It’s finally here! No more waiting, no more pre-ordering, no more countdowns… START officially releases today!

I’m so excited to see this day come and to be able to share with all of you what I’ve poured into START!  I want to thank everyone for your support leading up to this day. It’s been an awesome journey, but it’s just the beginning!

Here are some places where you purchase START beginning today:

Buy it on Amazon

Buy it on DaveRamsey.com

Buy it on Barnes & Noble

Buy it on Books A Million.

Last night Dave Ramsey and I threw a huge party right in the middle of Times Square to celebrate and kick off the START Book Tour with a couple hundred friends.  It was amazing! Here’s a quick recap:

In case you missed it, here is the killer book trailer the Ramsey video team put together.

So there you go!

It’s time to START!

Today I am in Oklahoma City. Tomorrow I will be in Houston. And the day after that, I will be in New York City.

Times Square and I have been on a crash course for six months.

Ever since Dave Ramsey dared me to create an awesome kick off for my new book, New York was on my map.

The team designed a crazy event.

First, I’ll give a talk about the five lands every awesome life goes through. In a small, intimate theater, I’ll lay out some ideas.

Then, and this is where it gets crazy, we’ll all put on the amazing Start NYC shirts the team designed. They are red and loud and not at all shy.

Then, I’ll lead a few hundred of my new friends down a block into Times Square where the book tour bus is parked.

We’ll do a quick countdown, and then I’ll unveil two ridiculous surprises.

The truth is, I’m a little afraid.

I want the event to go well.

I want things to work.

I want the book to sell on the launch day.

And a lot of those things are out of my hands.

But do you know who’s hands I’m not going to put them in? Fear.

I’m not hosting fear this weekend. I’m not entertaining it or rolling around in it or giving it a huge stage in my heart to really shout from.

Fear isn’t invited to Times Square this weekend. You are and I am and lots of other people.

Instead, I’m going to make fear afraid.

And you should too.

Do you remember these?

These are dipping sauces that McDonald’s came out with in 1983.

They were easy to use, popular, and helped sell a lot of McNuggets.

This? Is the new design of ketchup.

Was it launched in 1983?

Maybe 1984?

Surely someone saw how great the design was for the dipping sauces and decided to put ketchup in that same container.

Nope?

It would be 20 years before the new ketchup packets rolled out.

Why?

Because innovation is hard. Sometimes it hides right in plain sight.

Got a problem you’re facing right now? Don’t miss the forest for the trees. Or, in this case, the ketchup for the dipping sauces.

Want a free copy of the complete Quitter audio book read by me?

Want the first chapter of the Start audio book, also read by me, for free?

Visit NoiseTrade this week.

It’s absolutely free. If you give me a tip, all the money will go to support Charity:Water.

It’s only free for one week. Click here to get it!

This weekend someone on Twitter was having trouble accessing one of the free resources we’ve been giving away when you pre-order my new book Start. The person in question tweeted to me and Dave Ramsey.

Normally, that’s an optimistic gesture at best.

If you have ticket issues with a Patriots game, you probably don’t tweet Robert Kraft, the owner. You call customer service.

If your pizza is bad, you don’t tweet Papa John, you call your local Papa John’s.

If your Jim Collins book wasn’t delivered, you don’t tweet Jim Collins, you email Amazon.

But this person tweeted Dave Ramsey directly, and what did Dave do? He responded.

He beat me to the tweet. He informed customer service about the issue and helped fix it.

There were 350 people between Dave Ramsey and the person with the issue. A customer service team, the publishing team, the web development team, and me.

But Dave responded. Why?

Because he believes you should stand behind your stuff.

He loves to make sure everyone who bumps into the work we’re doing has a good experience.

He wants you to be super served and walk away from an interaction with us with a wonderful experience.

He stands behind his stuff.

And I’m learning to as well. That’s why, when we throw events like Start NYC this coming Sunday, we offer a money-back guarantee. (You can buy a ticket here.)

If you don’t love it, if you don’t think it’s awesome, you’ll get your money back. Without discussion or feeling like you have to prove anything.

Why?

Because you should always stand behind your stuff.

I don’t know what your dream is, or who it might serve some day, but I know this.

Whether you’re a small author or one of the biggest radio personalities in the country, you’re never too big for a tweet.

And you never outgrow the need to stand behind your stuff.

Figuring out what you are called to do in life is not an act of discovery. Most often, it is an act of recovery.

It’s an act of rescuing something from your past that you loved but you lost.

Finding your dream is usually a reunion, not a first date. A matter of bumping back into something you put down because life got too busy.

Why is that hard?

Why is that difficult?

Because recovery is hard.

My wife hurt her finger a few years ago. With a power drill. And she had to recover. For weeks, she had to go to physical therapy. She had to fight and squeeze and struggle with painful exercises.

And that was just a finger. She spent months ultimately wrestling that finger back. (Her x-ray is below. I will let you guess which one was hurt.)

We spent painful nights and hard days trying to help her get feeling back. And that was just a finger.

Will it be hard to recover your dream?

It will, oh it will. But know this, it is worth it.

Last week, Dave Ramsey sent me this email.

What does it mean?

The short answer? He’s a great leader.

The long answer?

We’re planning the biggest, craziest thing we’ve done together in the last three years.

We rented part of Times Square. We rented a huge digital billboard. We’re parking the Start tour bus in the middle of Times Square. Then we’re throwing a party for 200 people. (There are a few tickets left, so sign up if you want to come.)

It’s a massive endeavor with a thousand moving pieces. We’re giving people t-shirts and posters. I’m giving a talk about what it means to really punch fear in the face.

There’s a lot of pressure. So when Dave visited New York last week, he wanted to encourage me.

He took a picture of our friend JK standing in the exact same spot we’d be on April 21. And then he told me to punch fear in the face. Why?

Because leaders go first.

Part of good leadership is being willing to go first.

To step into a fear or an opportunity and go first.

To shout first.

To own the situation first.

To celebrate first.

That last one is often the hardest. Leaders sometimes feel they are being too over-the-top. They don’t want to come off as cheesy or silly. So they don’t celebrate loudly. They quietly pat backs and shake hands. But the best leaders celebrate first.

When you go first, you give everyone you lead the opportunity to go next. And next is always easier than first.

Start NYC is going to be crazy. How do I know?

Because Dave Ramsey went first.

In less than two weeks, 200 folks will get this t-shirt in New York City. We’ll have a big party. I’ll talk about the 5 things it takes to be more awesome, more often. And then, we’ll walk a block to Times Square where we will have an even bigger party.

The t-shirt is free when you buy a ticket for $19.

The first 50% of the tickets sold out in the first four days after we launched the event. It will sell out soon. Don’t miss your chance to go. If you’re ready to Start, sign up today.