Over the last few days I’ve really been thinking hard about my strategy for getting out of debt. There is so much out there about systems, plans and blueprints you can follow to get your balance sheet back into the positive. But after late nights of reading up on the newest trends and theory, I’ve concluded that the one thing you need to know about getting out of debt is something no one is talking about.

Here it is: You need to take massive action.

Do you want to get rid of your debt? Good. Then you are going to have to take action. Not just cut back on the grocery bill this month. No, you’re going to have to do more. You’re going to have to start attacking your debt problem like you would a mongoose attacking a cobra: fast, aggressive, and furiously.

You can’t sit around and play video games for hours on end. Instead, you have to get out in the world and start creating value. You can’t sit back on nights off and eat Cheetos in front of the television. No, you have to start creating multiple streams of revenue, leveraging your time and talents, and focusing your energy towards kicking debt in the face.

That might not be what you want to hear, but it is what you need to hear. The number one strategy for getting out of debt is taking action, taking a proactive disposition to your life and deciding that you’re going to do something different now so that you can enjoy a debt free life later.

Today, decide you’re going to take massive action to eliminate your debt. Then, go do it.

It’s going to be a journey, not a single moment, that gets you and I out of debt. Start today.

Today I am re-launching Grads vs. Debt. I’ve deleted all of my posts except my first post back on September 18, 2013. I want to keep that as a reminder of where I started.

 There has been a lot of ups and downs over the past few months. Here are just a few:

– My grandfather passed away.
– I got engaged to the woman of my dreams!
– I took on a job as head coach at a local high school (I’ve never been a head coach before!) with eight assistants to get to know.
– I passed 6 college courses (yes, 6 in one semester), 3 state-licensing exams, survived student teaching (barely), and finally got my teaching license.
– I also landed my first job!
– …but I have to relocate to work there.
– And on and on and on.

In sum: life became super busy this past spring as everything in my life sort of came to a head. My family life, my education, my professional life, and my personal life. I’m sure you can relate to that, too. You set a goal, you start to take action, and before you know it, something else sidetracks you and you end up forgetting you ever got started.

Well, today I’m starting again. In the business world they call that a re-launch. For me, it means something wasn’t working and changes needed to be made.

The biggest reason I wasn’t able to focus on my finances for the past several months was because I didn’t incorporate them into my life’s habits. I never had a day that I sat down to review my budget. I didn’t take time to review my credit card statements. I got lazy with looking over my bills. Routine and habit creation are foundational to sound finances. Sure, it would be nice to never have to think about money. But the reality of the situation is that you are going to have to think about money for the rest of your life. The sooner you begin to intentionally incorporate your finances into your daily/weekly/monthly routine, the better.

So no more excuses for me. No more going weeks without reviewing how much money I’ve spent or what my checking balance is. In the coming weeks I’m going to teach you the routines I’m creating around my finances and hopefully inspire you to create some of your own.

Now, a little bit about this picture.

Here’s the story: I was driving home from the World Domination Summit in Portland, Oregon this past week. It’s a 27 hour drive from Portland to Minneapolis, Minnesota, and the only thing that kept me going was sporadic coffee stops along the way. In Missoula, Montana I stopped for gas and a Starbucks coffee. Waiting at that counter as they did a pour over of their light roast (because who has light roast brewing at 7:30PM, right?) something came over me and I decided that I was going to relaunch this blog, this initiative to get out of debt, and that from that moment on I was going to take massive action to capitalize on my talents, live my dreams, and help inspire people to take control of their life too. I wanted to give this blog another try, and, so I grabbed a napkin and asked the barista for a pen. I wrote “DAY 1” on the napkin and asked a random stranger (whose name turned out to be Mark) to take a picture of me with my iPhone.

And here’s the cool part: I ended up talking to him about my initiative, about trying to get out of debt and take control of my financial life, and how I was a teacher. Turns out he was a teacher too and my story resonated with him. So much in fact, that after I left and was in my car, he came outside and handed me a $20 bill and said he wanted to be the first to contribute to help me get out of my debt! How awesome!

There is a power to action. When you decide to step out and really move forward towards your dreams, I believe opportunities begin to manifest themselves for you to take advantage of. In this instance, Mark’s $20 donation helped me realize that my story will resonate with people out there, that I have something to share with you the reader, and that I should keep going with my ambition to clean up the debt in my life.

So today, I relaunch this website with renewed initiative and resolve to share my story, to live my passion, and to teach people how I’m going about getting out of debt. It’s a journey. I understand that. But I’m looking forward to it. I can’t wait to see what is ahead!