Doug Stephens, MBA

Doug Stephens, Dallas Dave Ramsey Counselor, watched the Town hall for Hope with his clients. The self help message to take action, avoid loser talk and give!

This may be the most important advice that anyone can follow in this uncertain economy. It is important not to focus on what is going wrong. The emphasis needs to be on, “what can I do to help myself ?” In my coaching practice we never dwell on past mistakes. We also don’t worry about situations like lay-offs that are outside your control. Instead we take the facts at hand and develop an action plan to solve specific problems.

The “no loser talk” part of Dave’s advice is just as important as the action part. If you convince yourself that things are hopeless, you will surely fail. Avoid the trap of blaming the economy, a bad boss, poor luck and so forth. That is the easy way out. Get out there and make things happen. Nobody ever got rich or famous sitting on the couch waiting for the phone to ring.

Lastly, don’t forget the the needs of others. Sometimes when you are confronted with great financial hardships it is easy to turn inward and drown in your own problems. Remember, there are valuable things that you can do to serve others that don’t involve money.  Often times a little of your time or compassion can do wonders for another person.

Shake off the gloom. Sit down and prepare an action plan to improve your finances and your life. There are a lot of things that you can do to help yourself. Get help from a professional counselor if you need it. Just stop thinking about it and get started.

Doug Stephens,  MBA, is a Dave Ramsey Certified Coach serving DFW. He has over 30 years of financial experience in Real Estate, investments and personal finance. He specializes in finding realistic solutions and methods for his clients to crush debt and build wealth.