I can’t put enough focus on the value of education and good decision-making that’s accompanied by a lifelong learning mindset as ways to reduce stress and anxiety. Too many in our society are on auto-pilot, going through the motions of life. Life is happening to them. Self-reliance developed through learning and education coupled with better decision making skills is the path to making things happen in your life and taking control of your narratives and outcomes.

For many of the early twenty-somethings in my class, stress and anxiety were highlighted as blockers to their ability to achieve their desired future state. They frequently find themselves spinning and, as some characterized it, paralyzed, by their anxiety. My heart breaks when I hear their stories, but I also know that we can do something about the current state.

A key point here is that life and financial security is all about choices and decisions. Make better decisions and you will be better off.

As the plane taxied out, we made a 90 degree turn onto runway 4-22, sat for 30 seconds or so, and then instead of roaring off into the sky, the engines whimpered and we made another 90 degree turn onto an adjacent empty tarmac. We all sat in relative silence, waiting for the captain to make an announcement about why our takeoff was aborted. We waited, waited, and waited some more.