Doing Hard Things, Reading, Watching, Playing plus Community Wins
Doing Hard Things
I recently took a trip to Breckenridge, Colorado with 7 good friends from the FI Community and it was exactly the trip I needed:
5 days of incredibly deep conversation, delicious home-cooked meals, games galore (see below section), and lots of time outside led to a deeply restorative experience.
It all culminated with legitimately the toughest thing I’ve ever done in my life:
A hike to the top of Quandary Peak, one of Colorado’s 50+ legendary ‘14ers.’
Coming from sea level in Virginia and climbing to the top of a mountain over 14,270 feet was a monumental task for me.
(I further compounded this by wearing the worst possible shoes, but that’s a funny story for another day!)
I recently read the book ‘The Comfort Crisis’ by Michael Easter, and he talked about the value of doing hard things and how leaning into discomfort and adversity make you a more resilient and content person.
I think all of us in the FI Community know what this is like on a regular basis in our financial lives, so we’re no stranger to the mindset.
But there is something visceral about looking at a mountain that seems to go on forever, and saying “I’m going to walk to the top of this today, and it’s going to be hard.”
There were probably 30 moments where I thought about giving up and plenty of excuses sprang to mind (my shoes, the altitude, that I don’t do any cardio in my training program, etc.) that would have been plausible and everyone would have understood.
But in the moment, I surprised myself with this wisdom:
“There is simply nothing about taking this next step that would make me give up. Just take the next step.”
We got to the point where we’d walk a few dozen steps and stop for a rest. Was it optimal? No.
But we made it.
And the view from the top was breathtaking.
The sense of satisfaction at overcoming something difficult has stuck with me for the last few weeks, and that’s something I can always look back on in future moments where I need strength.
What I'm Reading, Watching, Playing
Reading: I’m re-reading my favorite book: ‘The Name of the Wind’ by Patrick Rothfuss. This was one that Clint Murphy and I talked about in-depth in Colorado and we both named it our favorite book of all-time.
It’s a fantasy novel that is one of the most beautifully written books I’ve ever read. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Watching: I’m currently binge-watching ‘Ted Lasso’ seasons 1-3 on Apple TV+. As much as I love British football (soccer), and as much as I enjoyed the first season when I watched it a few years ago, I never finished the series.
That is currently being rectified and I remember now why I loved this show so much: British football and culture combined with sentimentality, humor, passion and kindness makes for quite the combo.
Playing: While in Breckenridge, we got addicted to two wildly different games:
Pickleball: Thanks to the aforementioned Clint Murphy (who beautifully described ‘Climbing a Colorado 14er’ as a “metaphor for life” in his recent newsletter) for bringing his pickleball paddles, we played a ton of pickleball in Breckenridge. Essentially every day, as the park was only a 5-minute walk from our Airbnb.
The game is fun, it’s just the right level of competitiveness and essentially anyone can play it. Great combo!
Monopoly Deal: This is one of our all-time favorite board games and for under $8, it’s hard to beat this one. As mind-numbingly awful as the original Monopoly can be, Monopoly Deal is the polar opposite: fast-paced, strategic, infinitely variable and just plain old fun. (non-affiliate link to buy this on Amazon)
ChooseFI Community Taking Action This Week
I'm excited to share my "1% Better" story with you. I have been a full-time healthcare professional who works in the heart surgery setting for about 6 years now. I work for a small business which has contracts with a couple of hospitals in my area to provide specialized services within the heart surgery setting.
Unlike most healthcare professions which have shift-based schedules, my schedule tends to be unpredictable with occasional on-call days. In fact, I only know my schedule for the day the night before. Some days I will work and some days I will not have an assignment and get to stay at home.
Either way, I am a salaried employee. So whether I work 1 day/week or 7 days/week, I get paid the same. This scheduling situation was tolerable for me until I had kids recently. They are 2 years and 16 months old. It has been mentally exhausting to manage so many schedules including childcare.
Recently I asked my manager if I could have more predictability in my schedule by going part-time while my kids are young. I asked if I could only work 3 days/week (MWF). This would give me two days consistently every week to spend with my children. He agreed to this setup and I was fully expecting to have a conversation about a pay reduction.
However, to my surprise, he said that he is going to keep my pay the same because I have been a valuable employee within this company!!!
I was so nervous that they wouldn't be able to accommodate my request since it has never been done before in this company. Sometimes you just have to ask and see what happens! I'm so glad I did!
Thank you for all the content you share and the confidence this community has given me to prioritize my well-being!
-MM
My 1% better is visiting a friend in Alaska last week!! I had wanted to visit her for several years and had the spontaneous opportunity, which was amazing (she paid for what would have been $1500 flight with Alaska miles -- in turn, I brought about 8 plants in my carry on, since she lives in a rural part of Alaska and its very hard to get plants or takes a lot of time to grow them there).
In addition, I completed the following courses through Udemy (paid for myself) and asked my supervisor if they would support me to obtain additional trainings to support our work and help my career :)
- Microsoft Power Automate (Flow) Crash Course
- Master Microsoft Power Automate(Flow) Expressions in 2 hours
- JSON Crash Course
I hope to use these skills to create apps/solutions that would save the government significant money and allow for more customized tools.
- Gavin
My 1% better is we have joined the double comma club!!! Unfortunately we can't share that with anyone we know, but we have achieved a huge milestone on our FI journey despite several people saying I was too focused on money, what they don't know is that I'm buying our freedom!! We hope to retire in 2 years, before I turn 40 and before my husband turns 45.
- Heather
My 1% better (that is actually MANY percents better…..I instituted this change at the start of the year)….
I sold EVERY single stock I owned (I probably owned shares in 25 different companies) and instead reallocated all my funds in my various accounts between 2 Vanguard ETFs: 50% into VOO (S&P 500 ETF) and 50% into VGT (tech ETF).
The difference in the steady returns by the ETFs has FAR outpaced what I would have returned with owning stocks in 25 separate companies (many of them stinkers).
I've learned I cannot pick stocks! And I'm all too happy now earning dividends with those ETFs every 3 months (which gets reinvested). Getting rich SLOWLY really is the way to go. Wish I'd done it sooner instead of stock picking.
- Greg
My 1% better was to move $15k out of a savings account earning not very much.
I opened Roth IRA's for my two boys a few months ago but we hadn't put anything in them yet.
Our older son has a part time job and our younger son works in the family business doing data entry for me. I funded each of their Roth's with $1k and $400 respectively.
They will contribute funds too this year but I wanted to get them started with their accounts funded and into VTI. The rest will go into our brokerage account, more VTI.
Mostly we are in the waiting game now. I have optimized most everything else. My next goal is to work on getting a raise. I was promoted to a management position 3 years ago but haven't had a raise since then.
- Monica
My 1% better was having a staycation in Vancouver on my days off after doing shift work. I treated it like I would for exploring an international city and made the most of local restaurants, breweries, and beaches with my friends. It was very fun to bring the travelling mindset to my city after being away for three months and have the benefit of all my friends with me too.
- Ben