The Ramsey Show - App - Find the Career That YOU Want, Not What Your Parents Want (Hour 3)

Episode Date: November 20, 2019

Ken Coleman, Career Tools to get you started:  Debt Calculator: http://bit.ly/2QIoSPV Insurance Coverage Checkup: http://bit.ly/2BrqEuo Complete Guide to Budgeting: http://bit.ly/2QEyonc Interview Guide: http://bit.ly/2BuGnZE Check out other podcasts in the Ramsey Network: http://bit.ly/2JgzaQR 

Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Dollar Car Rental Studio, this is the Dave Ramsey Show, where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life and your money. Sitting in for Dave Ramsey this hour, I'm Ken Coleman, the best-selling author of The Proximity Principle and host of The Ken Coleman Show, which is a part of the Ramsey Network.

And this hour, we're taking your calls about work, your career, your purpose. How do you get clear so that you can confidently step out on that path to working with meaning? Because when you're clear, you're confident. And when you're confident, you'll have the courage to stay the course. Because life is going to throw the curves, the dips, the ditches, the whole nine yards. And so we are here to help you. If you're scared, if you're confused, if you're full of doubt, you've got some pride you need to overcome, you just need some answers,

Ken, help. Well, we can help you because you have the answers. And it's my job to get them out of you. 888-825- 5225 is the number. 888-825- 5225. Somebody needs to call today. You've been listening to the Dave Ramsey

show for a long time and you know in your heart you're not doing what you were created to do, but you're scared to death on how to get there or you know how to get there and you're not doing what you were created to do, but you're scared to death on how to get there, or you know how to get there, and you're still scared. We're here for you. 888-825-5225 is the number. All right, let's go to the phones, and let's see here. We're going to go to Diana, who's on the line in California.

Diana, you're on the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi. Hi, how are you the Dave Ramsey Show. Hi. Hi, how are you? How can I help today? I'm actually a little nervous. I'm calling because I am 46 years old. I have finished almost all of my prerequisites for my RN program to start the program.

But I have two kids in high school that I have not saved up college money for. One's a freshman, one's a junior. Now, in order for me to actually start the program, that would require me to cut my hours really down to the point that I may not, I would have to probably lose the medical benefits that I currently have. and I'm the one who carries the medical benefits in my family, and a large portion of my income. My question is, should I even continue with my RN program, or should I focus on my children, or would it, if I do get my RN, you know, it would definitely help me pay off for my kids so they don't have to get into school debt. Sure.

What is the timeline for the kids first? When will they be headed into school? What are we looking at? So my daughter's a junior, so she's about a year and a half away. And then I have a freshman. Okay. We'll get time on the freshman, I'm pretty sure. But how long before you would get the RN certification and be ready to move into that?

It would probably be if I finish my prerequisites this year. I'm already what's called an LVN, so I'm already a licensed nurse. I might be able to do the program instead of the two years. I might be able to do it in about a year and a half. I'm thinking maybe about two years, two and a half years tops, depending on the wait list, if I can get in right away or not. Yeah. I think you stay with it. I don't think you, you're a good mom and I love your heart, but you are so close. There's no reason to press pause or even delay in any way of the RN program because that is going to be a game changer for your whole family, not just for helping with the kids' education plan.

And here's the deal. You know Dave Ramsey's baby steps, and if you're not ready, you're not ready. And that's why Anthony O'Neill wrote Debt-Free Degree. And there are ways for your kids, certainly your junior, your freshman, you've got plenty of time to be able to contribute and help. You know what I mean? But for the junior, there are other ways for her to come up with an education plan that does not require debt.

But we don't want you to take a huge step backwards by stepping out of this RN program because you're so close. So I want you to stay the course and hold on the line. Let's get her a copy of Anthony's book, Anthony O'Neill, Debt-Free Degree, if you don't already have it. But this is the manual here. And this is huge for you and your daughter who's a junior because it's a clear path, step by step, how to get that continuing education, higher education, without going into debt. So really appreciate the call, Diana, but you keep going. And before you know it, you're going to be that RN doing something that you really love,

making really good money and contributing not just to the common good, but also contributing some great money to the family and the family's goals. 888-825-5225. I'm Ken Coleman sitting in for Dave Ramsey this hour as we do a career-themed hour. 888-825-5225. Let's go to Caitlin in Kentucky. Caitlin, how can I help today? Hey, Ken.

I feel like I'm stuck in my job. I like it, but I don't love it anymore. But I feel like it's what my parents expected of me, and I really want to do something else. But I'm scared to tell them. Oh, I understand. Let's start by telling me and America, if we could put you in that job or a job that you would love to give a shot to, what would it be? I want to do family medicine. I want to be a doctor.

Family medicine. Now, why are you afraid to tell your parents that you want to go into family medicine to be a doctor? Well, I've tried to tell them before, but they're not. They think teaching is the best job you can do. I guess they're afraid of the stability. I just feel like they don't think I can do it. I think it's probably all those things.

What do you think is the biggest factor? They don't think you can do it? Or they're teachers in some way? Are they involved in education? No. My dad was a cop and my mom was a social worker, but they think that's just like the most steady job you can have. Like they'll always need teachers.

Yeah. Don't we always need medicine and doctors, though? Yeah, that's true. Yeah. You know, this is really interesting. What do you think is going to happen? Tell me what you think, and I want you to acknowledge your worst fears, because that's why you called me today.

What do you think is going to happen if you tell them, hey, I'm getting out of teaching or I'm not going to go into teaching, I'm going to pursue family medicine and be a doctor? Well, my worst fear is I've got a job lined up teaching and that's what I went into in school. And, like, I'm afraid they're going to, which I live with them right now, so I'm afraid that, one, they're going to kick me out, and, two, I'm just like, I just don't want them to be disappointed.

Right. Yeah. How old are you? 24. Right. Yeah. How old are you? 24. Okay. If they were to kick you out, would you be homeless and die? No, I would have plenty of places to go. Okay, good.

And I'm being ridiculous. You understand that, Caitlin. Yeah. But what I want you to do is confront this fear. I don't think it's the fear of being kicked out of the house. I think it's the fear of them being mad and disappointed in you. Am I right? Yeah.

That's what causes the emotion in your voice. But, Caitlin, I have one simple question, and I'll let you go. Is it your life or is it their life? It's mine. It's your life. So you need to now come up with a plan. And your plan is, what does it take for me to get qualified? You know what it takes to be qualified to be a family doctor.

You've done the research. You know what it is. How much is that going to cost you? How long is it going to take for you to get through that? That becomes the plan. Because we don't want you to go into debt. We want you to do it the right way. Now, I'm going to tell you to go home and tell mom and dad your heart.

Share your heart as to why you want to be in family medicine. Why you want to be a doctor, why you want to take care of people. You share your heart and let the chips fall where they do because here's the deal, Caitlin. If you don't tell them your why and you don't pursue it and you never pursue this, you'll get to the end of your life and you will regret that you didn't do this. You better do it. Don't look back. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Are high health care costs getting you down? Are you confused trying to navigate your options?

Do you wish you could find an affordable, biblical solution to your health care costs? Based on New Testament principles, Christian Health Care Ministries, or CHM, helps Christian families, churches, and ministries join together as the body of Christ to share their major health care costs. Christian Health Care Ministries is the original health cost-sharing ministry. A Better Business Bureau-accredited organization, CHM members share to pay each other's medical bills. It's not insurance. It's Christians financially and spiritually supporting each other. It's what Christian Healthcare Ministries has done for over 35 years, and our members have shared over $2.5 billion in medical bills. To learn more, visit chministries.org. That's chministries.org. Christian Healthcare Ministries is a proud sponsor of Dave Ramsey Live Events. chministries.org. Welcome back to the Dave Ramsey Show. We're thrilled to have you.

888-825-5225. I'm Ken Coleman, host of The Ken Coleman Show, which is a part of the Ramsey Network. And I'm sitting in this hour for Dave Ramsey as we have a career-themed hour. 70% of Americans are unhappy at work to the point that they hate their job. Monday mornings represent misery. Misery. Why? Well, there are several factors.

The two biggest, number one, they have no connection to the work. There's no passion. They're probably good at the job, but the job itself doesn't give them the juice, as I like to say on my show. And the other reason is they're in a toxic environment. You've got a toxic leader, toxic coworkers, and you can be square in the middle of work that you are good at and love. I call it the sweet spot.

But because of a toxic work situation, you don't want to come into work. And so that's what we do. We focus on helping you discover what you were created to do and then come up with a plan to get there. That's the mission of the Ken Coleman Show, part of the Ramsey Network, and so that's what we do this hour. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225.

Let's go to Texas where Blake is on the line. Blake, how can I help? Hey, thanks for taking my call. Sure. What's going on? So, let's see. I am currently in college. I'm working toward my degree.

I'm a musician. That's my passion. That's all I want to do. I'm currently a little bit concerned about, like, because over the past year, I've starting to realize I'm losing my passion. I'm not finding it any time to be able to do it because me and my fiance, you know, we're getting married soon. We're in more debt than we should be. And I'm taking off from college in order to work extra jobs to help get her through college. And I'm real concerned that I'm going to

continue going the path I'm going and I'm going to lose all of my passion for it and I'm not going to be able to do what I love. So I'm trying to figure out a way to continue to be in that environment while still taking care of my new family. Yeah. Well, I appreciate the call and I appreciate your concern, but I can tell you it's misguided. You will not lose your passion for music. You just won't. You love it. So let's identify what the dream is.

If we could fast forward into the future, and you said, Ken, this is the dream, what is it? So I want to be, I would like to be a lesson to a music teacher, a lesson teacher for other, I'm a saxophone player, for other saxophone players to be able to help them and get into the business they want because I've noticed when I'm going through school, there's a whole lot that I was missing. I want to be able to provide that for other people. Great. And also be able to, you know, be a part of my own band or be more still active in the music scene.

Got it. So you're teaching and you're also playing some gigs and pretty regular. That would be the dream. Right. Okay, great. Now here's the good news, Blake. That's all possible. But it's not possible right now.

And because it's not possible right now, you're going, oh, I'm going to lose it. No, you're not. So how do you keep that flame alive? And the answer to that is you still do a little bit of the musician game. I don't care what that looks like. It may only be once a month. Maybe you're only doing a lesson here and there. But right now you've decided, and by the way, I would tell you, you're a noble man. You're a very good man. You're working a lot of extra hours to help put the fiancé through college, and you've got a lot of debt to pay off, and you know how to pay it off.

Dave Ramsey's baby steps work. You know all that. So you continue to work that plan, but understand that this is a season. This is a season where you are preparing yourself for the long haul. And so you've got real commitments here that you've made. And so when she gets through school and she starts making money, yes or no? Yes. Yes, of course. And so now hopefully you two are together on the plan.

So let's pay off the debt and we're going to go after it, and we're going to be very intense about it. And all the while, I know you're working a lot of hours, but there's at least some point during the week where you could play in some type of a band or you could teach some type of a lesson. Am I right? Yes. Of course I'm right.

So it's not to the level that you want to be involved with music, but you're not saying goodbye to music. You're not saying, my music is dead. I can't do it anymore. Therefore, the passion is dead. That's not what we're saying. What we're saying is, I want to be teaching music full time. I want to be playing a lot in a band, and I'm going to be able to do that.

And when I'm able to do it, I'm going to be able to do it with more peace and more passion than I've ever had, because I'm not overwhelmed with debt and four jobs. So hang in there. And let me just say this for Blake and a lot of people out there who you know what you want to do, but it's going to be a while. Because that hurts. It stings. And it can put you in a really bad place in your head and heart. So here's what you need to focus on. It is always worth the struggle.

It's always worth it. Because the struggle is something you're going to have to face anyway. So let's take Blake's situation. He's going to have to pay the debt off anyway. He's already committed to help his fiance get through school. He's going to have to do that anyway. That's all tough stuff. But when that's done, the dream is going to be sitting there waiting for him.

And how sweet do you think the dream is going to be for Blake at that point? How sweet do you think the dream is going to be for you? Folks, I'm going to be really candid with you. It took me 10 years to get the dream job. 10 years. 10 years to get the national show as a part of Dave's network. 10 years. And let me tell you something.

I appreciate it a whole lot more than somebody who got it after two years. Why? Because of the struggle. Because of the suffering to get there. And when you get it, it means a whole lot more to you. So rest in that. Rest in that. 888-825-5225 is the number.

This is the career hour of the Day Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman of the Ken Coleman Show and the Ramsey Network, sitting in for Dave. Let's go to Julie, who's on the line in Ohio. Julie, how can I help? Hey there. So I have been a realtor for eight years. I've been a salesperson for about 35 years. And I sell like a teacher, using Dave's words.

I really have about 200 transactions under my belt, and nine of them were pieces of land, and then I turned around and sold the townhomes or residential homes on top of that, which is about 65 homes on the nine pieces of land. Long story short, I've done this for other builders. I'd like to do it for myself. I am very apprehensive to do it for myself. I'm very apprehensive to take the next step. What are you most afraid of? The money.

You know, when you do a project like this, it's not just your money. I mean, I don't have that kind of money. I have the expertise, but not the money. And then where I don't have the expertise, of course, I would pull someone in or you hire that part out. How much money? Let's break this down. Let's break this fear down with real facts. How much money would you need to get started in this enterprise? Well, first of all, you have to find the right piece of land.

Just hypothetically, if I found the right piece of land, you know, maybe I think seven. I've done 14 units, but I'm thinking maybe start with, well, I'd love to start with maybe two or three or four. I got it. How much money? How much money? Ballpark. So if it was seven units times 400,000.

So 2.8 million. Yeah. Okay. So there's your target. And maybe even then you're shooting too high. Maybe you just do a couple of lots. Maybe you try to sell to a family or something like that. But either way, let's take your target. And maybe even then you're shooting too high. Maybe you just do a couple of lots. Maybe you try to sell to a family or something like that. But either way, let's take your example.

So you're scared, and the only thing you're really scared of is the money and going into debt. And you should be. Don't go into debt. So how many houses? Oh, good. So how long will it take you to save up $2.8 million in this hypothetical? Well, I'd have to have investors for sure. Okay.

And that's not unusual for development. Right, but my point is I'm trying to help you break down what you're really afraid of. You're telling me there's a monster under the bed, and I don't think there's a monster under the bed. It's all about do you have a solid plan to come up with the $2.8 million? And if you have a solid plan, you've already done this for other people. So the only thing missing in your story on doing it your way or on your own is the money. When you come up with the money, you've already done this. You've sold land.

You've developed. You've been a part of that. You know how to do this. You can do this in your sleep. So let's put some action to the fear. I've got to come up with the money or I'm not doing this. You can do this in your sleep. So let's put some action to the fear. I got to come up with the money or I'm not doing this. You're loving life. Life is good for you. You're very successful. Wait until you have the money and you're ready to go. And then trust the process because you've done it before. Don't move. This is the Dave Ramsey Show.

It's the career-themed hour on The Dave Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman, Ramsey personality, best-selling author of The Proximity Principle, and host of The Ken Coleman Show, which is a part of the Ramsey Network. I'm here for you this hour as we take your calls about next steps or just getting clear on the big question, what am I supposed to do with my life? 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. 888-825-5225. Quick construct. If you're new to me and the Ken Coleman Show, what do we look at when we help people answer that question? We're going to look at two core elements of every human being.

What you do best and what you love to do most. What you do best, talent, skills, strengths. What you love to do most, work that you look forward to, work that when you're engaged in it, time seems to just disappear and you create results that mean something deeply to you. That's the construct. And so when we can figure out how to use what you do best to do what you love to do most, you're in your sweet spot. There are multiple jobs and career paths in that sweet spot. And let's think about that sweet spot analogy for a moment. That comes from, obviously, the sporting world.

If you're thinking about a racket with a tennis ball, a baseball bat, a softball bat with the ball, certainly a golf club, golf ball, you get the idea. And so when the instrument hits the ball in the sweet spot, two things happen. Number one, we know this from experience. I've done this just a few times in my life, but only a few times. It feels effortless. You can't even feel the contact with the ball. The second thing that happens is maximum efficiency.

The ball travels at maximum speed, maximum distance. And that has been described as a state of flow by Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He has a TED Talk. You can look this up. I'm not making this stuff up. There's science to prove this. When you're in a state of flow in your work, that's what it's like. So you have the answers because you know what you do best and what you love to do most.

Let's figure it out. 888-825-5225 is the number. We go to North Carolina where Susan is on the line. Susan, how can I help? Hi, Ken. How are you? I am living the dream. What's going on? Well, a couple of months ago,

I resigned. I had been a children's minister for 18 years. I'll be 60 years old this month. I loved what I do. I love ministry. There were several factors that the reason I decided to resign. But what I want to go to, I want to continue in ministry and maybe on a part-time basis. And I have an idea of what I want to do, but I'm not sure how to go about that. Great. What's the idea? Okay, well, I would like to help smaller churches if they are struggling with getting a program, a ministry for children going. I would like to go and help them see where their church family is, what their goals are, and sit down with them and work from their end

and try to help them to start or build on what they have going for their children and for their families. So I don't know if I'm not all about making a lot of money. I really just want to help people. I just feel this is kind of my I'm good all about making a lot of money. I really just want to help people. I just feel this is kind of my – I'm good at administration, and I love planning programs. I love coordinating volunteers. Great. So let me ask you this. How much money do you need to make?

Is there a minimum? No, not really. My husband's going to work a few more years. We don't have any debt. We're good. It's just I want to continue doing something and maybe make a little money on the side. And so my husband really cares. All right.

So do you have an idea of what that looks like, what's your contribution? Let's just say, hypothetically, we've got three or four area churches that say, Susan, we definitely need your help. We don't have a full-time children's minister, but we've got people who are willing to help. What would you do for us? Do you have an answer for that? Not at this point. I don't know if I should, like, sit down and write out a business plan or everything that I can do for churches. I feel like would be helpful. I feel like I need a starting point. Yeah, and your starting point is what you just said. And that's why I asked you the question.

You've got to be able to answer that question. So your homework assignment, this is actually really easy, Susan. And I know it's scary because you're not sure what the next steps are, but I'm going to give you the next steps, okay? So the first step is for you to actually write out or type out, this is what I can do for a church. So start out and don't try to wordsmith it. You don't need a business plan.

A business plan is very complex and all this. No, you need to be able to say in one minute or less what you would do for somebody. Okay, so you're going to write out, I'm going to train your children's workers. I'm going to offer you a curriculum that they can then teach. I will come up with a year-long strategy of activities that are designed to recruit parents and children into the ministry and get them to come. Whatever it is, right? But you have to do that by just simply looking at what you did for 18 years.

What did you do really, really well? What worked the best? And when you list that out, that is what you are going to offer them because let's be honest Susan you're going to offer them knowledge what to do how to do it and then you're offering them experience because you know these things have worked before and so that's really what you're offering doesn't that sound right to you it does okay so then the next question is well how do you charge for that well there's no manual for that, but what you would do is I would charge a very reasonable, because you're talking about small churches, so you've got to know who your audience is.

So you need to come up with a small flat fee that would be you coming in and assessing what their needs are, confirming those needs, and then what you would recommend they do to get an active children's ministry up and running and recruiting volunteers and all that kind of stuff. So this is kind of a, all right, I'm going to do some assessment, and then I'm going to share with you what you need to do next. Then I would focus on if you want me to come in and do some of this to get you started i'll come in and be your interim uh children's minister for x amount of weeks for this amount of money just come up with it don't overthink it and just say hey i'm open to this i want to

serve you and help you whatever you can do because for you a little bit of money is enough let's go to joe who's on the line in Florida. Joe, how can I help today? Hey, Ken, thank you for taking my call. Sure. Hey, so I'm 31 years old. I currently work in the corporate America field in the insurance industry. I absolutely hate it, hate what I do, hate coming to work. But my dream is to be a state trooper.

I'm just hesitant about pursuing that dream because I don't want to be a burden to my family. My wife is also 31. We have two kids, eight and five. And I know that pursuing the state trooper dream would require me to attend the academy, which is about seven months long, and the state capitol, which is about five hours away from our home. So for that time period, she would be home alone, and her concern is security, and also I'd be taking a significant pay cut. So I'm trying to see, should I just stay where I'm at in the insurance field and just, I guess, work it out that way, or find another dream to pursue? Well, I think find another dream that is similar is an option. I want you to look at other options besides being a state trooper.

And so the way you could get about that, you don't have to answer that on this call, but what is it about being a state trooper that really draws your heart in? You know the answer to that. And so I think it's worth the exercise for you to write out, this is why I want to be a state trooper. What are some other career paths that will allow me to get that same heart feeling and that same significance out of that work? That would be one thing I think you should do. However, your wife wants you to be able to do this, correct?

It's just it's not the best circumstances. Is that a yes or no? Yes, sir. All right. So then it's sitting down with her and it's saying, hey, if I want to do this, we got the pay cut is the problem. So we got to plan for that. And then we'll make that up. Second thing is we got to figure out this five hours away for seven months. What's another solution? There is always a way if you two sit down together

and you say, how could we do this, number one, and then when can we do this? Maybe now is not the right time, but that's coming in the near future. You can do this, and you better do it, or you'll resent your wife. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Welcome back, America. This is the Dave Ramsey Show. I'm Ken Coleman, a Ramsey personality and host of the Ken Coleman Show, a part of the Ramsey Network.

And this is the career hour of the Dave Ramsey Show, as we take your calls about work, work that matters deeply to you. Simply put, folks, I believe that every man and woman on the planet was created to fill a unique role. That means that you are needed and it means that you must do it. This idea of, well, we just work to live just to pay the bills and maybe have a couple of nice vacations and stack some memories in there is flawed. That's not what we were created to do. We live to work. In other words, we live to make a contribution to our world.

Somebody out there really does need us to be us. And so this idea of working in your sweet spot being who you were created to be is not selfish ambition it's selfless ambition it's not about you so let's help you get the clarity you need so that you can begin the journey 888-825-5225 888-825-5225 we go to ohio where hillary is on the line. Hillary, how can I help? Hi, Ken. Thanks for taking my call. Sure. I started teaching about four years ago, and I did that because I was really looking forward to building positive relationships with kids, to working with both adults and kids, and just be in an environment where I could be really creative.

But it's kind of gotten progressively worse, I would say, over every year that I've been there. Just I'm feeling disrespected by kids, by parents. I can tell that teaching is definitely becoming more about testing and less about the relationships, which is why I got into it in the first place. As well as it's just really wearing on my mental health to the point where on Sunday nights, I'm not just not looking forward to going to work, but I'm feeling nauseous and shaking and sweating. I'm feeling actually like nervous to go into work. So I'm kind of just wondering how can I use my passions and talent while still kind of preserving my mental health to either toughen up and get through being a teacher or to kind of pursue a different route. I've also been curious about maybe starting my own business. I just don't know what that would be. Yeah. Well, number one, I don't want you to try to

tough this out much longer. You're only going to tough this out in this current teaching job until you replace it. Do you understand what I'm saying? Because you are not in the right place. I get this call all the time on the Ken Coleman Show, and I'm so glad you called because I think there are a lot of teachers out there that are listening in and they're feeling the same way. What's going on is I wrote down what you said to start the call and you said, I got into teaching to build positive relationships with kids and adults, obviously the parents, teachers, principals, the whole nine yards. And I wanted to be creative. And I would guess what you meant by creative is creative in how you instructed and guided people. Is that right? Yeah. And just being able to also develop things too, like create things on the computer. Right. All for the purpose of instructing young people to give them the best shot at life. That's the why for you. That hasn't changed.

What has changed is the hopeful ideals that you had and you got into an environment that actually stamps out creativity. And it's all about test scores. It's not about individualized, customized teaching on the whole. I'm not saying that for every classroom in America, but I'm saying you're in a public education system, I'm guessing. Is that fair?

Yes. Okay. So here's the million-dollar question. Hillary, I want you to think about your teaching experience right now. If I could wave a pencil that I'm holding in my hand and magically remove all of that pressure to make sure the kids actually get a good score on the standardized test, and we actually gave you a classroom environment where the kids would have to respect you because you could actually do something about it and the parents would support that and the environment was totally different from what it is now.

Would you be calling me? Probably not. I know so. So now here's the great news about that. Okay? Yeah. There are other teaching environments where you can do what it is you want to do. You know that and I know that.

But what you have to do is begin to identify those in your area and go, okay, what does that look like? Is that the college level, community college level? Is it private school? Is it maybe in a more corporate environment where you're a trainer? See, because a very good elementary school teacher, or quite frankly, any level of teacher, could be very good at instructing and guiding adults, adults who want to be there, adults who want to learn, and they're giving you their undivided attention. And so I think that those areas that I just gave you, or maybe even a charter school, I'm trying to let you begin to unlock your brain to go, wait, this isn't my

only option to be who I want to be, which is I want to instruct. I want to guide. I want to be creative and come up with solutions to help people get where they want to go. So I would tell you that hang in there just long enough, okay, to get out of this environment. You, Hillary, are doing the right thing in the wrong place. That's what I want you to hear. So I'm not trying to discourage you from your entrepreneurial vision. I want you to get clear and uncover your heart because your heart's just completely covered up with buildup. Toxic environment.

You're overwhelmed. There's just too much going on for you to enjoy your work. Yeah. And I think, too, Ken, like what I really want to do, too, the part of my job that I love is working through life skills and kind of counseling my students. It's not that I love teaching math or writing or reading. It's just that I really like those relationships and helping kids solve problems. Okay. So let me put you on the spot, all right? Okay. What are the multiple ways you could do that in the education space

or outside of the education space? I mean, I've thought about being like a guidance counselor. Yes, absolutely. Or a counselor of some kind. I know that at my school, personally, our counselor doesn't really counsel. She's used more as like a vice principal or a secondary principal. So I don't know if that would be in like a school setting or privately. I've thought about being a life coach. I kind of have all these different visions going on in my head and I'm just not

sure which direction to go. Okay, here's the good news. What you need to do now is simply sit down with people that are in those positions. Find somebody that's doing career or life coaching, somebody who's a guidance counselor on not just the public school level, but private school. I'd also look at maybe even the college level career counseling. Do you know what I mean? In a college setting where these kids are overwhelmed and there's a lot of counseling going on. There's looking at a lot of options, you creating a plan for them. You love the idea of creating next steps. So I think whatever you identified just now, plus anything that comes up in the next days and weeks ahead,

use my proximity principle. I'm going to give you a copy of the book, Madison, let's give her a copy and sit down with people who are doing successfully what you think you might want to do. Why? Why am I telling Hillary to do that, folks? Because by getting in proximity to people that are doing what you want to do or think you want to do, you're going to clarify and verify. Let me explain the clarify. The clarify is you're going to sit down and go, what's it look like during your day? What do you love most?

What do you like the least? What are the qualifications that are necessary? How did you get those qualifications? How did you get those qualifications? Where did you get those qualifications? It's basically doing a research paper, but for yourself. Now I get all the answers that I didn't have. So that's the clarify. And the verify will happen as a result of this clarifying process.

As I clarify and I begin to think about all the things involved, all the things I've got to do, how much that will cost, how long that will take, all of that stuff begins to inform your heart. And your heart goes, yeah, I still want to do that. Or absolutely not. I didn't realize that that was involved. I don't want to do that. And so that's why I wrote the book, The Proximity Principle. If you have an idea where you want to go, but you're not sure how to get there, get the book.

KenColeman.com right now, wherever books are sold. Why? Because when you sit with the people that are doing what you want to do, and you get in places where what you want to do is happening, you're learning and observing. Three things. Learn, do, connect. Proximity, folks. Getting around those people and in those places positions you where you need to be and propels you to where you want to be. Don't make the journey so scary.

Go get the answers. That's why you're scared. That's why you're full of doubt. You don't have the answers. I don't know. Therefore, I'm paralyzed. That's why I told Hillary to do that. And that's what many of you need to do as well.

Hey, our career hour is almost up. I want to say a big thanks to our producer, James Childs, sitting in for Kelly Daniel today, Madison Prouder, and Dave Ramsey, of course. And we can't forget you, America. You're the reason why we do what we do. This is The Dave Ramsey Show. Hey, it's Kelly, associate producer and phone screener for The Dave Ramsey Show. This episode is over, but if you heard about a product or service and didn't have a chance to write it down, don't worry. We list everything that is mentioned during this episode in the podcast show notes section.

Thanks for listening.