A public apology to Dave Ramsey

For years I heard about Dave Ramsey and I’m embarrassed to say that (without listening to him myself) I had him pegged as the guy who helps broke people manage their limited supply, while I elevated myself as the teacher who helps people expand their supply.

At first pass, this may appear to be the case. But I want to set the record straight.

Listening to Dave Ramsey’s podcast and daily radio show has become one of the most inspiring, motivating things I do for a number of reasons:

(Pay special attention to reason #2)

1) Dave’s advice is solid. Scripturally sound too, if that matters to you. I honestly wish we had been listening to him back when we first started making a lot of money. If we had, we wouldn’t have nearly lost it all in 2008.

2) The good news is that the principles I teach help you get what you want. The bad news is that the principles I teach help you get what you want. Did you catch that? They work even if you set stupid goals. Dave’s program helps you choose smart goals. REALLY SMART GOALS.

3) In the past, I’ve offered psychological strategies for getting out of debt. While they make sense according to the principles, human beings do a better job getting out of debt by following his advice than they do mine. In time, I hope to update some of my materials to reflect my evolved point of view. My tips may seem good and right as they are, but the fact is, he’s got a longer track record of helping MORE people actually achieve the debt-free goal, and I’m not ashamed to tell you that.

4) I thought Dave was only about managing a limited supply. The truth is, he has a LOT to say about how to expand your cash flow. I never realized that before! Combine his tips with the principles you’ve been learning from me, and holy moly, you’d be unstoppable.

5) I thought Dave’s audience was only low income wage earners, and that high earning entrepreneurs had nothing to learn from him. GASP! Those of you who are already fans of his know how wrong I was. He has SMART guidance for helping you increase your income through entrepreneurship, if that is one of your goals.

6) The principles I teach are a powerful and appropriate rescue when you’re in crisis. But once you get on your feet and start building for your future, his advice will keep you on a solid path. It will keep you out of debt. It will keep you prepared for emergencies, it will keep you on track toward building wealth, and prepare you to give like no one else. At any point along the way, if you face another crisis, apply what you’ve learned from me to exercise faith and get yourself back on track quickly. Use the principles to achieve his baby steps in record time!

7) His baby step goals do not have to replace the goals you already have… but I do encourage you to listen to his podcast for a couple weeks and consider following his advice on what would be the smartest ORDER for obtaining them.

8) He’s entertaining and seriously MOTIVATIONAL! There’s nothing more powerful than hearing people accomplish seemingly impossible things. Like paying off your house in your 20s, or paying off $500,000 in student loan debts in only three years, starting out making only $50K/year. We’ve already made more progress since listening to him than we were making before.

9) Dave loves to point out how most people who follow his baby steps usually end up getting raises, promotions, or increased business revenue in the process. He says that God tends to bless the person who is on the right path, and I believe that wholeheartedly.

10) Some people disagree with his investment recommendations. I’m not qualified to comment on those. But I do appreciate the education I’ve been receiving, so that I can at least make more informed choices than I’ve been able to make in the past.

Oh, there are plenty of other reasons I’m excited about Dave Ramsey and what I’ve been learning, but just so you know, getting paid to promote him is NOT one of them. He doesn’t know me from Adam – I’m just another one of his listeners.

I just know that if you are feeling a little uncertain about what goals you should choose next, or uncertain about how to get out of debt, or uncertain about how to do what needs to be done without going into more debt, or if you just want to know what it feels like to not HAVE any, then I wholeheartedly encourage you to listen to his daily radio show or podcast.

I have colleagues who do not agree with his philosophies. I have colleagues who don’t agree with me, either. I don’t always say the same thing as other mentors or gurus (here’s why). The fact is, different mentors’ messages have had particular application to our situation at different times along the way.

But these recent years have been the right time for us to learn from Dave.

At other times, other mentors have been right for us, even when they had different counsel for us than what Dave would have taught. It’s all good. It’s all about getting the right advice at the right time. Not always because it is necessarily the best, but because sometimes we need to learn something from the experience, which helps us become more effective teachers.

(Remember the sidewalk and picnic analogy at the beginning of The Jackrabbit Factor free download?)

Some of the advice we’ve received over the years has been very expensive and painful – but the lessons we learned had a purpose. Without those lessons and life experiences, I never would have become the award-winning three-time international bestseller of The Jackrabbit Factor, Hidden Treasures: Heaven’s Astonishing Help with Your Money Matters, and Portal to Genius. 

So… I guess it’s okay.

Still, I would have preferred to learn my lessons from other people’s mistakes (such as Dave’s) instead of my own. It would have been so much faster! It might be faster for you, too.

Anyway, Dave’s message may not be right for everyone right now (for whatever reason) but it’s a whole lot MORE right for more people than I ever gave him credit for.

Sorry, Dave!

Learn more about the principles that helped us triple our income in three months by reading the Jackrabbit Factor FREE here.

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Leslie Householder

Leslie Householder is the award-winning, international best selling author of The Jackrabbit Factor, Portal to Genius, and Hidden Treasures: Heaven's Astonishing Help With Your Money Matters. Since 2002, she has helped people all over the world discover and apply the Rare Kind of Faith that causes things to happen for powerful life changes. Through story and shifts of perspective, Leslie aims to help her readers crush every challenge, achieve every goal, and vanquish every monster under their beds. Above all, Leslie is a dedicated wife and mother of seven children.

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