Do You Want to Get Out Of Debt

I have heard many people state that their financial objective is to “get out of debt.” I don’tnbelieve this is a worthy objective. Being “in debt” means that you have encouraged someonento finance your dreams!
What do you really mean when you say you want to get out of debt? I have noticed that somenpeople are really asking to be excused from the obligation of repaying their debt. It is as ifnthey are really saying “I want to get out of PAYING my debts.” So, one possibility is that sayingnthat you want to get out of debt is just a way to make your request to break your repaymentnagreement appear noble.
Rather than focusing on getting out of debt, I suggest that you ask yourself if you havenenough money to accomplish your dreams. Can you afford to do the things that would allownyou to fully express yourself? Make a list and timetable of all the things you would like to donfor the world as an expression of who you are. Add up how much money you would need tonmake those contributions. Use that amount as your financial goal.
Next comes the task of figuring out how you will achieve that goal. A joke told by financialnplanners depicts an unskilled client by saying, “His financial plan is to win the lottery.” Makensure your plan is a bit more substantial. Ask yourself “What do people want? How can Inprovide it by doing the things I love to do? What can I do to be $ xxxxx more valuable?”
Some people avoid thinking in terms of how they can learn to be more valuable. Instead theynthink about how they can get more for less. “How big of a discount can I get?” “Where can Inget what I want for free?” “How can I get someone to give it to me?” and sometimes eve

“How can I steal it?”
The reason they are so driven by their need to receive without providing value may be relatednto a mistake they made as children about the meaning of love. When Mom, Dad, or othersngave them things they felt secure, wanted, and important. From those experiences, theynmade the mistake of assuming that love means getting without giving in return. As a result,nendless bargain hunting becomes a way of validating that they are loved. That may also leadnthem to underestimate how valuable they can be which often discourages continuedndevelopment of their skills. They miss out on discovering the good feeling that results fromngiving more than you take.
You have a right to get full enjoyment from your life by expressing yourself doing the thingsnyou love to do. You can make that possible by aligning your heart's desire with what othersnwant. Ask yourself “What is the MOST valuable way that I could spend my time today?” Thennfind someone who wants that service or product and arrange to get paid for providing it.
If you have doubts that this approach can work, here is an example that happened in one ofnour US Attitudes courses: Students in the course are divided into groups of six and taughtnhow to work as a team to provide value. On the last day of the course they are given six hoursnto go into the community and test their skills by providing a valuable service and getting paid.
In six hours one of the groups came back with $21,000.00 in cash!
When setting your New Year's resolutions, try making a plan of how valuable you would likento be in the coming year. You will discover this to be much more effective than “getting out ofndebt!”