There are real ramifications of reading these articles for decades and decades. You start to believe it. You start to think the only way to manage money is to hoard it and create an increasingly long list of noes. Soon, the guilt isn't just coming from money experts and the outside world. It's coming from you.

Rule #1: People pay me for the value I create. In other words, if I create value, people will be more than happy to pay me for it. Rule #2. The more I make, the more value I can create. I can invest back into the business, by building systems, creating technology, and hiring new people. Rule #3. Money is a marker that I'm doing the right thing. We're going to avoid fake proxies of success, like how many people like my Facebook page. Instead, we'll focus on the ultimate sign that you've created something the world wants: Sales.

If fear of failure is paralyzing you, then I strongly recommend you set a tiny, realistic goal for the day. When you achieve it, then move on to the next tiny, realistic goal. Your business is going to see better results from taking action on small goals then dreaming about unrealistic big goals that you never achieve.

Listen up, crybabies: This isn't your grandma's house and I'm not going to bake you cookies and coddle you. A lot of your financial problems are caused by one person: you. Instead of blaming "the economy" and corporate America for your financial situation, you need to focus on what you can change yourself. Just as the diet industry has overwhelmed us with too many choices, personal finance is a confusing mess of overblown hype, myths, outright deception — and us, feeling guilty about not doing enough or not doing it right. But we can't just blame corporations and the media: With both food and money, we're not taking personal responsibility to step up, learn this stuff, and get started.