The Ramsey Show - App - I’m Struggling in the Job Hunt (Hour 3)

Episode Date: September 16, 2022

Take our Audience Survey & Enter to Win a $500 Visa Gift Card: Click here to take the survey   Ken Coleman & Dr. John Delony discuss: Answering tricky questions in a job interview, Buying a home with cash vs. a mortgage, Dealing with being in charge of parents' finances, Struggling to find a job.   Want a plan for your money? Find out where to start: https://bit.ly/3nInETX Listen to all The Ramsey Network podcasts: https://bit.ly/3GxiXm6   Learn more about your ad choices. https://www.megaphone.fm/adchoices Ramsey Solutions Privacy Policy

Девочка-пай Live from the headquarters of Ramsey Solutions, broadcasting from the Pods Moving and Storage Studios, this is The Ramsey Show. It's where America hangs out to have a conversation about your life, specifically your money, your relationships, your mental health, your work. I'm Ken Coleman, joined by my colleague, Dr. John Deloney. The phone number to jump in is 888-825-5225. That's 888-825-5225.

Let's go to Craig in Indianapolis, Indiana. Craig, how can we help? Hey, Ken, John. Thanks for taking my call. You bet. Just a little background. 2005, we got hooked up with the Ramsey Baby Steps and went through the process, and we're now in Baby Step 7 and Baby Steps Millionaires.

Way to go. Nice. But here's a couple months back, I got terminated from a job of 26 years on a policy violation, and going forward, I want to know how to broach that subject in an interview, because I know the question can be asked, how did you leave your last job? What was the what what are you comfortable sharing on this policy violation i think it will help it was it was i was i think it was misapplied but it was a racial discrimination and it was i do it was definitely misapplied and but i had no recourse indiana's a right to work state, so you can get fired for any reason. So when I go to the next interview, when they ask that question,

I want to be up front, but how do I do that without laying myself out? I will tell you that there are very few questions that truly stump me. And for the moment, I'm stumped in that this is such a red flag for obvious reasons. Certainly you understand. You do need to be up front. But it sounds to me like, like okay so let me go back before i tell you what i think you should say you're telling me that um it's your word versus their word they're saying you violated something and you're saying i did not do it are you are you basically saying this was a misunderstanding no it wasn't a misunderstanding the company got hit with a fairly significant

case a couple years back and they are just hypersensitive to this stuff and it doesn't take and it literally took almost nothing to trigger this right but and i don't want you to share what you said because i don't want to be insensitive to anybody but was this something you said or something you did i was was something that was posted. You posted something on your social media? Yeah, it was a group chat, and I posted something, and it was taken the wrong way. I didn't even imply it to be the way it was. One person took it, and that's how it...

Okay, let me ask you this this if you're in a job interview in the near future and uh would you feel comfortable showing what you posted to anybody from any walk of life absolutely you would you would push it across the table previous co-workers say what happened because they're being real quiet about it and i've had previous co-workers asking well what happened we don't understand why why you're gone so and i show them they're like they shake their head they just are in disbelief that i was terminated for that well then part of me says that you know because if you start getting too gray about this they're going to check your references you have to assume that that they're going to check your references and so what you don't run are stellar i mean even my supervisors and everything will give me

the utmost highly right high recommendation okay wait a second i know you're chomping at the bit but but let me let me ask you this if if you go interview for a company abc all right and they call your past company where you were terminated. You're telling me that the people who terminated you are going to say great things about you, and they're going to say... Management terminated me, not my direct

supervisor. Okay, but my point is that you're going to have to plan for this. So I don't want to get cute. I don't want to try to describe or coach you on some sort of dance. I think you're going to have to plan for this. So I don't want to get cute. I don't want to try to describe or coach you on some sort of dance. I think you're going to have to deal with this. So I think you're going to have to have your post and I'd print it out and I would say, here's what happened. And I've learned now here's the deal. I would show them the post. And then I would also say, here's what I've learned. Even if you stand by what you posted even if you

think that you were wrongly terminated or that you were misunderstood or somebody was too sensitive it doesn't matter I would go here's what I posted here it is here's who I am here's what I learned and I would just own it and say but for 26 years I had a stellar performance and then I would just focus on the positives why you want to be there i just don't john am i missing anything yeah here's the one thing craig that's bothering me is your you have a very victim-centric mentality okay how so well i i don't even know i just and even if that it best, Ken, even if that's how it happened, it comes across as manipulative and disingenuous.

And so I love Ken's idea. When you go for an interview, you should have a portfolio of some sort. Print it off and put it in there. And if you get down that granular, then have the conversation. And I love what Ken said. If you didn't learn something from the

exchange if you didn't learn hey i hurt somebody's feelings and i didn't i didn't even mean to i'm learning new things which by the way i have done over the past 36 months and i learned new things even if i think i didn't mean to hurt it doesn't matter what i meant the person on the other end of what i said said hey that hurt please don. Please don't do that. And I can do one of two things, be an idiot and go, I'm going to sit. Or I can say, dude, I don't want to hurt you. I'm sorry. I'm going to change that. And so you walking away saying, what did you learn? I learned that, um, things that I think are private on the internet or public. And so I'm going to be more responsible about what I post. I'm going to have some friends that I reach out to if I hurt their feelings and say, hey, did I say this the right way or the wrong way?

Right? So regardless of what happened, it's the, well, I don't know, just manage them. Man, take some ownership. Right? I posted something. I got fired for it. I learned my lesson, and I'm moving forward. I'm a good guy.

I got 26 years of track record. I have no, absolutely nothing in my body wants to hurt other people. And I did. I crossed a line. My company said I crossed a line. I didn't think I did, but I did.

And I've learned my lesson. Like, you see what I'm saying? That is ownership. I'm taking this. I'm sliding across the table. Totally different than, all shooks, man. I don't know.

You see what I'm saying? Yes. It's a hold your head up high. Yeah, so here's what we're doing. We're saying take the elephant out of the room. Absolutely. You start acting like a politician, you know, on those Sunday morning shows. They ask him a direct question.

Is the sun hot? And then they start going, well, it depends on the position. This guy talks about rain all the time. I thought I asked you. I didn't ask you that. So I would just completely own it that way. And, John, I love the advice. There's something to be learned.

Oh, and I love that. I love what you said. Don't take on the role of victim. No, because you're trying to present yourself as a great candidate. And here's what they really care about. They're they're only want to know one thing. And only one thing, Craig, you ready? Can Craig help us win?

Yep. And if they think that Craig can help us win, they'll go, you're hired. This is a guy that messed up and learned something. This is a guy that somebody messed him over, and he still learned something. Yeah. That's the guy I want on my team. You're fine, Craig. No shame in your game.

Head high. But take humility into the conversation. It's going to be okay. Thank you for trusting us with the call. You're going to be okay. Thank you for trusting us with the call. You're going to be okay. This is The Ramsey Show. welcome back america you have joined the conversation here on the ramsey show i'm ken coleman joined by dr john deloney taking your phone calls about money, your relationships, work situations. How do I get unstuck, whether it's relationally, financially, or professionally?

That's what we're here to help you with. The phone number is 888-825-5225, 888-825-5225. Let's go to Buffalo, New York. Adam is there. Adam, how can we help? Hey, guys. How are you doing here today? We're having a blast. How are you, sir? Not too bad. A little stressed, so hoping you guys can help me out here.

All right. Just to give you a little bit of background here. So earlier this week, my mother came to me and asked me to help her with her finances, doing a monthly budget and getting things in order as well too. Going over some general information with her, I found out that they have about $65,000 in debt, but they're also looking to retire in the next three to five years. And I told them to go to a financial advisor. They're a little untrusting of people outside the family when it comes to money. So I'm just looking for some information, something that I can relay back to them as far as how to kind of get out of this debt before they go look to get into retirement. Sure. How familiar are you with our baby steps?

Very familiar. I'm actually following them myself right now. Great. Are they familiar with Dave and the Ramsey Show and Financial Peace or any of this stuff, or is this all foreign to them? Kind of. I brought that up to her when we initially talked, and I found out all this information, so it's relatively new to them.

Okay. Give us a quick snapshot of their financial picture. You said $65,000 in debt. How much do they make collectively? Collectively, a year, probably $100K. So $100K. And do they have 401Ks, pension plans? What do they currently have in the form of retirement accounts?

Yep, in retirement accounts, they probably have around $400K in their 401Ks. And then with pensions combined, when they do retire, they'll probably be making $2,100 a month with their pensions. And what's their housing situation? The house is paid off for but they do have a home equity loan that the $65,000 is tied up in right now. Okay and then what is the rest of the $65,000? Home equity loan, what else? home equity loan uh with the home equity loan they put um a couple i believe like five ten years ago they redid their kitchen uh which is probably i believe around between 30 to 50k i don't have that oh okay i'm sorry so so the 65 is just the heloc

there's nothing outside of that correct oh okay gotcha all right um well i mean what you've got to sit down with them and and you got to sit down and explain the the baby steps to them right i mean just literally walk them through this baby step one is the thousand dollars uh in their savings account and then everything else and they're they're obviously older so gazelle intensity to go we're paying off the heloc right everything is it's one sixtyensity to go, we're paying off the HELOC, right? Everything is, it's one $65,000 snowball we're getting after, right? And so we just got to take that on every month and they've got, you know, X amount of years that they want to retire. And so that paid for home plus their 401k and the pension all puts them in a pretty decent space if they have no debt, and they were to knock that out quickly and start investing as quickly as possible.

Would you say that's true as their son? Yes, definitely. And what I'm wondering is, do they stop investing in their 401k and basically the money that they're putting into the 401k, invest that into the debt once they knock that off? Absolutely. They pause on that because they have a paid-for house, right? 401k, invest that into the debt, and once they knock that off, potentially. Yep. They pause on that because they have a paid-for house, right?

And they've got a pension coming their way. So pause everything, and they are knocking this out. And walk them through this. Help them with the budget. If they're willing, and I don't hear that there's any tension on this, sit down with them and do a basic budget with them. Walk them through FPU and get them hooked up on every dollar. and I don't hear that there's any tension on this, sit down with them and do a basic budget with them. Walk them through FPU and get them hooked up on every dollar.

Literally do it with them and get them automated to where every extra dime is going into that HELOC, and they'll knock that out pretty quickly. And if either one of them can get some overtime or some side work, or how much could you sell? Do they have 10, 15 grand of stuff laying around the house? I mean, that's the gazelle intensity to try to knock this out sooner rather than later gotcha yeah and they have about four grand in their savings account um should we drain that down to the one the 1k that you guys you know talk about baby step number one put that towards

the 65k and then look to invest in that later. Yep, today. So now they're down to $62,000. Show them that. And Adam, I would start the conversation with you guys have this end goal of retiring sooner rather than later. You're going to have to change the way you live to do this safely and smartly.

Gotcha. I see it affecting their daily life and stuff like that as well too and tension on their their you know their marriage as well so i just want to see them financially free and get back to the happy go lucky as hell they are you know you can't want this more than they do correct you want them to have the freedom you're feeling as you walk through this stuff and you want them to have the optimism that you have walking through this stuff and they have to want it. You can't force it on them. You can't make them do it. You can show them reality, which is you've got a math problem here and y'all

gonna have to change your lives a little bit if you want. And here's what retirement is going to look like, by the way, here's your budget. So when my mom was talking about, Hey, I'm thinking about starting to have a conversation about retirement, the first question I asked was, can you all afford to do that? Because you want to retire all you want. That's a math problem first. And then an identity and what am I going to do next problem second. So when someone's like, I'm thinking about retiring, first question is, is that even a possibility for you?

And some people think they just magically can retire when they get to 62 or 65. And math says otherwise right gotcha yeah adam you're you're a good man um hang on the line let's uh let's gift them with a year of financial peace universally let's get them going and uh john that's great advice tell him to watch the video together yeah i was going to say how does he how does he approach that he's going to gift them with us it's our gift to him to give to his parents what's the great way to kind of posture that i'm coming over to watch this with you okay good i'll come watch it with you great and here's what i'm doing in my house and it's making a huge difference you've invited me into this conversation

um and so i'm just gonna show it to you i'm gonna give you a ringside seat to it and i'll do it with you yeah i love it great great great thanks for the, your good, good son. Dennis is up in El Paso, Texas. Dennis, how can we help? Hey guys. So I am struggling with something that my wife and I have been going back and forth on for probably about a year or maybe even longer. So we became completely debt-free March of last year, and we live in a small home, you know, that we didn't plan on staying in permanently. We thought it would be, you know, a few months out of the year. And so the question is, we'd like to upgrade and go to a little bit larger home with the thought of we have a rental property right now and a new home that you'd go live in and collect more rental because there would be two rentals instead of one property? Or would you save up for, let's say, six years because currently that's our plan,

but we keep getting tempted when we look at homes, it's like, ooh, start imagining and getting excited, and it's like, ooh, we can actually probably make this work. And we always say, what would Dave Ramsey say? And so finally making this phone call and really appreciate y'all taking the question. Yeah, we only have about a minute. I think this is pretty straightforward. Do you want to own two rental homes or do you want to own that next home completely debt-free from the get-go? What do you want?

I'd like to have the rental and pay off that other home as soon as possible. Well, I didn't ask you that. I asked you, and so I think you wait six years. If it's going to take you six years to save up to pay cash for the upgrade then that's the deal i wouldn't hold two liabilities and pay the mortgage company or pay the bank give them a gift every month of my interest well i don't know why you would do that yeah you've done the hard work you're debt free or sell the sell the rentals and go buy a house with cash but that's why i asked the question that way, Dennis. What's more important? If the upgrade cash

house is more important, then I'm selling one of the rentals instantly. Or selling both. But if I want to own two cash rentals, if that's more important, then it means I'm going to save up and wait longer to buy the upgrade. You get to decide, but don't go into debt. You've already become debt

free. Don't go back. You don't need to. Decide what you want to do, Dennis.'t go into debt. You've already become debt-free. Don't go back. You don't need to. Decide what you want to do, Dennis. This is the Ramsey show I'm Ken Coleman Dr. John Deloney is my colleague, and he joins me this hour. The phone number is 888-825-5225. If you want to jump in, 888-825-5225. So, John, this is fun. Every once in a while, we will take a question from the lobby. And today, we've got a returning friend.

She and her family were here yesterday doing their debt-free scream, and she joins us again in the lobby today. But this time, a work-related question. It's Angelica. Did I say that correct? Yes, perfect. All right, welcome back. Thank you, Ken.

Now, before we get to your question, this is kind of rare. You were on that stage yesterday with your family doing your debt-free scream. Now you're back a day later. How does it feel this time i still i think it double nervous my husband's not here next to me but you know what you got me and john not dave so you're like a dave dave's scary isn't he i don't know i think he was pretty you know i'm joking we just got to give him a hard time he's the best he's great all right so you've got a work-related question for John and I. What's up?

Okay, I have been living in a country for over nine years, and my work background is in supply chain. Okay. So in the past 10 months, I started re-evaluating my work situation. I have been working as a paralegal, but now I want to go back to my supply chain field. That's my dream job. It has always been.

And I started to get requalified to stand out a little bit. But I still have a lot of struggle to even find entry-level jobs positions. I have been a recruiter in some interviews in person, over the phone, or Zoom, and still have a really hard time. People still give me a hard time for the gap that have been working my field and be doing something totally different between all those years. And yeah, that's my really concern. I don't know how, what else can I do to stand out?

Okay. So just to make sure I understand, you are getting real feedback that you've had a, did you say a nine-year gap? Yes. Between when you've been in supply chain. Yes. And yet you've also gotten some recent qualifications and some certifications that make you current. Exactly. Okay.

How many interviews have you been on where you've had at least a face-to-face, whether it would be Zoom or in person, where they've given you that feedback that the gap is too much? Okay. or in person where they've given you that feedback, that the gap is too much? Okay, the gap, they took a couple interview over the phone. Others was more in person and over the Zoom. And they still say, like, why are you so long this time here? And I say, I feel so weird. They are wasting my time as well because they instead, okay, if you give me an opportunity to be in person. Why don't let me stand up and show that I have the skills and mindset to move forward,

but still don't even give me feedback to say, okay, what's not working here? Gotcha. How many of those interviews that you've gotten, have you had a personal connection maybe where they knew you through somebody else or they knew you directly? Have any of those been the case? Zero. All right, that's our new strategy. All right, so first of all, you're not done anything wrong, okay? Secondly, I wouldn't take too much from that feedback, okay? Because here's the reality. Whether you've been out 19 years or nine years okay and you're a supply chain expert you know what that work involves the fact of the matter is you didn't forget how to do it in that nine

years time all right uh i would also guess and correct me if i'm wrong that a successful person in supply chain and logistics you're using a lot of those same skills and experience as a paralegal, I would guess. Yes. Details. Details are very orientating. So here's the deal. I just would not be discouraged, and I know it's discouraging, but I don't think it's personal. I think you're getting a lot of corporate speak. They didn't select you for whatever reason. And so what you've got to do is go, in order to get back in, I've got to change my strategy. And I wrote an entire book on this. I'm going to give it to you after the question. We'll come out on the break and give it to you. It's called the proximity principle. And here's what it says. In order to do what I want to do, supply chain work,

I've got to start hanging around, being around people that are in that business, that type of work. And I got to get in places where that kind of work is happening, right? So maybe that's groups and forums and things like that online where people are supply chain leaders and they're looking for talent and there's all these best practices going on. There's a community for everything. Would you agree with that? Yes.

There's a community for everything. Find it. Secondly, we start looking at companies in your area. Where are you from? Hudson, Massachusetts. Okay, great. So we start going, okay, where are the supply chain companies and jobs? Where are those at? All right, now, so I start looking at targets, maybe even places that you've applied to, but you haven't gotten hired. This time, we're looking for that one-to-one connection

or one, two, or three connections. Meaning, if I don't know someone, if I don't know John, who works over at company ABC, where John could take my resume and not just take my resume but say, I've known Ken for X amount of time. He was out for nine years. Here's why. He's back in. He's a really great guy. I think he's somebody we really need to look at. Do you see how that's a whole different ballgame?

Yes. It's relational credibility. And to get back in, that's what we need here. So that there's a perception of you before you ever step into the interview. That you're somebody that has credibility through relationship. And now all of a sudden, you've got the upper hand. Does that make sense? It does. That's what we've got to do right now.

You can get back in. But you're up to date on all your certifications. You're up to date on everything. So this is relationship. So who do I know that works over here or who do I know that knows somebody? So you're shaking the tree. All right. When I was a little kid, we used to go to a farm in Michigan where my grandfather lived. He had the apple tree and he'd go, all right, boys, go get the apples. And we were just tall enough to grab the lower branches. And he'd say, just shake. This is the idea. We're shaking the apple tree to get as many opportunities through relationships that are connected to the jobs we want.

Okay? John, you look defeated. Sure. Why are you defeated? I feel like it's really hard for me to prove that I'm worth it. You know, I listen to your choice well like it's hard because I I said a lot in Brazil I have a lot of work background like qualification guy here and I started all jobs just to survive and I have my family get out of that and now i really want to go back to my field and i feel like

my time is kicking and i i'm wasting so much time just it's hard it's hard um so one of my most important mentors is a guy named gustavo okay and gustavo came to the united states he married a missionary came to the United States and had 200 bucks in his pocket in an old Ford pickup. And he was an engineer in a South American country. And the U.S. wouldn't recognize his engineering degree

and he had to feed his family. So he ended up sweeping the floor at a cotton gin in West Texas. Okay. And he got so fed up, he started changing people's oil in their driveway. He was a lovely guy, and I met you,

and you're a lovely human being. You just exude joy, right? You're somebody I want to hang out with, right? And he turned that mobile oil change business into a juggernaut, and he was a time machine for me and my family you know what he gave me time with my son that i couldn't buy here's why i tell you that unfortunately we live in a world where people may not give you another chance or you're gonna have to like

ken says it's gonna be six months of shaking that tree before an apple finally falls you are too brilliant yep and too too you if you are so effusive in your joy, it just comes across in who you are. Um, I would love to see you not outsource your worth to somebody, some, some HR representatives at some nameless company. I'd rather you look in the mirror and say, I will provide value regardless of whether they find it or they find it or they find it. Cause eventually it's going to circle back. Cause that's who you are, right? Don't be beat up. And I know that sounds dumb, but let me say this.

You got beat up. Don't be defeated. Does that make sense? Yeah. And so whether you got to start coming up with the arts and crafts thing, like I want to get back to the supply chain logistics. Well, cool. Then I'm just going to build my own freaking company.

Or, hey, let me add something. What if you go get an administrative position? That's way beneath you. Get in the door. But you're inside the company that has the supply chain jobs, and now all of a sudden they know you. Here's the only reason you haven't gotten hired. The people that were interviewing you didn't dig deep enough.

Maybe they saw somebody else. Maybe it was easier. It has nothing to do with you. It's all about them. They're boneheads. Let me put this out to the audience. If you're anywhere near the Boston, Massachusetts area, and you work at a supply chain company, will you call Ramsey Care? You're not doing a bang-up job as it is logistics, people. Yeah. We've got a great candidate. We've got the solution right here.

I'll write the recommendation letter. What's wrong with you people? Hey, you got this. Your time will come, but you got to keep at it. Keep on keeping on. You hear me? You're amazing. It's going to work out. This is the Ramsey Show. សូវាប់ពីបានប់ពីប្រាប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់ពីប់� welcome back to the ribs show america i'm kid coleman he's dr john deloney we're thrilled to be with you triple eight eight two five five two two five is the phone number uh triple eight eight two five five two thank you john he john's reminding me of something. I was getting there,

I promise. I'll finish the number, though. 888-825-5225 Our scripture of the day, show yourself in all respects to be model of good works and in your teaching show integrity. Dignity, that's Titus 2.7. And our quote of the day from George Foreman, the fighter who gives

their all will be around next year don't save anything give it all you got begs the question john uh have you ever cooked on a george foreman grill absolutely so i stacy made me get rid of it what i loved it our first two years of marriage lived on the form of grill dude that thing was amazing how quick it was got all the grease out when you're cooking burgers and stuff yeah she thought it was kind of like really and i was like i i think it's fantastic sort of the great office episodes of all time too but he steps on the grill so true legend oh it's so good bernie is up next in san francisco california bernie how can we help hey fellas uh it's good to talk Bernie is up next in San Francisco, California. Bernie, how can we help?

Hey, fellas. It's good to talk to you. Good to talk to you. How can we help? Yeah, so long story short, I'm on baby step five here, and I'm just really unenthusiastic about it. What makes you unenthusiastic about it? It makes me excited for the future. It's just like, I guess I'm just having kids.

Do you think everyone should do that or at least stay for it? It just seems like a lot of lacking peace. I'm sorry, do you have kids? Oh, I don't. Oh, are you asking us if you should have kids? Oh, I'm asking if I should do step five right now. Since you don't have, okay, that's what I was wondering. Oh, yes, kids will take all your money, and they're loud,

and they pee everywhere. Oh, isn't that the truth? And they're incredible. It seems like the return on investment is not great. They're not an investment, brother. But, hey, you're 23, and the fact that you're asking that question says don't have kids anytime soon. Yeah. You're good.

Sure. I mean, I think John's nailed it. You're not thinking about kids anytime soon is that right bernie dude no yeah don't say for college for kids that you may or may not have yeah you're not there yet yeah keep on trucking do you own a home uh that was the other thing so instead should i start saving for a down payment on a home yeah yes absolutely it's kind of far off too 100 absolutely now that that for sure yes okay yeah congratulations i mean what else would you be doing yeah i don't know that you're not gonna put it in a coffee can and bury it in your backyard hey you're not uninspired with

money you're uninspired just with life what are you doing i don't think i work i do a lot of volunteering stuff actually with, with students. That's not what I'm asking. You're miserable. Why? Why are you choosing a life of misery, of uninspired life? Why are you choosing that? You know, I've never really thought of it that way.

Life is kind of peaceful right now. I don't think he's miserable, John. Are you not? You feel good, Bernie? Well, yeah, I'm feeling good. He volunteers. I'm sorry? You volunteer.

You give back. You're disciplined with money. But I think John is on to something. I mean, I just don't think at 23 you've got a grand vision for your life yet. Is that fair? I think that's accurate. Like, well, what am I doing here? I think that's, yeah. I asked myself that this morning, man.

That's just a question. Yeah. What are you doing here? I think that's, yeah. I asked myself that this morning, man. That's just a question. Yeah. What are you doing here? I don't know. Like, if I look at my long-term future, I really kind of just want to keep volunteering. Like, I really like working with those students. What warms your heart? Why do you keep volunteering with kids?

What's driving that? Yeah, I work with high school-age kids. So, you know, they're at a point where they're figuring out what do i do after high school do i go to college do i not like all that type of stuff and so i'm seeing like success or at least peace brought into their life and if i can contribute to that peace which makes me really happy yeah but i think it's i think it's deeper than that because you're a guy that doesn't know what he wants to do with his life so it's not like you're imparting tremendous wisdom to those kids. Yeah, what are you coaching them on? I think there's something deeper there, Bernie,

and I think even more beautiful. What is it about spending time with those kiddos that fires you up? Go deep. I don't know, man. Yeah, you do. You know. They make me happy. Take me back to a moment recently last time you volunteered that when you walked back to your car and got in the car and drove wherever you drove you you

thought about that moment that interaction can you think of one of those yeah give me describe it to john and i um yes i just had a kid uh his father her father passed away and so we all went to the funeral and just um i just remember like how seeing how hard it was for them but i guess just even just being there you have to stay much uh it was enough to just kind of give a hug and be present for others that's it's the single greatest gift you can give somebody which is your presence right your time it's incredible who did that for you Somebody modeled this for you. I'm in high school a lot of the Church just for context a lot of those same mentors would come up in that kind of way

Can I tell you that I think a part of your grand vision and I don't want to put any pressure on this statement This is just me hearing what I heard and John tell me if I'm not hearing what because John's very pressure on this statement. This is just me hearing what I heard. And John, tell me if I'm not hearing what, because John's very insightful on this. I hear a guy who you need to, whether it's volunteer or ministry time, a huge portion of your future life is in a role where you are just there for people. I'm keeping that broad on purpose because I don't want to, in the emotional moment, where you're a chaplain or a therapist, it could be very broad. But I think your professional future is in that area. I think you have a huge heart for people, and I'm going to take a guess that you're really good with people. Is that true or false? Tell me where I'm off.

Yeah, no, I think everything you said is accurate. In my day-to-day work it's in software so i really don't help anyone or the world if you will so well okay now hold on yes you do yes you do because the software that you are involved in has a positive effect on people somewhere somehow true or false that's true all right so don't say that again but i will say i will say this as a challenge i think you've got to be in the people work space i think working with people is your jam it does i think i think that's important because i think your soul will slowly slip out of you if you are not interacting with people i'm going to say 75 of the day i think you are good with people, and I think you want to work with people. I think it fires your soul up.

So there's a broad, broad spectrum here. Coaching, teaching, instructing, counseling. I mean, dude, this could be health care. This could be mental health. This could be educational. It could be in the business space. You could go sell stuff, products that change people's lives, and you get to develop relationships. It could be all over the place, man.

Yeah. Sure. I just want you to dream in that aspect. So here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to give you the Get Clear Career Assessment that our team developed. I'm going to give this to you because I want you to take it. I want you to really focus in on what comes up on passion and mission. Passion is what you love to do, and mission

is what motivates you. And I think we already know. I think acts of service fire your soul up. And so I think I've got a three-part question that'll help you. And here, I'm going to give you a homework assignment. Will you promise to do it? I'll do it, sir. All right, here's the deal. I want you to answer these three questions as many times as it takes. Maybe use a pencil so you can erase and keep doing it. Who are the people I most want to help? The second question, what is the problem or desire that those people have? It's very important that you ask it that way. Sometimes it's problem-based with the people we want to help,

and sometimes it's desire-based, right? So I've talked to people before that want to be a hairdresser. Why? They want to make women feel beautiful. So that's a desire. You could sell shoes, design clothing. So what is the problem those people have? Because you've already thought of the people. Now the third question is, first question is, what is the problem I most want to solve? Excuse me, who are the people I most want to help? What problem or desire do they have? And then the third question is, what are the solutions or what is the solution to that problem or desire that I most get excited about? Did you get those three?

Yes, I read them now. It's all the same question. I'm just having you ask it from a different perspective. And I think the answers to those questions are going to steer you in a really good direction. John? And so your money is a reflection. Your money is a reflection of where you are and how you feel. So if your money is feeling uninspired, look in the mirror.

Don't look at your dollars. Look in the mirror. And don't save money for kids yet, man. You're not quite there. For sure. You're not quite there yet. Guy called to ask about Baby Step 5, and we just broke his future down. But he's a good dude.

Great guy, man. Anybody that spends time with teenagers gets my vote for greatest person on the planet. I love it. They're tough. Good man. John Delaney, you're a good dude. Great guy, man. Anybody that spends time with teenagers gets my vote for greatest person on the planet. I love it. They're tough. Good man. John Delaney, you're a good man. Thanks for hanging with me. And I want to thank James, Kelly, the entire team in the booth, and you, America, for listening and watching.

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