When I go to Amazon, and type “Personal Finance” in the search bar, I get a whopping 116,880 books back. It seems like everyone and possibly their mother is rehashing personal finance ideas. I consider it a staple to have at least read Dave Ramsey’s “The Total Money Makeover”, and I can’t tell you how many books reference many of the core points. Some of my favorite business books of all time, such as Rory Vaden’s “Procrastinate on Purpose” regurgitate many of the very important ideals…
But there’s a problem.
How come most of the ultra successful people are quick to recommend Dave Ramsey to those struggling with their finances, but then blatantly violate those principles in their own lives to become incredibly successful?
How come so many lower income individuals emulate the ultra-wealthy only to find themselves stuck in a hole they can’t escape?
There’s a good reason for this, and it’s a story one of the most successful people I ever met told me was his basis for his business ideology: The Parable of the Talents.
The Parable of the Talents, in a nutshell, suggests that a man was traveling, and reached out to three servants. To each servant, the man gave to their ability. Therefore to one servant, he gave 5 Talents (worth about 20 years wages). To a second, he gave two Talents, and to the third, he gave one.
The first servant invested the 5 talents, and generated 5 talents more. The second servant received 2 talents, and generated 2 talents more. The third servant however, simply buried his talent to protect it.
When the Man returned from his travels, the first servant returned him 10 Talents, the original 5 and then the 5 he had returned from investment. The second Servant returned him 4, but the third servant only one.
The man was quite pleased with the first two, as they had been good stewards of his talents, and had used them to multiply, but he was very angry with the third, who was not a good steward of his Talent. Despite only having 1, he merely protected it and was not a good steward. The man allowed the servant with 10 to keep the 10, and the servant with 4 to keep the 4, but he took the 1 from the servant with one and gave it to he who had 10, sending that man away to dire outcome.
Some of you may be given 1 talent and find yourself squandering it away, not even protecting it. Until you stabilize your wallet and get yourself out of debt, you can never be wealthy or secure. Instead, you will be broke and broken… but too many people fail to realize there is a better way! Anyone can do it- and once you have, your life will never be the same. Once you have proven to be a good steward of what you have, and you’ve become an expert on basic personal finance, you’ll be ready to make the next step to Secure your present and future with your two talents.
“Stabilize” Reading List:
1.) Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” (Financial)
– daveramsey.com (4.9 rating from 2,725 reviews)
– goodreads.com (4.3 rating from 71,415 reviews)
– amazon.com (4.7 rating from 14,278 reviews)
2.) Thomas J. Stanley – “The Millionaire Next Door” (Financial)
– goodreads.com (4 rating from 77,956 reviews)
– audible.com (4.6 rating from 14,662 reviews)
– amazon.com (4.6 rating from 5,893 reviews)
3.) Chris Hogan – “Everyday Millionaire” (Financial/Personal Development)
– audible.com (4.6 rating from 3,185 reviews)
– goodreads.com (3.9 rating from 3,612 reviews)
– target.com (4.5 rating from 1,204 reviews)
4.) Thomas J. Stanley – “Stop Acting Rich” (Personal Development)
– goodreads.com (3.8 rating from 1,638 reviews)
– audible.com (4.4 rating from 858 reviews)
– amazon.com (4.4 rating from 402 reviews)
5.) George S. Clason – “The Richest Man in Babylon” (Financial)
– goodreads.com (4.3 rating from 114,034 reviews)
– audible.com (4.7 rating from 18,315 reviews)
– amazon.com (4.7 rating from 14,025 reviews)
6.) Dr. Joe Dispenza – “Breaking The Habit of Being Yourself” (Personal Development)
– amazon.com (4.7 rating from 5,822 reviews)
– goodreads.com (4.2 rating from 8,822 reviews)
– audible.com (4.8 rating from 484 reviews)
7.) Angela Duckworth – “Grit” (Personal Development)
– amazon.com (4.6 rating from 6,034 reviews)
– goodreads.com (4.1 rating from 71,450 reviews)
– audible.com (4.7 rating from 20,832 reviews)
8.) Malcolm Gladwell – “Outliers: The Story of Success” (Insight/Personal Development)
– goodreads.com (4.2 rating from 567,678 reviews)
– audible.com (4.7 rating from 40,237 reviews)
– amazon.com (4.7 rating from 13,032 reviews)
9.) Stephen R. Covey – “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People”
– amazon.com (4.6 rating from 11,486 reviews)
– goodreads.com (4.1 rating from 534,193 reviews)
– audible.com (4.6 rating from 32,267 reviews)
10.) Grant Cardone – “The 10X Rule” (Personal Development)
– amazon.com (4.7 rating from 4,214 reviews)
– goodreads.com (4 rating from 15,324 reviews)
– audible.com (4.6 rating from 38,099 reviews)
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