Immature Entrepreneur

I wish someone had handed me a copy of Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover when I was a teenager. Lots and lots of financial lessons learned the hard way that could have been prevented had I had access to the information in this book.

Dave has a no-nonsense style and delivers his message in everyman speak. The principles in the book are practical, logical and easy to understand and implement.

This book has the power to change your financial future and that of your family for generations to come. Read it and pay it forward to someone you care about. You’ll kick yourself for not having done it sooner.

Pause for a moment and look around you. Evaluate your circumstances. Did you get to where you are by happenstance or by design? Did you somehow just end up there? Do you feel trapped?

Most people go through life sort of like a pinball stuck in a pinball machine. We bounce from one event to the next and that’s how we end up where we are.

Don’t be a pinball. Take control. Move forward with intent. Decide where you want to go, then go there. The amazing thing is you truly have the power.

The economy has tanked. Companies aren’t hiring. We’re in the worst recession the country has seen in 20 years.

All true, to an extent. So due to circumstances beyond your control, you can’t find a job. Right?

You’re likely viewing the situation in a very traditional (and ineffective) way. Read this to open your eyes. You’re looking outward when you should be looking inward.

Why leave your fate in someone else’s hands? Don’t look for a job. Create one.

During both WWI and WWII, the federal government was forced to ration food due to the war effort. Labor and transportation shortages made it difficult to get produce to market. The government reached out to its citizens, encouraging them to plant “victory gardens” in order to be self-sufficient.

Any particular reason we stopped this process? Should we feed the less fortunate via welfare handouts or empower them to feed themselves? Should we continue eating mass produced fruits and vegetables sprayed with cancerous pesticides (go here) or grow our own inexpensive organic foods?

Bring back the victory gardens. Victory for independence. Victory over cancer-causing pesticides. Victory for thinking outside of your programming.

Stop donating to the victims of the oil spill. Don’t scream at the BP executives for their (lack of) efforts.

Instead, stop supporting them.

Buy an electric lawnmower here. Purchase an electric car that uses little gasoline here or one that uses zero gasoline here. Stop using plastic water bottles (which contain petroleum) and instead buy a healthier, BPA-free lifelong water bottle here.

Don’t be angry at big oil for doing what you’re asking them to. Really want to do something about the oil spill? Stop supporting them.

I see this scenario all too often. Person is driving down the road. Person realizes they’re about to miss their turn. Person stops in the middle of traffic, hoping they can get over. Cars drive by honking, the flow of traffic is disrupted, and in some cases accidents nearly occur.

Here’s the gem–sometimes you just miss your turn. Keep on driving and make a (safe) u-turn. Your insurance agent will thank me.