Motivation

Your Money, Your Choices: Why Personal Finance Is Deeply Personal

Your Money, Your Choices: Why Personal Finance Is Deeply Personal

Personal finance is such an interesting facet of life. It’s a part of every one of our lives whether we like it or not and most of us think we know what’s best for ourselves… and everyone else. But the reality is that while we can learn as much as we want about the subject, we really should only focus on what’s best for ourselves. Why is that? It’s because, funny enough, personal finance truly is personal. You might have […]

Your Money, Your Choices: Why Personal Finance Is Deeply Personal Read More »

The Surprisingly Boring Career Path That Brought Us to Financial Independence

The Surprisingly Boring Career Path That Brought Us to Financial Independence

There tends to be a stigma in society that you need to own a company, become some big real estate mogul, be a celebrity, or just come from money in order to find your way to financial independence. So then we like to come up with excuses reasons as to why we can’t do that ourselves… “If I was in that position, it would be easy! No way I can do that because of xxxxxxx [insert whatever rationalization you want

The Surprisingly Boring Career Path That Brought Us to Financial Independence Read More »

Evolving from Sense of Purpose to Presence: Savoring the "Now" More

Evolving from Sense of Purpose to Presence: Savoring the “Now” More

I’ve always thought that an essential part of life included finding a sense of purpose. After all, if you didn’t add anything worthwhile to the world, was your life just a waste of time? So that’s always been something I’ve had in the back of my mind and it certainly became a little more in the forefront of my thoughts once I retired early at the end of 2018. Like most things though, I got wrapped up in our daily

Evolving from Sense of Purpose to Presence: Savoring the “Now” More Read More »

Limited Time, Unlimited Dreams: 3 Steps to an Extraordinary Life

Limited Time, Unlimited Dreams: 3 Steps to an Extraordinary Life

As I find my way closer to 50 (I’ll be 48 in a couple of months), I’m starting to see those small changes creeping up that I thought only happen to old people. Oh crap, am I old?!! Out of nowhere, my eyes have gotten a little weaker – both near and far! I can see close-up pretty well most of the time but I finally broke down and bought some readers for nighttime reading. The same goes for distance.

Limited Time, Unlimited Dreams: 3 Steps to an Extraordinary Life Read More »

Creating Your Dream Life: The Ultimate Bucket List Blueprint

Creating Your Dream Life: The Ultimate Bucket List Blueprint

If you’ve been following along, you know that I hit a rough patch in my mental wellness last year. You might also know that I’m now back on track and working on bringing back the eye of the tiger in life. Between reading various books on finding your purpose, doing a ridiculous amount of thinking, and spending time mapping things out, I feel more on track now than I have in a long time. As a lover of spreadsheets, I

Creating Your Dream Life: The Ultimate Bucket List Blueprint Read More »

Rekindling the Eye of the Tiger - Escaping Mediocrity

Rekindling the Eye of the Tiger – Escaping Mediocrity

We all know that life’s got its highs and lows. When you’re riding one of those highs, life can’t get any better. You feel that all your hard work has paid off and you’re sitting on top of the world. But when those lows come, they can be like a sucker punch that takes you completely by surprise. Occasionally, those times can make you feel there’s no way out either. As someone who tends to have higher-than-high and lower-than-low temperaments

Rekindling the Eye of the Tiger – Escaping Mediocrity Read More »

There Shouldn't Be Boredom in Retirement or You're Doing It Wrong

There Shouldn’t Be Boredom in Retirement or You’re Doing It Wrong

I recently went out with some good friends of mine – one I’ve been friends with since high school and two since college. They’re great guys and it’s always fun when the stars align and the four of us can get together. As always, we reminisced and laughed about all the hijinx and fun from the old days, talked about what’s currently been going on in each other’s lives, and delved into plans for the future. And of course, we

There Shouldn’t Be Boredom in Retirement or You’re Doing It Wrong Read More »

The Art of Self-Improvement: My Journey to Living a Healthier Lifestyle

The Art of Self-Improvement: My Journey to Living a Healthier Lifestyle

Living a healthier lifestyle is something I think almost all of us want to make happen. Whether it’s exercising more, eating better, or aiming for better mental health, we all know that living a healthier lifestyle helps put us on track for a longer and happier life. But… @#$% happens. And by that, I mean life tends to get in the way. Things like lack of time or energy, stress at work, or even social pressure tend to make us

The Art of Self-Improvement: My Journey to Living a Healthier Lifestyle Read More »

The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2022

The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2022

Last year, I wrote a wrap-up post with the 10 most popular posts of the year. It was an idea I borrowed from my friend Fritz over at The Retirement Manifesto (with his permission, of course). I liked that idea so much that I’m running with it again this year. And guess what – Fritz did it again as well and beat me to the punch! If you’re interested (and you should be!), you can check out his post appropriately

The 10 Most Popular Posts of 2022 Read More »

Atomic Habits – The Powerful Keys to Making Changes That Stick

Atomic Habits – The Powerful Keys to Making Changes That Stick

When I reached early retirement at the end of 2018, I gained the one big gift I was looking for in life… more time and freedom. That’s a true blessing, my friends, and I try not to squander it. I strive to use some of that “super power” to push myself to become a better person – both physically and mentally. Change is hard, but I like it. It’s easy just to continue rolling forward while doing the same old

Atomic Habits – The Powerful Keys to Making Changes That Stick Read More »