Go Bucket Yourself

In this episode, Chris and Debbie sit down for a super real chat with Carl Jensen. Carl has just reached the official three-year mark of early retirement. They talk about:

• His advice for anyone close to retirement or recently retired
• Being a retired dad
• Stepping away from an achievement lifestyle
• The emotional side of early retirement
• Finding more happiness today through embracing uncertainty and planning less, "Find a way to love life every single day."
• Learning to say no more often, so that he could say, "Hell, yes!"
• The importance of taking care of your finances so that your family can handle the unexpected
• His answers to his most common questions from readers and fans
• His bucket list and his anti bucket list
• Dinosaurs and T-shirts
• Much, much more 

They leave you with:

"If you google quotes about happiness, you'll get thousands of results. It seems everyone has an opinion on it, someone named Unkown a little more than others.

I'd rather quote Carl. In our conversation, he said, "You have to find happiness from within. You can't rely on your external circumstances." He went on to acknowledge the importance of finding happiness in the everyday rather than wishing your days away in hopes of happiness at a future point.

It sounds like one of the best parts of early retirement for Carl, one way he finds happiness and gratitude every day, is the novelty of unplanned and unique days--the unexpected moments he can say yes to that he never dreamed he could.

For Carl, it's a "No" unless it's a, "Hell yes!" knowing his hell yes took getting clear about what was important to him and who he was without a W2 paycheck. It took separating his everyday purpose from his everyday job. What became clear from our conversation was that happiness was not a result of achievement or met goal, it was something that happened as a result of a change in mindset and clarity of values when it became the intentionality of his focus.

You know, Google found a couple of applicable quotes on happiness after all. 

'We tend to forget that happiness doesn't come as a result of getting something we don't have, but rather of recognizing and appreciating what we do have.' - Frederick Keonig

and

'Sometimes your joy is the source of your smile, but sometimes your smile can be the source of your joy.' - Thich Nhat Hanh

What is it you're grateful for today? Let's start there. What's bringing a smile to your face and warmth to your heart? Begin there--acknowledge it, cultivate it, and grow more of it in your daily life. That's where happiness can be found--today.

May you find moments of joy right now, friends. May you make time to look deep within your heart and soul, finding at least one, small bit to be grateful for. May that small piece of gratitude naturally begin to multiply and grow until your heart is so full it's spilling over with gratitude leaving a trail like breadcrumbs you can pick up on your way toward the life you envision for yourself. Most importantly, may happiness begin to be an everyday practice for you that includes today, not just someday. After all, you've only got this ONE LIFE, go out and joyfully LIVE IT! today."

Resources from this episode:

• 1500days.com

Stay in touch!

• 🌎 gobucketyourself.com
• Chris @bucketyourself on Insta
• Deb @imperfectprogress.me on Insta
• Get Deb’s book HERE

In this episode, Chris and Debbie are inspired by his morning reading to chat about:

• The unexpected obstacles of "retirement"
• The expected pit-falls that they tried to prepare for
• How Chris is feeling about leaving his W2 job after a few months, compared to Debbie's feelings after several years
• The routine that fuels them mentally, emotionally, and physically
• Finding "purpose" after leaving W2 employment 

They leave you with:

"Chris' contemplation of the passage in The Logic of God (his morning reading) spurred our conversation today. It said, 'Those in pain look for comfort and explanation. Those disappointed in pleasure look for purpose.'

It reminded me of so many moments in life, perhaps after seeking the answer, 'Why?' to whatever might have been bringing me pain. I mistook the answer in achievement or purpose or moment in the future. That often sounded like:

•  'If we just get this car, everything will be better.' OR
• 'When we have that house in that neighborhood, we'll be so much happier.' OR
• 'Once I leave my job, all my stress, worry, and discomfort will leave too.'

The truth was that each time we got one of those items or achievements, they pointed to the real answer--no thing or achievement can solve your problems or bring you happiness.

The truth: I had to do that myself, through conscious choices, deep work of introspection to find the true source of dis-ease, getting clear about my values, and daily practices of being present and grateful.

There's no regret in leaving a job that brought me both incredible fulfillment and very little free time or energy to spare. It was leaving that job that gave me the time and space to realize the true source of my stress, how to begin to heal my body that was crying out for attention, and that tying my primary purpose in a job that gives me a monthly paycheck and good insurance would never be fully fulfilling.

It was only, after all, the disappointment in the pleasure I was seeking that led me to glimpses of my purpose outside of a W2 job that I could say I was good at. The disappointment was a necessary part of the lesson.

AND purpose? I now believe I can take that with me everywhere I go and in any job I may decide to do. I do myself a favor by taking that word a lot less seriously too. I examine my curiosity much more than I examine my purpose these days.

So to you, friends, may you make some time and space for yourselves today--time and space to ask what it is you may be curious about. May you give yourself permission to hold all of life a little looser--the pain, the discomfort, the disappointment, the purpose, the pleasure. May you spend a little more time in gratitude for all you have in the present moment, knowing that that's where true happiness is found. AND may you be so inspired by your own gratitude and curiosity that you realize you have just this ONE LIFE and you can go out and LIVE IT! today."

Resources from this episode:

• The Logic of God by Ravi Zacharias
• The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod
• Music from today's episode
  • Start Again by Monk Turner + Fascinoma

Stay in touch!

• 🌎 gobucketyourself.com
• Chris @bucketyourself on Insta
• Deb @imperfectprogress.me on Insta
• Get Deb’s book HERE

In this episode, Chris and Debbie are joined by Diania Merriam, chief EconoMeist for EconoMe Conference.

Their conversation begins with a discussion about her decision to hike the Camino de Santiago, including, what life was like on the trail; how she was able to get the time off of work; what made it financially possible; what obstacles it presented to her and how she’s overcome them; and what she had planned for her return.

Then they talk about her life since the Camino and her move to Cincinnati, OH. They get into exactly what led to her decision to create EconoMe, which she says is, “all about reclaiming the right of the original American Dream and creating a life you love.”

The event will bring together nine leading experts from the FIRE movement for a series of provocative talks (Jillian Johsrud, Julien Saunders, Natalie Torres-Haddad, etc.) It will also include a screening of the documentary, Playing with FIRE and an after-party.

Diana says of the conference, “I experienced firsthand how changing my mindset about money and increasing my financial literacy completely changed my life. Just a few years ago, I was able to get out of $30K of debt in 11 months and now currently save and invest 60% of my income.”

Diania, Chris, and Debbie dive deep into the mental and emotional obstacles of creating an event on such a massive scale, as well as, the mindset shifts necessary in overcoming them. They talk about the need for seasons of energetic, enthusiastic hard-work, offset with time for rest and reflection. They’ll even get into the depths of depression Diania found herself in when she lost balance and how she’s “clawed her way out of it.”

Diana leaves us with the reminder she's been giving herself recently, "Let your curiosity be bigger than your fear."

You won’t want to miss this very real conversation between three people living unconventional lives.

To learn more about what was discussed in this episode:

• Mr. Money Mustache blog: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
• Playing with FIRE Documentary:  https://playingwithfire.co/the-documentary/
• More information about EconoMe Conference and to buy tickets use code: LIVEIT for a 10% discount: https://economeconference.com/
• To contact Diania directly: [email protected]

EconoMe on social media: https://www.instagram.com/economecon/, https://www.facebook.com/EconoMeConference/

Stay in touch!

• 🌎 gobucketyourself.com
• Chris @bucketyourself on Insta
• Deb @imperfectprogress.me on Insta
• Get Deb’s book HERE

In today’s episode, Chris and Debbie sit down for a fun conversation all about what’s brought them to this moment in creating the podcast.

They discuss the turning points in their lives that caused them to make some dramatic changes to their lives.

They talk about:

• The impact of Debbie’s health on the course of their life
• Why and how they decided to invest in rental real estate
• Reaching financial independence
• Chris “retiring”
• The unexpected lessons of leaving traditional, W2 employment
• Their future plans
• And more

They leave you with this thought:

If you knew that your art would support your life, how would you live? What if your whole life was a work of art, your masterpiece?

“When I say be creative, I don’t mean you should all go and become great painters and great poets. I simply mean let your life be a painting, let your life be a poem.” ---Osha

We choose our life, no? (The majority of us adults with the ability to download and listen to this podcast, anyway.) If you aren’t choosing your life, designing it in a way that makes your soul sing---makes you feel truly alive---then who is? Who or what are you allowing to be in charge of your days, if not you?

Here’s the thing, to the best of my knowledge, we just get one of these, a life that is. That’s not sad or scary if we’re living that life from our place of power, by our design. It may not be possible to completely rewrite your life from one day to the next, BUT it is certainly possible to make one small change/choice/decision each day that brings you closer to the life you’re here on Earth to live. What’s the one thing you can do today that would bring the life you’re called to live one step closer to you?

DO THAT! -- Just one step closer, one day at a time.

May you make art of your life today, friends. May you get lost in the flow of the creation of your own unique purpose. May you stand so firmly in your own power that you take just one step in designing the life you’re meant to live. May you begin to take back the paintbrush if you’ve lost it in the realization that you’ve got just this ONE LIFE. Now go and truly LIVE IT!

Stay in touch!

• 🌎 gobucketyourself.com
• Chris @bucketyourself on Insta
• Deb @imperfectprogress.me on Insta
• Get Deb’s book HERE

#001 - You've only got One Life, it's high time that you Live It! We're your hosts Deb and Chris. We've left our 9-to-5 day jobs---at the ripe young age of 40---to raise our two daughters while traveling the world and leaning fully into embracing a life of adventure and creativity!

In our very first episode, we'll take a moment to explain:

• Who's this show for? Is it for you?
• What's coming in the first season of One Life Live It?
• Who are some guests that they'll be interviewing?
• What you, the listener, can expect from future episodes.

This first episode is just teaser to all that's to come. You'll want to listen in to upcoming episodes, where we'll dive deeper into our story---how we were able to "retire" from our normal jobs by age 40, why we wanted to retire in the first place, share some of our unique adventures and lessons along the way, and have conversations with inspiring guests mixed in.

Our values:

• Overcome Obstacles
• Face Your Fears
• Grow Your Mindset
• Live Adventurously

will be the clear undercurrent all along the way, between ourselves and our guests. Our goal is to share stories that show you that you're not alone, give you tools and inspiration to take the next steps, and become part of a community---all to help you build the life that your soul is calling you to.

Join us weekly. Let's LIVE this ONE LIFE, together!

Stay in touch!

• 🌎 gobucketyourself.com
• Chris @bucketyourself on Insta
• Deb @imperfectprogress.me on Insta
• Get Deb’s book HERE