Building a Brick in Your Wall
Episode 131R
Episode Guide
Episode Timestamps
Episode Show Notes: ChooseFI Podcast - Community and Mindset for Financial Independence
Episode Summary:
Brad and Jonathan reflect on the importance of community and intentionality in the pursuit of financial independence. They emphasize building meaningful connections and shared values, advocating for a perspective shift towards outrageous optimism. Sharing personal anecdotes, the hosts illustrate how consistent small actions lead to future success, and they discuss how financial independence and personal choices can empower individuals to live more fulfilling lives.
Key Topics Discussed:
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Introduction to Community Building
- Value of relationships in achieving total life freedom.
- Proximity and regular interactions among hosts strengthening their community bonds.
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Personal Growth and Mindset
- Emphasis on the power of a growth mindset.
- Personal stories illustrating how mindset influences perceptions and opportunities.
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Value of Intentional Living
- Understanding intentional spending aligned with personal values.
- Acknowledging the importance of making conscious life choices.
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Final Thoughts on Financial Independence
- The intersection of purposeful actions and financial independence.
- Encouragement to focus on gradual improvements over time.
Actionable Takeaways:
- Engage with local community members to foster connections.
- Adopt a growth mindset and focus on incremental improvements.
- Make intentional decisions about spending that align with personal values.
Key Quotes:
- "Total life freedom comes from having both community and time together."
- "Replace lack of motivation with accountability through investment."
- "Worrying accomplishes nothing - choose optimism."
- "Reality is a construct influenced by our mindsets."
- "Adopting a growth mindset opens limitless possibilities."
Discussion Questions:
- What are some ways you can connect with your local community to enhance your life?
- How do you define intentional living in your life?
Related Resources:
FAQs:
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What does it mean to live intentionally?
Living intentionally refers to making conscious choices aligned with one's values and long-term goals, rather than just acting on impulse or societal pressures. -
How can I cultivate a growth mindset?
A growth mindset can be cultivated by embracing challenges, seeing failures as learning opportunities, and believing in the ability to develop abilities over time.
Relevant Episodes Mentions:
- Learning Travel Rewards [Episode: /009]
Podcast Description:
Explore community, mindset shifts, and actionable insights to achieve financial independence and live intentionally with Brad and Jonathan.
Social Media Snippets:
- "Unlock total life freedom by embracing both community and time!"
- "Why waste time worrying? Choose optimism instead!"
Skeleton Email for Campaigns: Subject: Unlock Financial Independence with ChooseFI
Hi [Name],
Are you ready to take your financial journey to the next level?
This week, Brad and Jonathan explore the power of community and the importance of a growth mindset on your path to financial independence. Discover actionable insights to reclaim your life and start viewing challenges as opportunities.
Join us and embrace intentional living! Listen now!
Best,
[Your Name]
Final Note: Make sure to join or start a local ChooseFI group to foster community connections and intentional living as part of your financial independence journey!
Embracing Community and Mindset for Financial Independence
In today's fast-paced world, achieving financial independence often feels overwhelming. Yet, cultivating meaningful connections within a community and adopting the right mindset can significantly enhance your journey toward financial freedom. Here’s how you can embrace community and intentional living to empower your financial journey.
The Power of Community in Financial Independence
Community plays an essential role in the pursuit of financial independence. Engaging with others who share similar goals can provide support, accountability, and motivation.
Build Relationships to Foster Accountability
Consider joining or starting a local ChooseFI group. These groups offer a platform to meet like-minded individuals who can hold you accountable in your journey toward financial independence. Schedule regular meetups or activities where group members can share their experiences, successes, and challenges. This sense of community can make a significant difference in your motivation levels.
Action Item: Connect with your local ChooseFI group or initiate one. Regularly gather to discuss your progress and offer support to each other.
Adopting a Growth Mindset
The mindset with which you approach challenges can revolutionize your financial trajectory. Embracing a growth mindset allows you to view obstacles as opportunities for learning and growth rather than insurmountable barriers.
Shift Your Perspective on Success
Instead of focusing solely on achieving a specific financial milestone, consider what small, incremental steps you can take today to build a foundation for future success. This involves celebrating minor victories along the way. By resetting your mindset, you allow yourself to see the potential for growth in every situation.
Key Insight: “You can learn anything. You can do anything.” This belief enables you to tackle challenges head-on.
Action Item: Identify one small step you can take today to advance your financial goals—be it researching investments, tracking expenses, or learning about saving strategies.
The Art of Intentional Living
Living intentionally refers to making conscious decisions that align with your values and long-term aspirations. It’s about evaluating how you spend your time and money to ensure both reflect what truly matters to you.
Mindful Spending for Authenticity
Mindful spending enhances your ability to prioritize your values over whims. Reflect on your spending habits and assess whether they truly enhance your life or merely cater to societal pressures. When you make spending decisions that resonate with your authentic self, you find greater satisfaction and fulfillment in your life.
Key Insight: “Worrying accomplishes nothing - choose optimism.” Replace anxiety over financial decisions with an outlook of positivity and possibility.
Action Item: Take some time to journal about your values and how they align with your current spending habits. Adjust your budget accordingly to ensure it mirrors what you find most meaningful.
Cultivating Outrageous Optimism
An integral part of your personal growth is cultivating an attitude of outrageous optimism. This involves intentionally choosing to focus on the positive aspects of life, regardless of your circumstances.
Constructing Your Reality
Understand that reality is influenced by your mindset. Approach challenges with the belief that you possess the power to shape your outcome. Viewing setbacks as opportunities to learn creates a foundation for resilience and fortitude on your financial journey.
Key Insight: “Reality is a construct influenced by our mindsets.” How you engage with the world can shape your experiences significantly.
Action Item: Each day, practice reframing a negative thought into a positive one. This simple exercise can gradually shift your overall mindset toward optimism.
Personal Growth Through Incremental Progress
Success in financial independence does not occur overnight. Instead, it stems from consistent, intentional actions. Adopting a growth mindset shifts your focus from immediate returns to long-term value.
Build Your “Wall of Success”
Take inspiration from personal anecdotes, such as a child’s perspective on growth. Like building bricks in a wall, consider how each small action compounds over time toward your greater goal. Whether it’s saving a little more, investing wisely, or learning each day, these actions collectively contribute to your overall progress.
Key Insight: “What is one thing I can do today to increase my wall of success?” This question can guide daily decisions.
Action Item: Choose a simple task that aligns with your objectives, and commit to doing it daily for a week. Observe how it impacts your mindset and progress over time.
Final Thoughts on Financial Independence
Pursuing financial independence may seem daunting, but by leveraging the power of community, adopting a growth mindset, and living intentionally, you can catapult your journey forward. Empower yourself with the tools and mindset necessary to reclaim your time and enhance your autonomy.
As you move forward, remember: every effort counts. Each small choice contributes to a broader vision of financial freedom, personal growth, and fulfillment. Start building your wall today!
Brad and Jonathan recap their conversation with Mr. Money Mustache and Mr. 1500. Plus, they answer listener questions about compounding interest and drawdowns during retirement.
[elementor-template id="143609"]Community Building
Jonathan recently moved closer to Brad's home. Now they are only around five minutes apart. The move has already led to some positive movements in their life. One nice thing is having a workout buddy for mornings three days a week.
At the end of the day, most of us lack motivation, like in a vacumm we lack motivation. The way to get around that is to replace motivation with dollars and basically have someone be that willpower for you. That's the value of a personal trainer.
Instead of paying a personal trainer, you can build community and accountability through your peers. Even just having a mentor, accountability partner, or mastermind group to rely on can significantly improve your life.
Having community and having accountability will absolutely catapult the trajectory of your life.
However, this does not happen overnight. You have to build an openness with your peers. A community like this does not have to be restricted to Longmont, CO, or Richmond, VA. It starts with you. Make the effort to get out of your comfort zone and invite people out for a hike or a game night. When you start to change yourself, you may be surprised how the neighborhood will change as well.
Listen to the full episode with Mr. Money Mustache and Mr. 1500 here.
Practice Outrageous Optimism
Start with challenging your limiting beliefs. Walking away from work before 65 may be a belief that is entrenched in your brain. Another may be that you cannot build a better life than your current one, but that is not necessarily true. Following the FI path give you options.
There is no downside to having more options in your life.
Give yourself options and you may be surprised at the opportunities that present themselves. With FI, risks for some people become opportunities for you.
If you are looking for the negative, you are going to find it. If you are looking for the positive, you are also going to find it. So why wouldn't you pick the postive? Isn't that just going to lead to a better life?
Failure is a part of life. Do not let that stop you from trying again and again. Stay in your growth mindset and great things can happen.
Build your wall of success a little bit at a time. What brick can you make today that will build your wall toward success tomorrow? Start being intentional and build your wall toward the life you want to lead.
Implement strategies one at a time. Nothing will happen overnight. However, when you look up a year from now, five years from now, or 20 years from now, you will be thankful for the bricks that you made today.
Community Feedback
Let's dive into some listener feedback.
Drawdown Strategies
Building a savings rate and working towards retirement is great. But what happens when you actually get there? A listener emailed Brad & Jonathan and asked about more specific strategies for drawing down in retirement when you have no other income available.
One thing to note is that most people will continue to have some form of income in retirement. Especially if they retire early.
However, the specific numbers of drawdown strategies will be a good thing to dive into for future episodes. Early Retirement Now has great information about the numbers of early retirement and possible drawdown strategies.
We also formed a new cohort group, "ChooseFI Tactics, Techniques, and Drawdowns" that you can access here for more information now.
Voicemail From Christy: Defining Compounding
Christy called in for clarification about the term compounding. The power of compounding interest is frequently discussed on the show, so it is important to understand its true meaning.
Compounding interest is typically talking about money that is collecting interest through a loan or a savings account. The power of compounding interest is truly amazing. Brad showed the example of a bank with a 10% interest savings account that started with $100,000. In a non-compounding account, the total after 20 years would be $300,000. In a compounding account, the total after 20 years would be $672,750.
Occasionally, compounding is mentioned in reference to the stock market. However, a more accurate term would be the total return. Although the results can be very similar to compounding interest, they are in fact two separate things.
Power Of Learning
At some point this week, Heather posted an article in the Facebook group about a single mother that built a home by watching YouTube. The story shows the amazing power of learning and persistence.
What have you been meaning to learn? Give yourself a chance to learn a new skill and potentially transform your life in the process. It has never been easier to learn something new, so take action today.
Frugal Vs Cheap
Bver asked a great question in the Facebook group about the line between frugal and cheap. Although it can be difficult to define, frugal is an intentional life choice. Whereas cheap can be similar to missing the forest through the trees.
The Military Dollar wrote a great post about this in the Facebook group. Definitely give it a read (and maybe a like!)
Related: Frugal Vs Cheap--Where Do You Draw The Line?
Travel Rewards
If you are interested in learning more about your travel rewards options, then check out our blog series linked below. You will learn everything you need to know to redeem your first travel reward.
If you really want to maximize your travel rewards check out Ultimate Guide to Credit Card Travel Rewards series!
Playing With FIRE update
The premiere in San Diego sold out! Showings in San Fransico and Washington D.C. also sold out.
Upcoming shows that need a few more tickets sold include Seattle, Atlanta, Maui, Mt. Pleasant, Austin, and Baltimore.
If you are interested in volunteering at the Atlanta event, then please email us at feedback @choosefi.com.
Find out more about screenings and tickets here.
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