FI Minded: Achieve Financial Independence & Have Fun Doing It

For some of us, running to the kitchen to grab a snack is quite the workout. So what does it feel like to run 62 miles for twelve hours straight? In today’s episode, Justin and Mason discuss what it felt like to endure such a challenge. They break down their preparation leading up to the event, give details about race day, and what mentality you have to foster to cross the finish line. Few of us are planning on running an ultramarathon anytime soon, but Justin and Mason offer encouraging advice that applies to any goal, large or small. After this conversation, I hope you find inspiration in achieving your next goal, as well as the discipline to continue to build on it.  Mason hopes to directly impact those who are seeking to push themselves further in education and life through his scholarship fund, Finding Future. Mason has already completed a number of endurance events. These include his 23-year-young birthday circuit, running a mile on the hour for 24 hours straight, summiting a 6,000 foot peak five times in a row, David Goggin’s 4x4x48, and a multitude of marathon runs. With each event he hopes to demonstrate how far one can truly push themselves while raising money for his fund.   Key Takeaways: [2:00] Why and how they chose to run a 100k ultramarathon [6:20] Outline of their training program and race preparation [12:50] Justin and Mason depict their mindset during the race and how to deal with the quitting voice [25:25] How competing in endurance events helps foster discipline, self-respect and confidence [30:40] Why you should prioritize consistency over perfection, and how important it is to restart the goal after failure [44:00] How to craft your environment and social circle to accomplish your goals [49:45] Mason talks about his non-profit, Finding Future [55:00] No goal is too small if it aims to make you better than who you were yesterday   Mentions: E1: Mason Stevens - One Small Step | The Struggle is Real E2: Kyle Peters - The Power of Authenticity | The Struggle is Real   More of Mason: IG: @mason_james209 Finding Future: www.findingfuture.org   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

Investing is complicated…but does it need to be? Starting your investing journey can be super overwhelming especially in this age of information overload: stocks, crypto, FAANG, options, bonds. This brings up the obvious question: what should I invest in? Personally, I want to understand what I am investing in, how it creates its value, and ultimately, what my return will look like. This has led me to today’s guest, Jeremy Schneider. Jeremy is the Founder of Personal Finance Club. He has a wildly popular Instagram by the same name where he is dishing out simple, unbiased information on how to win with money. Jeremy doesn’t have any get rich quick advice for you today but he will share a simple 2-step plan to retire in 15 years. Along with that you’ll hear his delineation between investing vs speculating, how to easily invest through target date funds, and his experiment about living on a $5 vs $500 daily food budget.   Key Takeaways: [2:38] Selling RentLinks and hitting financial independence [10:21] Why you need to invest, not save, your money [13:30] Investing vs speculating [16:05] How to figure out which companies to invest in [20:19] The cost of actively managed mutual funds [26:57] Alternative to mutual funds…index funds [31:38] How to easily invest through target date funds [38:25] 90/10 rule [41:26] 2 step plan to retire in 15 years [43:40] Jeremy’s experiment: $5 vs $500 food budget [50:48] Starting Personal Finance Club     Mentions: What You Need to Know About Taxes in Your 20s | E39 Sean Mullaney   More of Jeremy: Website: Personal Finance Club Instagram: @personalfinanceclub LinkedIn: Jeremy Schneider   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

Today’s guest is Larry Hagner, Founder of The Dad Edge. The Dad Edge is focused on empowering men to build legendary marriages, create epic connections with their kids, master personal finances, optimize their health, and become a leader within their family. Although you’ll definitely hear stories about parenthood, most of this conversation will focus on the first pillar: building a legendary marriage. Stable, intimate relationships can present many predictable, yet devious challenges like conversation boredom, sexless bedrooms, and dwindling novelty. The good news is this storyline is an editable script. Larry teaches us how he continues to show up as a better partner in his marriage. Surprise, surprise, a lot it involves great communication. He’ll share ideas on tactical empathy, labeling emotions, and mirroring without the word why. At the end, we also got a chance to talk about my favorite learning lesson from Larry, generative questions, and how one question led to an epic summer of family adventures and a basement full of memories. I hope you enjoy my conversation with the 18 year husband, father of 4, and the original Good Dad Project…Larry Hagner.   Key Takeaways: [1:52] Why music is an important factor to making memories  [5:47] Patience is a skill not a personality trait [17:54] How you can use priming to show up as your best self [22:42] Father figures throughout Larry’s upbringing [40:27] Communication advice including tactical empathy, labeling emotions, and mirroring without the word why [52:44] Generative questions: how might we vs why can’t we and the 13 family adventures   Mentions: https://thedadedge.com/25questions/ https://thedadedge.com/extraordinary-marriage/   More of Larry: Home - The Dad Edge Spotify: The Dad Edge Podcast | Podcast on Spotify Apple: The Dad Edge Podcast (formerly The Good Dad Project Podcast) on Apple Podcasts Instagram: @thedadedge   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

I’ve dreaded some recent get-togethers knowing argumentative political conversations are going to be on the agenda and for quite some time, I’ve taken the approach that it is better to avoid these conversations by staying quiet and giving a friendly nod. That line of thinking is changing for me now. Avoiding participation in these conversations is forgoing the opportunity to learn something new, and maybe even change my mind. Along with that, if I’m not taking the time or initiative to understand someone else’s point of view, I’m only reinforcing the current state of divisiveness between these binary camps of blue and red. I invited Corey Nathan on the podcast to give us inspiration on how this could be done right. He shares his personal story of making amends with his dad when he decided to leave the Jewish faith. In the second half of this episode, Corey shares some basic communication skills to help us have more enabling conversations. Some of my favorites include the feel, felt, found framework, the phrase “help me understand”, and changing our mindset from competition to collaboration. I hope you enjoy my conversation with the stockbroker by day, theater guy by night, Jew from Jersey that became a Christian, and the host of the incredible podcast, Talkin’ Politics & Religion Without Killin’ Each Other…Corey Nathan.   Key Takeaways: [1:02] How Hal introduce Corey to Christianity [13:05] Corey telling his Jewish parents that he was a Christian [26:42] When political views are inconsistent with religious scripture [32:21] Corey’s life as a stockbroker and theater guy and how that taught him how to create kindness across different viewpoints [42:18] Why Corey’s son decided to stay unvaccinated and how he approaches that conversation differently now [52:08] How to approach mending relationships that were broken due to opposing political views and the feel, felt, found framework [57:34] Respectfully disagreeing   More of Corey: Podcast: Talkin‘ Politics & Religion Without Killin‘ Each Other https://politicsandreligion.podbean.com/ Instagram: @tpandrpod   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

Our teenage years present many challenges. One universal obstacle I saw few of us avoid was the trap of comparing ourselves to others, particularly our physical bodies. Someone was always thinner, more muscular, prettier, taller, or had better skin.Many of those thoughts and feelings never went away but progressing through our 20s, we not only realize but start to believe there are way more important facets of ourselves than our outward appearance.Realizing it and getting there are two different things though. It’s hard to embrace and embody all of our physical attributes, especially those areas we’ve always been insecure about and others that are becoming apparent as we age.Even though I’m not quite sure if I’ll ever fully get to loving my entire body, there are actions that my guest believes that we can take to get closer.I’m excited to introduce you to Sophie Killip, a mental health counselor and coach. Sophie’s philosophies include working towards body acceptance, embracing size diversity, and looking at health from a holistic viewpoint not one singular measurement like weight.We have a great conversation about why fat is not a feeling, normalizing body diversity, replacing self-criticism with self-compassion, and much more. Key Takeaways:[2:11] The difference between body positive, neutrality, and acceptance[6:14] We are heading in the right direction but we still have room for improvement[16:08] Fat is not a feeling and health at every size[28:51] When did chubby become a problem?[31:11] How to normalize body diversity and challenge judgment[35:13] What to say instead of “looks like you lost weight”[42:17] Replacing self-criticism with self-compassion and confidence[50:07] Body gratitude exercise Mentions:Aerie Clothing BrandMike Marjama Overcomes Eating Disorder on Path to MLBMore of Sophie:Website: https://foodbodyself.co.uk/Instagram: https://instagram.com/therapist.sophMore of TSIR:Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

Do you know what’s worse than being set up on a blind date? Going on that date in front of a live audience. Oh, and when I say blind date, I mean literary blind-folded. That’s the concept for the New York City based comedy show, UpDating. Imagine live comedy meets a reality dating show. This non-scripted show includes audience participation, brutally honest moments, and relatable feedback in real-time with real people. Joining me on the podcast today is the Producer and Co-Host of UpDating, Harrison Forman. Harrison created UpDating with his partner Brandon Berman. It was a bit of a mix of Harrison and Brandon’s ideas–which you’ll hear about early on in this episode. Harrison shares the highlights and lowlights of creating UpDating. You’ll walk away with insight on dealing with criticism, overcoming self-doubt, and how with a lot of hustle and a little belief, you can attract what you want to achieve in your life.   Key Takeaways: [2:10] The show structure [9:37] How UpDating got started [19:43] Getting people to the show [22:26] The story of Ernie [25:07] Dealing with criticism [29:14] Overcoming imposter syndrome and self-doubt  [38:48] The law of attraction   More of Harrison: www.updatingshow.com Instagram: @updatingshow Instagram: @htforman   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

Imagine you’re 9-year-old and you want the new, hottest toy. What would you do? Would you ask your parents for the money or spend your birthday money to buy it? My guess is very few of our 9-year-old selves would have created a business to raise the funds. I also wouldn’t have convinced my parents to change me to homeschooling so I could have more time to focus on my business, but today’s guest did that. Joining me today is 15-year-old entrepreneur, Benjamin Wong. Benjamin is the Founder of Kid CEO Media, a youth-run communications company dedicated to uplifting young entrepreneurs. His seminal projects are the Kid CEO Podcast and a virtual summit he hosted for kidpreneurs to meet and learn from peers. And doing all of this while battling pressures of being a teenager. I hope you walk away from this conversation with the energy to fight back from the conformity that is squashing your most thrilling dreams. We’ll also discuss how to build your own community, the importance of staying open-minded, and what Web 3.0 can do for creators.   Show Notes: [1:38] How a funko pop desire turned into a business [8:28] What sparked 11-year-old Ben to learn about investing  [15:05] Fighting against conformity   [17:30] Creating and building your own community  [25:04] Staying open-minded to learn something new [33:31] What Web 3.0 can do for creators  [44:29] Why the future is the best part   More of Benjamin: www.benjaminwong.co Instagram: officialbenjaminwong   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

With New Year’s quickly approaching, I’m guessing you will be thinking about how you want to spend more of your free time in 2022. Friends, family, and your health are all great choices but I want to dangle one more idea out there: a side project. A side project is something that you do aside from your primary job but unlike hobbies, they have a sense of effort and thoughtfulness in their approach. Examples could be starting a blog, creating an app, or forming a band. Side projects are a great way to learn new skills, meet people, and develop a purpose outside of your career. Heck, they might even lead you to your next job. That was the case for my guest today. At the beginning of 2019, Alex Williamns started a podcast to improve his listening skills. Exposing himself to podcasts, and media in general, substantially changed the trajectory of his career. Since then, Alex has hosted 9 podcasts and has produced 14. He now runs two podcast media companies called MeCho Radio and Polytropos.fm. This episode is meant to inspire you to start something new, redefine failure, and challenge you to bite off more than you can chew…but not too much, just enough.   Key Takeaways: [2:27] Why Alex started his first podcast [11:20] Alex’s outlook on success and failure…and what’s more important [18:41] How Broken Bulbs has changed how he processes failure [25:26] Going from chronic procrastinator to future planner [41:31] Alex’s most recent project and how it differs from all his other shows   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

For many of us, student loans are a huge financial burden throughout our 20s and well into our 30s. Student loans can be hard to keep up with because payments can be the same amount as mortgages. But unlike mortgages, I’m guessing you didn’t spend too much time understanding this debt before agreeing to it. I know that was the case for me. I went through all of college without understanding the difference between subsidized and unsubsidized loans. In college, it was easy to forget about how we were financing our current stage of life but now we are left holding the bag. Although student loans can be complex, deciding on a repayment strategy doesn’t need to be. There are a couple of key questions to ask yourself to put you down the right path. We will explore those questions and more on today’s episode. Joining me is Andrew Paulson. Andrew is a Student Loan Consultant and Co-Founder of StudentLoanAdvice.com. He has a passion for helping people find solutions to complex financial problems. In this episode, Andrew and I get straight into it. We start with the basics including what are the key pieces of information you need to know before deciding on a repayment strategy. Then we discuss repayment plans options, qualifying for student loan forgiveness, and balancing student loans with your other financial goals.   Show Notes: [3:20] Where to start if you are overwhelmed about student loans  [7:21] What is currently going on with federal student loans? [16:09] How Andrew began advising on student loan repayment [19:06] 4 questions to answer to decide a repayment strategy [26:39] How to pursue student loan forgiveness [33:36] What is refinance and who should consider it? [41:48] Balancing repaying student loans with your other financial goals   More of Andrew: www.studentloanadvice.com/SIR Instagram: @studentloanadvice  Andrew’s LinkedIn   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/

In this extraordinary era of pandemic isolation, it makes sense that people are feeling more alone than ever. Although stay-at-home orders and social distancing exacerbated loneliness, this trend started way before COVID. This rise of loneliness has caught the interest of many health professionals and is now being labeled as the new smoking. Cited as being as lethal as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, that has me wondering what’s changed and more importantly, what can we do about it? Sharing his insight today is Michael Bauman, who is a Loneliness Entrepreneur Coach and Host of the Success Engineering podcast. Michael uses his knowledge of the neuroscience around loneliness and social connection, along with his personal experience feeling isolated as a business owner, to help entrepreneurs feel like they are not alone. In this episode, Michael shares why social connection is biologically so important, the factors that have led to the increase in feeling isolated, and actions we can take to begin overcoming loneliness.   Key Takeaways: [2:03] What is loneliness and how has it changed over the last 35 years [12:12] Use internal and external actions to overcome loneliness [17:00] What could be changed about Maslow’s hierarchy of needs  [23:08] The rise of individualism coincides with loneliness in the US [27:21] How Michael sees loneliness in the different countries he has lived [32:52] Raising kids with the balance of performance and play   More of Michael: Success Engineering   Mentions: The Danish Way of Parenting: What the Happiest People in the World Know About Raising Confident, Capable Kids by Jessica Joelle Alexander Dr. Dan Siegel: https://drdansiegel.com/ Start with Why by Simon Sinek Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything by BJ Fogg   More of TSIR: Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/ Follow us on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/tsirpod/