Define the Pathway for You

My son stands on a rocky pathway leading to a distant lighthouse, surrounded by a vast seascape under overcast skies.

Everyone has a different goal, perspective, and way that works. There are countless ways to approach your life, but only one works for you. Sure there are best sellers out there that people can point to about how to succeed, negotiate, etc. Chances are I've probably read many of these myself, but there is still one pathway that works for you that leads to your success. Do not try to be someone or something you are not, eventually, it will catch up to you. I believe everyone needs to put in the work, and everyone needs to be accountable for themselves, but at the end of the day, one person's success does not equal another. We each have to find the way that works for us.

When I started my work as a financial coach, it was all based on Dave Ramsey's teachings, which have been successful for millions of people out there to get control of their money. What you do not hear about are the millions of people who may have failed or those who chose a different pathway that worked for them. I'm a believer in the baby steps, but I'm also not the prodigal baby stepper either. If you read my story and a few of my posts, I'm pretty bold to say I have over a million-dollar net worth, but I got here doing much of my own thing for years. I invested a bit, saved a bit, purchased new cars, used credit cards, and somehow managed to get my way here. Often I share with people that I stumbled my way here, just through a slightly less rocky path.

I will say there were some things I wish I had not done along the way, but will also say I did a few things right. As I sit here today, there are things that I follow pretty closely because they work for me, but I have also found some avenues that work better for my family and me that are not aligned with his teachings.

As we work towards our goals, we must take into account individual things that motivate each one of us. What motivates me, does not motivate you. With that said, we also need to be open to listening to other perspectives and re-check our thoughts to see if there might be a better way or improvement we can make along our path. That was my situation when I stumbled across Dave Ramsey. I was investing 6-10%, had a car loan lingering, but was saving extra to save towards a future cash car. Then I realized I had a whole life insurance policy in place, which had a cash value of $15,000. Within the next 3-4 months, I canceled that whole life took the money from it, paid off the car, started working on a budget, and made some other changes to secure my Emergency Fund and set up my kid's college funds.

Now, that I have been focused for the last 3 years, we have got things in a nice stable place, and are continuing to refine how we look at things. I'm a nerd and love to look at numbers, I was a Quicken user back in the day and we always took into account how we were spending our money. In general, I have always hated paying interest, hated the student loans when we were paying them back, and always looked to drive a good deal/bargain when we were shopping. Along with that, I also hate to miss out on free stuff. So as we refine the way we work, we look to optimize for what works for us, and aligns to our values, while staying under control.

As you work towards your future, find yourself, be you, and be the best version of yourself, always looking to improve and get better with each day!