I think Dave Ramsey would be proud of me. I don’t have any debt. I’ve built an emergency fund, just in case. I invest more than the recommended percentage of my income into retirement savings.
And yet I always feel a sense of financial dread, like any moment the wheels might come off and I could find myself in dire straits. In actuality, the common-sense methods I have put in place, which Ramsey advocates, are protection against that happening, and yet I still can’t help but worry. It’s a learned trait, I think. As a kid, I saw my dad stress over money all of the time. We always seemed to get by OK, although without the niceties some of my friends enjoyed, but he felt a constant fear that there would never be enough, agonizing over money at times.
Related: How Healthy Is Your Relationship With Money?
This is the Movement Issue of SUCCESS, celebrating the causes that propel us, the need to get started immediately, and the continued path toward a life you’ll love.
In truth, Dad didn’t have enough. He was able to retire a few years back only after being approved for full government disability resulting from a lingering injury he suffered during his time in the Army 40 years earlier. Too old and hurt to continue his work, it took a bureaucratic miracle to keep him afloat at the most important juncture of his financial life. And all that led me to similarly stress over my finances when I became an adult. By doing so at an earlier age and staying well ahead of the game, the hope is I won’t need any miracles. When I’m being honest with myself instead of letting my nagging emotions speak, I’m confident. Ironically, it is my dad’s money woes that might have provided the impetus for improved finances in our family for generations to come.
Ramsey offers a similar story of bouncing back from lessons learned. He overcame a bankruptcy at an early age to create a massively successful company that has helped millions of people solve their money problems. The depths of despair he felt when his original company collapsed were the spur toward lasting success. It’s a story that makes Ramsey the perfect cover guy this month. This is the Movement Issue of SUCCESS, celebrating the causes that propel us, the need to get started immediately, and the continued path toward a life you’ll love.
Related: Dave Ramsey Has a Plan for the Rest of Your Life
Think of each story in this issue as a little flame—either a fire under your butt or a torch to light the way.
In the cover story, Managing Editor Jesus Jimenez weaves Ramsey’s money mastery lessons amid his inspiring journey to impact countless lives. We’ve included a roadmap for starting over in your life and work from a man who did just that, best-selling author and high-performance coach Brendon Burchard, and an exciting list of ways you can improve yourself, today, in just 10 minutes.
The issue also includes experiential stories illuminating two of the most common methods of instant life-change. Jeff Vrabel explains what he learned through a guerrilla approach to untangling his family’s spending, while Matt Crossman details the productivity gains—and challenges—he encountered upon devoting himself to waking up hours before the competition. Will the early bird get the worm?
Finally, Associate Editor Jamie Friedlander grapples with the biggest life decision any of us will ever make, in a personal essay about her upcoming nuptials, “For Better or For Worse.”
If working on this month’s edition of SUCCESS taught me anything, it’s that none of us face the same journey, but we all have somewhere to be. So fuel up with this issue, and then get going wherever the road takes you.
This article originally appeared in the June 2017 issue of SUCCESS magazine.
