FI Minded: Achieve Financial Independence & Have Fun Doing It

There is nothing better than waking up in the morning feeling refreshed and energized. I love a good night’s sleep. On the flip side, if I didn’t get enough quality sleep, I might as well just take the L and call it a personal day.   As soon as I learned this about myself, I became attune to good sleep habits. I have no idea how I survived through college with an inconsistent sleep schedule, late night drinking, and early morning call times. I never looked at sleep as a critical aspect of my health like I did exercise and food.   If you take your sleep seriously like me, or are interested in improving in this area of health, you are going to love this conversation today.   Dr. Jennifer Reid is a board-certified psychiatrist who focuses on insomnia and anxiety. She is also an award-winning medical educator, regular contributor to Psychology Today with her blog, Think Like a Shrink, and the Host of the podcast, The Reflective Doc.   Jennifer really impressed me with her extensive knowledge of sleep. We cover a ton of great topics including marijuana and sleep, social jetlag, and her thoughts on sleep tracking wearables.    We also conclude the episode discussing anxiety. Dr. Reid gives really great actionable advice on reframing “what if” claims to “if then” statements.   Show Notes: [2:08] Data around cannabis and what Jennifer learned [9:50] Why is sleep important [16:49] Chronotypes and how sleep shifts throughout your life [22:14] Social jetlag [25:04] Sleep hygiene tips and alcohol use [30:16] Caffeine and sleep drive [34:44] Managing jet lag when traveling [36:39] Jennifer’s thoughts on wearables [40:19] The Anxious Mind and changing what if to if then   Mentions: The Growth Mindset by Carol Dweck   More of Jennifer:  Website   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

I try not to dwell on many regrets in life but one opportunity I wish I would have taken advantage of was my university’s study abroad program. I went on my first international trip outside of North America in 2015, the week following my college graduation.   I knew I was going to have fun and I was excited to explore Europe but I didn’t realize how much it would change my perspective on life.   I’ve been prioritizing traveling ever since then and it’s one of the few universal suggestions I encourage other people to try. One person who needs no encouragement is today’s guest, Sydney Summerlin.   From a young age, you could find her traveling the globe. At first, Sydney’s mom accompanied her on most of these trips. Now, she does a lot of traveling solo or with her twin sister.   One of the most impressive characteristics of Sydney is her emotional intelligence. Her open-mindedness, empathy, and curiosity are obvious. I’m guessing all of her traveling helped refine these qualities.   In this episode, we’ll be talking about traveling along with Sydney’s quest into healthcare where she is planning on working in pediatric oncology.   Show Notes: [2:14] Why everyone should consider traveling [11:07] What did Sydney learn from other international healthcare systems [32:05] Learning to listen and empathize [39:17] Staying positive while applying to med school   More of Sydney: Instagram: @syd_with_a_y   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

I never realized how much of an impact my manager could have on my job satisfaction until I’ve had both the good and the lousy. Experiencing both has assured me one thing, I want to become an exceptional leader.   To continue learning, I consume a lot of leadership content. One of my favorite creators I come across is Makeda Andrews. I really liked her straight-forwardness, relatable advice, and of course, all of the bright colors.   I was actually surprised to find out Makeda started her professional career not having any interest in managing a team one day.   But that script didn’t last long. 6-months into the job, Makeda was approached by the President of the company and offered an opportunity to manage a team. With a little reluctance, she accepted the position.   Makeda eventually led her department to becoming a strategic division of the company. Makeda is now a leadership coach where she works specifically with first time managers to become confident, competent and effective leaders.   I know so many of you are currently moving into or towards leadership positions in your company right now. Makeda shares a lot of tangible advice like how to deal with an underperforming employee, how to guide team members to solve problems, and when to speak in outcome versus activity.   Show Notes: [3:52] The responsibility that comes with being a leader [13:02] Makeda’s leadership journey [15:52] The mentor Makeda needed to build her confidence [24:04] Guiding team members to solve problems [28:22] Becoming an awesome-sauce manager [32:13] How Makeda got into leadership coaching [36:04] Speaking in outcome vs activity [40:16] Using the ACAC model for underperforming employees   More of Makeda: www.makedaandrews.com Makeda Andrews on YouTube   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

I have something different for you today. This is a replay from my good friend Andrew Biernat’s show: Your Personal Growth, Personal Brand Podcast.   Andrew asked me a lot of great questions about The Struggle is Real including how the show got started, how I go about selecting topics and guests, and the one person who really influences my conversations.   Of course, it is hard for me to take my podcaster hat off. I turned the tables and asked Andrew a few questions as well. One thread in particular is a story about the dark side of personal growth.   We also conclude with a great conversation about some of our career missteps and how we’ve both used our podcasts to explore business adventures.   Show Notes: [1:09] How The Struggle is Real (TSIR) got started [3:49] Interesting guests on TSIR recently and how we select topics [7:12] The dark side of personal growth [13:27] The journey of building TSIR [19:34] Using TSIR as my personal development plan [30:23] The 1 person that influences TSIR the most [33.:56] How Justin and Andrew’s business adventures lead to career relief   Mentions: Tools of Titan by Tim Ferriss Tribe of Mentors by Tim Ferris Atomic Habits by James Clear   More of Andrew: Your Personal Growth, Personal Brand Podcast   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

You all know I’m a sucker for a good early retirement story. Jackie Cummings Koski retired at 49 years old and now spends her time creating a financially literate society.   Retiring in your 40s is impressive in itself but Jackie did this with no head start. She grew up in poverty with her dad and 5 siblings. She barely graduated college with passing grades because she had to work full-time. Then Jackie went on to raise her daughter as a single mom after an early divorce.   Does that sound like a candidate for early retirement? I don’t think so but Jackie made it happen through a lot of self-education and hustle.   Speaking of education, Jackie became quite the expert in healthcare and in this episode, Jackie shares a lot of methodologies for cutting your healthcare costs.   Of course Jackie is a huge advocate for my favorite tax-advantage account: the HSA. I have never seen a health savings account as well-funded as Jackie’s. Last we spoke, her HSA had over $150,000 in it..   Show Notes: [1:43] Jackie’s story from poverty to financial independence [19:40] How Jackie retired by 49 year olds without ever making a 6-figure salary [22:57] Is an HSA right for you? [32:06] How Jackie grew her HSA to $150,000 [39:14] Tips for cutting healthcare costs   Mentions: Why You Should Consider Having a Health Savings Account (HSA) | E40 Sean Mullaney CostPlus Drugs (Mark Cuban's pharmacy company) goodrx.com   More of Jackie: Jackie’s Linktr.ee VisuallyAmber.com   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

With high school teachers and porn stars being our instructors, I’m not surprised sex is awkward and unrealistic. But at least we have our friends to talk to, right? Well through my personal experience, we are comfortable boasting about the highs of our sex life but I don’t hear too much conversation about body image issues, pre-mature ejaculation, and depleting sex drive. As you can see from the title and our intro so far, today’s conversation is going to be a bit explicit. Our guest is a straight-shooter so this is your warning to look out for young ears. Speaking of today’s guest, joining me is Susan Bratton. For 20 years, Susan has been empowering singles and couples across the gender spectrum to have hot, intimate sex. Susan believes that shame-free, frequent sexual pleasure is every person’s birthright. Susan wasn’t always this sex expert. Like most of us, she lacked the know-how in order to maintain intimacy and passion in her relationship. After 11 years of lackluster sex in her marriage, she hit a tipping point, and told her partner it wasn’t working. But instead of giving up, they went to therapy, frequented sex workshops, and started a journey to transform their sex life. With this episode, I hope to de-stigmatize the discussion around sex. It’s a skill. You have to put effort into learning how to have great sex and there's nothing wrong with that. It’s okay to lack confidence in this area. I’m guessing there hasn’t been a lot of real education up until this point. But that changes here. We jump right into orgasms, discuss simple bedroom techniques you can start practicing with, and Susan shares ideas on how to reignite your sex life.   Key Takeaways: [4:54] How to overcome the casm-gasm [14:09] Orgasmic cross training [16:23] Bullseye touching technique [20:16] Can a couple be happy together without good sex? [22:23] Initial steps to reignite your sex life and overcome bedroom boredom [27:33] Creating a sex bucket list [37:00] Spiritual sexuality [43:11] Asking for what you want…when you don’t know what you want   Mentions - Books: Women's Anatomy of Arousal by Sheri Winston Sexual Soulmates by Susan Bratton   Mentions - Websites: BetterLover.com ExpandHerOrgasmTonight.com SexualSoulMatePact.com PersonalLifeMedia.com   More of Susan: SusanBratton.com Instagram: @susanbratton   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

If you’ve spent any amount of time in the working world, you probably know how much meetings can consume the work week. I’m crazy and I actually track this metric. On average, I’ve spent 9.4 hours a week in meetings or 23% of my week. Meetings aren’t going anywhere. They seem to be the default modality of getting things done and I have to agree, meetings make sense for some situations. If I’m going to continue to spend a ¼ of my career in meetings, I want to be good at running them. Surprisingly, there are a lot of effective ways to have better meetings. Someone that knows a lot about this subject is today’s guest, Darren Chait. In 2016, Darren co-founded the company Hugo which is on a mission to make every meeting worth it. The product started as a simple Slack plug-in and transformed into a connected meeting notes platform. You’ll hear more about Darren’s story in this episode along with many actionable takeaways including how to use asynchronous work to limit meetings, how to take better meeting notes, and answering the question, “do we need a meeting?”, with the 3 Ds: decisions, discussion, and debate.   Key Takeaways: [1:33] Opening for Justin Trudeau in front of 29K people [5:50] Why being a corporate lawyer made Darren the perfect person to solve how to have better meetings [9:25] The difference between being a corporate lawyer and a tech founder [13:14] Using the 3 Ds to evaluate when should you have a meeting [17:26] The 4-hour meeting week [20:26] How to decide who to invite [24:52] The benefits of asynchronous work [28:52] How to take better meeting notes [41:13] Using a parking lot to limit off-topic discussion during a meeting [44:29] Decision journal   Mentions: Loom Hugo meeting templates   More of Darren: hugo.team Twitter: @darrenchait LinkedIn: Darren Chait   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

I love listening to stories that require someone to take a chance and today’s episode is packed with those. You’ll hear from my friend, Ahmad Jabbir. He exhibits and embodies the phrase “bet on yourself.” One of my favorite stories he tells is how he pitched the CEO of Seek Discomfort, the apparel brand of the wildly popular YouTube channel, Yes Theory, to hire him for a job that wasn’t even created yet. His one-of-a-kind interview got him an instant yes. This bravado would be impressive with anyone but Ahmad wasn’t always this bold. Up through college, he was shy, lacked confidence, and thought he was stupid. But a few personal development projects changed everything for him. In one of his most recent projects, Ahmad set out to meet 100 strangers. He was blown away by the people he met and the stories he heard.   Key Takeaways: [1:17] Ahmad’s go-to Toronto attractions [5:20] The story of Rob Lawless and how that impacted Ahmad to meet 100 people [15:27] How to make deep, meaningful relationship [19:55] How Ahmad landed his dream job at Seek Discomfort [31:48] Only take advice from people that you admire [37:18] Lessons learned from 700 days of journaling [54:07] How reading helped Ahmad learn the game of life better   Mentions: People Yes Theory Bojana Corillic Jesse Itzler   Books The Third Door: The Wild Quest to Uncover How the World's Most Successful People Launched Their Careers by Alex Banayan Can't Hurt Me: Master Your Mind and Defy the Odds by David Goggins The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business Paperback by Charles Duhigg   Movies Yes Man   More of Ahmad: Instagram: @Ahmad.Jabbir LinkedIn: Ahmad Jabbir   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

My childhood was filled with a constant need for play. I remember playing a lot of backyard sports and fictional quest games that we made-up on the fly. I always had a sense of adventure. As I got older, I found myself losing touch with that. I’m all about high achievement activities but I also wanted to allow myself to do things for the simple fact that they put a smile on my face. I found getting back to this baseline of play and adventure way more challenging than I thought it would be. Speaking with friends, I’ve learned that having fun as an adult is difficult for many of us. I thought this would make for an interesting topic on The Struggle is Real and I invited my friend Tyson Bankert to join me in this conversation. Tyson knows a whole lot of fun. He spent many years working at an after-school program where he was responsible for creating opportunities for kids to have fun. Tyson decided to use his skill set for adults and started the company, Recess Calgary, where he creates an environment for “grown-ups” to take a break from adulting. I’m hoping this conversation sparks a desire to build more play into your life. Tyson also shares timely advice on how to be a better facilitator, being attuned to inclusion, and creating a personal slogan to you can live by.   Key Takeaways: [2:31] Experience being a day camp leader and how that lead Tyson to starting Recess Calgary [14:20] How to play again as an adult [18:36] Think about the culture of your gathering [24:12] Creating a sense of safety and comfort at your events [27:25] Tyson’s personal slogan and how that’s shaped his decision making process [35:50] Do things change at 30?   Mentions: The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters by Priya Parker The Culture Code: The Secrets of Highly Successful Groups by Daniel Coyle   More of Tyson: https://www.recesscalgary.ca/ Instagram: recesscalgary LinkedIn: Tyson Bankert   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

I know many of us 20-somethings are focused on increasing our wealth and gaining more financial security. I’m definitely in this boat and I think that is a wise approach. I’m confident that we will get to a place where it becomes less about making money and more about life satisfaction. I think my guest today summarizes it the best: use money to make a life, don’t use life to make money. Joining me on The Struggle is Real is Laura Rotter, Founder of True Abundance Advisors. Laura’s career is dominated by her 30 years of experience on Wall Street but she has spent the last 6 years helping individuals attain both financial security and life satisfaction through her own advising firm. Laura gives a lot of reflective advice on career exploration, how to go about pursuing a new life direction, and shares a technique to treat your personal finances like a business owner. After this conversation, I hope you walk away with thoughts on how you’d like to make meaning with your money. This is a personal question for each of us, and I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer. As long as you’ve given it some real thought, and continue to evaluate your line of thinking, you’ll truly live your rich life.   Key Takeaways: [2:24] Rethinking the first decade of your career [11:59] When is enough money, enough? [28:44] A rabbi, yogi, and financial advisor [35:02] Despite their differences, how Laura and her husband have created shared experiences over their 30 year marriage [41:56] Finding purpose outside of making money [50:00] Managing at your finances like a business owner   Mentions: Jeremy Schneider on TSIR: www.tsirpodcast.com/57 90 Days to a New Life Direction by Laura Berman Fortgang   More of Laura: https://trueabundanceadvisors.com/ LinkedIn: Laura Rotter, CFA, CFP   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/