How Can I Manage this Inflation?

Recently, I read an excellent article from Dave Ramsey, CEO of Ramsey Solutions about the correlation between the current financial stress being caused by rising inflation and people’s mental wellbeing. It led me to conclude that my Clients are facing the same challenges, perhaps on an even larger scale, as business owners…

Dave pointed out that costs are definitely rising and, as a result, so is the stress level among people all over the country. Wow, I thought, we are seeing this first hand with the dramatic rise in commodities & fertilizer in agricultural operations, to say nothing of labor & fuel costs being at all-time highs!

And then he made my day by saying the same thing I’ve been sharing with Clients for the last 24 years! “Having worked with people in financial stress for 30 years, my team and I have figured out that there’s more anxiety from the unknown than from the bad news. It’s a weird thing, but when you write items down, they no longer have the same power over you. What this means right now, in this discussion, is sitting down and doing a budget and looking at everything, no matter how difficult or unpleasant the facts are right now, and no matter who caused the problem at hand.”

I am so thankful for Dave Ramsey’s statement. I have been pushing Clients in this one area for many years. You will recall that I’ve said numerous times previously that if you measure something (in this case your Budget or Cash Flow), you can understand it. If you understand it, you can begin to control it, and if you control it, you can improve it! Additionally, though, I think Dave Ramsey makes an excellent point, and that is this: If you have a clearer understanding of your Budget position, whether it is positive or negative, it holds less power over you, i.e., your life is less stressful.

Now, that doesn’t change the fact that if you are losing money every month, you need to start taking action, because, as my Business Coach Dan Sullivan says, “All progress begins with telling the truth.” Then, once you know what the facts are, you need to build a plan to overcome your challenges. Identify your major obstacles, select potential courses of action to take to overcome them, and then build a plan to implement these steps.

These steps will undoubtedly lead to items you need to change. Don’t resist these changes. Remember the definition of insanity, doing things the exact same way and expecting different results… As author John Delony suggests, “connect with someone for an outside perspective, make a list of the things you can control and the things you cannot control,” and get after the items that you can control, because, as Dave Ramsey points out, “When you control the controllables – that’s when your hope starts coming back.”

What will happen? You will probably identify new financial solutions, refine your processes and make continual improvement. What could be wrong with that? Nothing! If I can assist you with this process, please let me know!

Let’s take your business to the Next Level!