Focused Work Ethic
Episode 129R
Episode Guide
Episode Timestamps
ChooseFI Episode Show Notes
Episode Title: Community Engagement and Career Growth Secrets
Episode Summary: Community engagement is essential for financial independence, as discussed by hosts Jonathan Mendonsa and Brad Barrett, highlighting their recent experiences at Camp 5 Mid-Atlantic. The episode features a heartfelt story from Brad about his son’s love for reading, the importance of libraries, insights from Liz on proactive work ethics, and an announcement about a new travel rewards course. The conversation also includes John’s success story in achieving financial security at an early age.
Key Topics Discussed:
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Community Engagement
- Brad reflects on the success of Camp 5 Mid-Atlantic, emphasizing the importance of shared experiences.
- The joy of connecting with listeners and building a supportive community.
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Family Day and Encouraging Reading
- Brad shares a touching story about his son's love for books and the role of libraries in fostering a love for learning.
- Importance of utilizing libraries as a significant resource for personal growth.
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Career Insights from Liz (Breaking the Glass Ceiling)
- Discussion on the necessity of a proactive work ethic and networking for career advancement.
- Liz's journey illustrates that good performance is just a starting point; leveraging opportunities is key to growth.
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Announcement of the New Travel Rewards Course
- Introduction of a comprehensive travel rewards course designed to educate listeners on maximizing travel benefits.
- The course aims to help individuals experience affordable travel.
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John’s Financial Journey
- John shares his path to achieving a six-figure salary by age 24 through hard work and strategic career moves.
- Insights into the importance of mentorship and seeking growth opportunities.
Key Takeaways:
- Engage with your community to enhance personal and financial growth.
- Utilize your local library to foster a love of learning in your family.
- Leverage your current job to develop new skills and open opportunities for advancement.
- Consider enrolling in the new travel rewards course at ChooseFI to boost your travel experiences.
Notable Quotes:
- "Achieving six figures requires hard work, time, seizing lucky opportunities, and positioning yourself for success."
- "True community stems from shared experiences and connections."
- "Luck is something you create through your actions and decisions."
- "Focused work ethic is key to achieving your goals."
Action Items:
- Visit your local library to discover new resources.
- Enroll in the new travel rewards course at ChooseFI.
Related Resources:
- How to Fire Blog - John’s platform that provides insights on his financial journey.
FAQ Section:
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What is the significance of community in achieving financial independence?
Community is essential for sharing knowledge, resources, and support, significantly enhancing the journey towards financial independence. -
How can libraries support personal growth?
Libraries provide access to a wealth of information and resources, promoting reading and learning from an early age. -
What are travel rewards courses?
Travel rewards courses educate individuals on maximizing travel benefits and minimizing costs while traveling.
Episode Mentions:
- Previous Episode: Breaking the Glass Ceiling with Liz
Conclusion: This episode emphasizes the transformative power of community and education in personal finance and career growth. Join us next time as we continue exploring the road to financial independence.
The Power of Community in Achieving Financial Independence
Building financial independence is a journey that emphasizes not just personal knowledge and skills but the importance of community and shared experiences. Here’s how you can leverage community engagement to accelerate your path towards financial freedom and wisdom.
Engage and Connect with Others
Community is Essential
True community stems from shared experiences and connections. Engaging with a network of like-minded individuals can open doors to new opportunities, insights, and emotional support. Make it a priority to participate in local events or online forums where individuals interested in financial independence gather. Learning from others' experiences can provide invaluable advice and motivate you to take actionable steps toward your goals.
- Action Item: Seek out local meetups or online forums where you can mingle with fellow personal finance enthusiasts.
Tap into Valuable Educational Resources
Leverage Your Local Library
Libraries represent one of the best life hacks for learning and growth. Many people overlook this resource, yet libraries offer an abundance of free materials that foster a love of learning—especially for families. They can provide books, workshops, and access to online databases that are crucial for self-education.
- Action Item: Visit your local library to discover resources that can advance your financial knowledge and personal growth.
The Importance of Reading
Incorporating reading into your daily routine can significantly influence your personal growth. For instance, a young child who starts reading from an early age develops critical thinking skills that are invaluable later in life. Encourage reading in your home by rotating books regularly, either through your library or family exchanges.
Adopt a Proactive Work Ethic
Focus on Intentional Efforts
A focused work ethic is key to achieving your goals. Having a proactive mindset means not only excelling in your current role but also seeking additional opportunities and learning new skills. Like Liz’s story from the podcast, doing well in your current job is just the foundational step; aim to leverage that position to explore new roles or responsibilities.
- Action Item: Identify projects or tasks in your job that interest you, and volunteer to take them on.
Create Your Own Luck
Don't wait for opportunities to fall into your lap. Instead, create your luck through hard work and strategic planning. You can position yourself to seize opportunities by improving your existing talents and expanding your skill set.
Networking as a Tool for Growth
Building Professional Networks
Networking is an essential skill that unlocks career advancements. Every interaction can be a potential introduction to a new opportunity. Engaging actively in communities can help facilitate professional connections that may lead to job referrals or mentorship.
- Action Item: Attend industry conferences or webinars to enhance your professional network.
Find Mentorship
Seek out mentors who can guide you on your journey. Individuals who have successfully navigated their own paths can offer valuable lessons and insights that will help inform your decisions.
Embrace the Benefits of Travel Rewards
Maximize Your Travel Benefits
Travel rewards are an essential tool that makes it easy to travel affordably. The new travel rewards course launched by ChooseFI teaches individuals how to maximize benefits through strategic credit card usage and smart travel planning.
- Action Item: Explore the travel rewards course available at ChooseFI.com/travel to learn how to stretch your budget while traveling.
Create a Sustainable Financial Plan
Set Financial Goals
Goal setting is fundamental to achieving financial independence. Outline where you want to be in five, ten, and twenty years. Consider not just savings but also income growth, investment strategies, and when you'd like to reach certain milestones like buying a home or achieving early retirement.
- Action Item: Write down your financial goals and break them into manageable steps to track your progress.
Evaluate Your Compensation
Understanding salary ranges within your industry can empower you to negotiate better compensation. Use resources such as Glassdoor or PayScale to research what others in similar positions are earning and leverage this information during salary discussions.
- Action Item: Conduct regular research on compensation trends in your field and prepare to discuss these facts during performance reviews.
Conclusion: Building Your Path to Financial Independence
Achieving financial independence is a multifaceted journey that greatly benefits from active community engagement, continuous learning, and strategic effort. By connecting with like-minded individuals and leveraging educational resources, you can create a support system that empowers you to break barriers and reach your financial goals. Remember: to work intentionally, network effectively, and embrace learning opportunities as you navigate your journey toward financial freedom.
Jonathan and Brad talk about focusing on your work ethic and make an announcement.
[elementor-template id="143609"]Travel Rewards Course Announcement
As you likely know, travel rewards are a popular topic in our community. As a way to help everyone achieve their travel rewards goals, we've created the Ultimate Guide to Credit Card Travel Rewards series.
Hundreds, probably thousands of hours of travel 'nerdery'...[Ed has] distilled it down into 18 super concise easy to read lessons... It's not just about credit cards and some simple travel redemptions. It's about the actionable stuff. Saving money on car rentals, minimizing wait times at the airport, getting free food and drinks at airport lounges, budget alternatives to hotels.
The material is easy to digest and implement in your own life immediately. It's free, so take a look and see if it answers your questions. Where will you go next with this course to help you along the way?
Ultimate Guide to Credit Card Travel Rewards
Focusing Your Work Ethic
Earlier this week, Liz from Chief Mom Officer explained how she leveraged her work ethic and will to succeed into a successful six-figure career.
Doing a good job is a baseline for career growth but it is not sufficient by itself. It needs to be directionally accurate.
Liz took full advantage of the opportunities that came her way. Starting in the call center, she did a good job but did not stop there. She earned her college degree through a tuition assistance program. She volunteered for new opportunities that taught her new skills. Along the way, Liz successfully moved out of her original lane into the career path she wanted to be on.
Take a chance and find a way to get out of your lane. Make steps in the direction that you want to go in. Do not feel trapped in your current position because you always have the option to leverage these skills into a new position.
To reach six-figures for most of us it is going to take a lot of work, a lot of time, some level of luck, and being positioned in order to take advantage of those lucky breaks we are going to get.
What skills are you building that will take you where you want to go? In order to make your dream job or income a reality, you need to start building your talent stack now.
Find your inspirational story to follow and build your own path to success. With the advent of the internet, it is easy to find stories that you want to emulate. At ChooseFI, we are dedicated to continuing to find people that have leveraged their skills into amazing opportunities.
If we can continue to find people that have done it in different ways, I think as you put it all together, it is going to bring so much value to our community.
We hope to continue to find inspirational stories like Liz's to help accelerate your journey to FI.
Listen to the full episode with Liz here.
John
John is one of those inspirational stories that we want to share. At 24, he is already making over $100,000 per year. He has an amazingly detailed article that outlines how he achieved this on How To Fire.
Five years ago, John was making less than $20,000 a year as a 19-year-old working a retail job. He was working and going to school full-time.
Early in his college career, John and his fiance found Dave Ramsey and then the FIRE movement. These communities fueled their drive to break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle. Along the way, this led to them working a huge amount of hours but slowly increasing their income. At one point, John worked two jobs at over 50 hours a week!
As a senior in college, John was making around $40,000 per year but working extremely long weeks in a drop shipping/ online retail business. Graduation was just around the corner when John landed a job in a software engineering position. Although on paper the software job made less than his drop shipping job, he knew that the career growth potential was much higher in the software engineering position. Plus, the benefits such as healthcare, a 401k match, paid time off, and a regular schedule of 40 hours a week enhanced the value of the compensation package.
Since starting the software engineering position, he has successfully landed two separate raises that have pushed his total compensation toward $130,000 per year!
Advice From John
Obviously, a strong work ethic helped John to reach this point in his career. However, it is not just the work ethic that led John to this point. It was a focused work ethic towards his long-term goals with careful consideration of choices along the way.
As a fan of Doc G's "front-load the sacrifice" mentality, John has never been opposed to putting in the long hours. The hope is that these long days will pay off in the long run.
If you want to improve your current career path, then consider your options.
Start by looking at your current situation. Are you maximizing your job growth potential? And if you are not, is there somewhere that you could be applying to get a higher paying job?
If you do not have the opportunity to land a better job, then consider picking up overtime, finding a second job, or getting a side hustle. Take the time to research opportunities that are out there. Talk to your coworkers and get on Glassdoor to see what you should be paid. Take the initiative and put yourself in a position to ask for more.
Don't be afraid to ask for a raise.
Back up your request with evidence of the value that you bring to the company. You can push your salary higher, just make sure to take all of the small steps along the way that will lead you to that point. Nothing happens overnight, just keep working towards your goal with a focused work ethic.
How To Connect With John
If you are interested in learning more about John's story, then feel free to reach out! He has been mentoring interns for years, so he is happy to help. Plus, he is the admin of the Philadelphia ChooseFI local group.
You can reach him on his website: howtofire.com. or on any social media channel @howtofire.
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