naturally find,” she says.
However, not every opportunity is worth taking. Margaret believes the most transformative ones are those aligned with long-term goals, those that build transferable skills, strengthen natural strengths, and offer income that is repeatable or scalable.
She says that readiness for growth often reveals itself in expanding networks and rising confidence in one’s abilities.
Her advice is identify who offers genuine value, nurture relationships by offering value yourself, and match your skills to the needs around you.
“Your network pays when you become purposeful. Some opportunities arrive only when you have developed the capability to handle them,” she says.
The opportunities a person recognises, and the ones they believe they deserve, begin with a growth mindset that sees possibility and solutions.
After observing income patterns for years, Margaret notes that people who advance financially do certain things consistently. They learn continuously, monitor their finances, set clear goals, build strong networks, invest in personal development, and take calculated risks.
This behaviour, she says, is not luck but discipline.
Financial intuition, she adds, is built over time. It develops through studying trends, learning from mentors, understanding industry shifts, analysing numbers and reflecting on past decisions.
“With enough exposure, a person begins to recognise patterns which are the indicators of opportunities worth trusting,” she says.
Still, depending solely on one income stream, fear of self-promotion, neglecting personal branding, avoiding networking, and clinging to routines that no longer serve growth.
Before making major moves, Margaret encourages a clear evaluation of one’s current reality, from income patterns to debt levels, savings culture, and personal strengths.
“Clarity about where you are makes it easy to map where you are going,” she explains. She describes skills as the core currency of opportunity. The more relevant and updated they are, the more doors open.
She emphasises that positioning yourself today will compound in value over the next five years.
Milestones such as earning a certification, completing a side project, improving saving habits or expanding networkS enhance long-term resilience.
Her philosophy on risk is never risk what you can’t afford to lose, always risk what you can’t afford to miss. She also distinguishes between short-term income spikes, which rely on effort, and long-term growth, which requires systems.
Njeri says; “The one step a person can take right now is eliminate financial and mental clutter. Debt, disorganisation, and confusion hinder capacity, while clarity creates room for opportunity.”
She encourages consistent, manageable steps, learning a new skill, tracking finances, or establishing an emergency fund.
Long before major breakthroughs arrive, she says, progress appears in the form of new connections, unexpected invitations, growing confidence, improved skills, and gradual income lifts.