Affiliate Notice: This post contains affiliate links. If you click on them, MMT could receive a small commission at no charge to you. To read our full affiliate program disclosure, click here.
Has this ever happened to you? You suddenly realize that you’ve mistakenly been completing a task incorrectly for a very long time. What’s worse is that the error isn’t small. Nope. It’s going to take lots of time and effort to sort the problem out. Between the cold sweat and sinking feeling in the pit of your stomach, you find yourself wishing that you could call in sick for the rest of the day.
It’d be nice if none of you could relate to the situation that I’ve described, but I’m guessing that you know all too well how it feels to come to this sort of realization.
I vividly remember experiencing this series of emotions when I finally woke to the true state of my finances and metaphorical money tree. First, I panicked. Then, out of sheer desperation, I explored the gamut of popular gurus in personal finance.
My first discovery was Dave Ramsey’s YouTube channel and later his, “Total Money Make Over”. He bluntly informed me that spending beyond my means probably wasn’t my smartest choice – because I lacked the cash flow and financial reserves to cover economic adversity. He also introduced me to “The Millionaire Next Door”, which gave me hope that I could heal the damage to my money tree.
Despite this assistance, I was still confused to realize that Dave Ramsey’s perspective was at marked odds with Robert Kiyosaki’s theories in “Rich Dad Poor Dad”. Nevertheless, I choose to keep exploring. I’m glad I did because I was greatly helped by Robert’s conceptualization of income generation and taxation in “Rich Dad’s Cashflow Quadrant” book.
Time passed, and I discovered newer and less polarized financial commentaries through podcasts and YouTube. Their approaches spanned the spectrum.
Patrice Washington’s YouTube channel and podcast allowed her listeners to redefine the meaning of wealth as pursuit of a fulfilled personal and financial life. Meanwhile, the Uneducated Economist channel on YouTube showed that even a midwestern housewife could learn to understand and participate in the stock market. I enjoyed having Graham Stephan’s YouTube channel explore the role of real estate in establishing financial security – all while he made inexpensive iced coffees and consumed something called “avocado toast”. 😊 On days when I’ve been too tired to struggle on, Jaspreet Singh’s YouTube channel has left me laughing over sarcastic zingers as he argued for the “Minority Mindset” and pounded home a reminder to “Keep hustlin’!”
But why spend my and your time reminiscing over this part of my financial journey?
First, because I don’t believe that you and I are the only people sighing – maybe even crying – over our finances while wondering if our money trees will ever flourish again. (Those personal finance gurus can’t all be speaking to the same two people!)
Second, because I believe that there is power in the sharing of our journeys. It’s tempting to believe the myth that financial abundance can only be the result of winning the birth family lottery, penny-pinching your way into the wealth, or clawing your way through the bleached bones of competitors to reach the financial pinnacle of success. However, an unbiased survey of the habits of those who’ve achieved economic independence reveals that there are other ways to reach the goal. Although the final outcome of economic independence may be shared, the methods used for attaining the goal are often unique to the individual employing them. As a result, a person’s financial journey ends up being as singular as their set of fingerprints.
Why does any of that matter? Because it means that there’s hope. Your journey out of indebtedness and economic struggle doesn’t have to be an exact replica of any other journey. We can gather lessons from the success of other arborists. By weaving that knowledge with our own personal passions, goals, and desires, each one of us can craft the side hustle, business, or investment portfolio that only our brain could conceive. Thus, growing a money tree that is as singularly unique as you are.
… So don’t despair if your tree is off to an odd but interesting start. Where there’s life, there’s still hope. Keep on with the growing!
D’Loreyn