Reflecting on The 7 Baby Steps

Conceptually, I appreciate The 7 Baby Steps, with that said, I don’t believe I’m the target audience for it, which is fine. I believe all ideas and people have merit and value no matter how difficult it might be to see and accept; if they didn’t, chances are they wouldn’t be here anymore.

I never thought of the name as patronizing or infantilizing, until I started listening to the interactions Ramsey Solutions (specifically Dave) can have with their audience. Calling folks stupid is a major pet peeve of mine and it seems to happen enough to be noticeable. Further, getting defensive, dismissive, both when someone asks about trying a different way; with words like, “you’re not gonna listen to me anyway, but maybe someone listening to this will.” Finally, that last one is the more of the rub I have here; as a consultant and coach, I’ve learned that there are many ways to accomplish any goal and what stops us are often our own limiting beliefs about what is possible—what feels like shaming language doesn’t help.

Again, I get the metaphor of baby steps, learning to crawl before you walk, before you run and all that. The presentation just isn’t for me.

With that said, it obviously works for a lot of other people and a lot of folks really appreciate what Dave Ramsey and Ramsey Solutions puts out there and the way they do it. And, they’re not the only game in town talking about the same stuff and pretty much in a similar order. (See The Financial Order of Operations by The Money Guy Show, for example.)

My big takeaways here are that you need to start saving some cash to have for those moments when life goes pear-shaped. You need to get out of debt, specifically high-interest debt. You need to prepare for when you are no longer trading your time for money and all your cash flows.