With so much suffering happening all around us it's easy to get overwhelmed by difficult thoughts and emotions.

Unfortunately, mindfulness isn't a magic solution to remove the suffering in the world. But it does offer a different way of relating to the suffering and difficult emotions we are experiencing within ourselves.

​Today's guided meditation offers a chance to create some space within ourselves to allow whatever we're feeling to be there and to keep coming back to the simplicity of the breath.

Then we shift to practicing some compassion for ourselves and the millions of people suffering around the world.

On today's episode. I'm joined by my friend, Kerri Jacobs. Who's actually a former manager of mine. I'm really excited to have her on the podcast.

Kerri Jacobs has been leading high performing teams at Google in London, New York city, and now the Bay area for over 12 years. Her obsession with empathy and leadership and inclusion in every aspect of life led her to create the program, leading with empathy and to roll it out to leaders at Google.

Kerri is also a member of the 2021 class of Stanford University's CCARE in collaboration with ACA's applied compassion training for architects and ambassadors of applied compassion. A Scot from penny cook. She used to read books, watch films, and see a lot of Broadway shows. But these days, mainly anxiously scrolls, Twitter, and comfort eats. 

In her life before business, she taught dance sang in piano bars and wrote a dance and education syllabus for Scottish education curriculum. For primary school teachers. Kerri's facilitation style is not to lecture. She shares horror stories and LOL worthy moments from her own life as a manager, parent, and partner, and keeps it as real as one can, when video conferencing from a garage.

In this episode, Kerri and I explore what empathy is and why it's more important than ever to bring empathy into our interactions with the people we work with.   And how really small changes, really just being more thoughtful about how we're interacting with those we work with and those that work for us can make a huge difference and making people feel seen, heard, and cared for. Kerri also shares a number of practices that we can use to create greater empathy and connection with those that we work with.

And she shares how leading with empathy in this way can really not only impact your relationship with that one person, but can also transform your business and the success you're having as a business.

Kerri and I explore how she used to be super skeptical about all of this mindfulness stuff and how she actually came to understand the value of it in her own life when she found herself physically and mentally burnt out from work.  How mindfulness really helped her in her recovery and led her to explore and create more meaning in her life and her work through this leading with empathy program.

 Now more than ever before the demand is so great for this, she's finding herself being reached out to by people outside of Google, and it started leading trainings outside for other companies and organizations as well.

I really enjoyed this conversation with my friend, Kerri Jacobs. It was such a treat to be able to have a conversation with a leader that I've actually worked for.  I hope that you enjoy it as well.

Kerri’s Website  - LeadingWithEmpathy.com

Join the Mindful FIRE Legends community at MindfulFIRE.org/join.

In this episode: Pursuing FIRE mindfully, intentional living, retiring early and living abroad with Tracy Collins.

Tracy Collins joins Adam Coelho on the Mindful Fire Podcast to discuss her journey towards financial independence and her project called Mindful Fire Life.

They explore the concept of pursuing financial independence mindfully and the importance of understanding one's values and goals.

Tracy shares her experience of reaching her work optional number and the power of talking about your vision and goals with others.

Guest Bio:
Tracy Collins is the founder of Mindful FIRE Life, an Instagram channel, YouTube channel, and blog focused on pursuing financial independence with mindfulness. With a background in tech and a passion for travel, Tracy shares her journey to FI and insights to help others create a purposeful and fulfilling life.

Connect with Tracy

• Tracy Collins | LinkedIn
• Mindful Fire Life
• Mindful Fire Life - YouTube
• Mindful FIRE Life (@mindful_fire_life) • Instagram photos and videos
• Tracy Collins – Medium

Key Takeaways:

• Sharing your vision and goals can lead to opportunities and shape your life.
• Financial independence is not just a number, but aligning your life with your values.
• Stepping out of your comfort zone leads to personal growth and new experiences.
• Diverse investments like real estate and stocks contribute to financial independence.
• Mindfulness helps in financial decisions and finding fulfillment.
• Balancing present enjoyment and future planning is key for financial independence.

Resources & Books Mentioned:

• "The 4-Hour Workweek" by Tim Ferriss

Join the Mindful FIRE Legends community at MindfulFIRE.org/join.

Join the Mindful FIRE Legends community at MindfulFIRE.org/join.

On today's episode, I'm joined by my  friend Nirav Shah. Nirav is a certified mindfulness meditation teacher, and he started the meditation blog, meditativeman.org. After retiring at the age of 49 from a career in technology.

Nirav is extremely passionate about helping people find the elusive peace within and to that end has recently written and released a book called Shortcut to Serenity.

In today's conversation we discuss:

• How Nirav retired early from his career in technology
• What led Nirav to give up his successful business to retire early
• What Nirav is up to in retirement
• Why generosity and philanthropy are so powerful
• "The Mexican Fisherman Story"
• What is enough?
• Nirav's thoughts on "Generational Wealth"
• The importance of financial literacy
• Second generation financial independence

Connect with Nirav

- Nirav's New Book - Shortcut to Serenity

- Nirav's Website - meditativeman.org

- Nirav's Free Guided Meditations

- Nirav Shah on LinkedIn

Links and Resources

- Episode 35 with JG Larochette of The Mindful LIfe Project

- Choose FI Podcast

- Free Financial Independence 101 Training

- Free Choose FI Pre-k - 12 Financial Literacy Curriculum

- Foodforthoughtdenver.org

Books Mentioned

- The Simple Path to Wealth

- Shortcut to Serenity

Join the Mindful FIRE Legends community at MindfulFIRE.org/join.

In this episode: Guided affirmations practice to speed up your journey to FI

One way to speed up your journey to financial independence is to train yourself to spot opportunities and to take action when you find them. This could be a new job, reconnecting with an old friend or colleague or trying a side hustle. When your mind is ready to see opportunities, the possibilities are endless.

Today’s guided meditation trains your mind to be ready to see opportunities everywhere and to take action to move your life in the direction you want. I do this practice everyday and it’s impact on my life cannot be overstated. During a time when I was at one of the lowest points in my adult life this practice helped me train my mind to be ready to see opportunity and to take action to move my life forward. I’ll share more about the full story of that in the near future.

Today’s meditation is an affirmations practice, which I think of as practicing the thoughts & beliefs that I want to embody in my life. This type of practice can be used to practice any thoughts or beliefs we want to show up with in our lives, as we did in another affirmations practice I shared previously.

In this particular meditation we will focus on practicing the thoughts:

1. The world is abundant with opportunity. My life and work are abundant with opportunity.
2. I take action in my life, which leads to learning progress and growth.

This practice takes advantage of the fact that our brains are predictive. Our brains are constantly predicting what is most likely to happen and setting in motion the thoughts, perceptions, emotions and even physiological responses for what is expected.

I like to think of it this way...We’re telling ourselves stories about how our life is going to be and then acting out those stories. The good news is that we can use this feature of our brain to be intentional about the stories we tell ourselves and put our predicting brain to work for us.

I hope you enjoy this powerful practice. I plan to share more content around the idea of putting your predicting brain to work for you as you pursue financial independence. Subscribe to our email list to be notified when this becomes available.

In this episode: Investing in Yourself, Mental Wealth, Entrepreneurship, Self-Compassion, Self-Awareness with Rich Jones

Episode Summary

In this episode, Adam interviews Rich Jones, a health and performance coach, speaker, and masters track and field athlete. Rich shares his journey of how he invested in himself and made the decision to quit alcohol, work with a leadership coach, and take a mental health leave from work. He also talks about the importance of mental wealth and how it's more important than financial wealth. Adam and Rich discuss the challenges of entrepreneurship and the importance of self-compassion and self-awareness in the pursuit of personal growth and development.

Guest Bio

Rich Jones is a health and performance coach, speaker, and masters track and field athlete. He is also a diversity, equity, and inclusion specialist at Google. Rich is the host of the Mental Wealth Show, a podcast that explores the intersection of mental health and personal finance.

Connect with Rich Jones

• Rich's community: Find More Balance Network
• Rich’s Coaching : Find More Balance
• Rich’s Podcast: The Mental Wealth Show
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richrunstrack/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/richrunstrack

Key Takeaways

• Journey of healing and self-awareness being lifelong practices
• Is Mental wealth more important than financial wealth?
• Importance of self-compassion and patience in pursuing goals
• The importance of self-awareness and being kind to yourself
• Need to have a general idea of where you're going when investing in yourself
• The importance of having a strategy and knowing your values when investing in yourself.
• Consistency and sustained effort over time are what get results.

Resources & Books Mentioned

• Search Inside Yourself by Chade-Meng Tan

Join the Mindful FIRE Legends community at MindfulFIRE.org/join.

In this episode: Achieving FIRE, Living a life of adventure with Deb & Chris from Go Bucket Yourself

Episode Summary

Deb and Chris join Adam to discuss their journey to financial independence, their experience with house hacking, and their transition to a nomadic lifestyle. They share practical tips for budgeting, saving money, and building wealth.

Guest Bio

Deb and Chris are a couple who achieved financial independence in their 30s. They document their journey and offer financial advice through their blog, Go Bucket Yourself.

Resources & Books Mentioned

• Go Bucket Yourself: Website
• Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki: Amazon
• The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins: Amazon

Guest Contact Info

• Go Bucket Yourself: Website
• Twitter: @gobucketyourself
• Instagram: @gobucketyourself

Key Takeaways

• House hacking can be a great way to reduce housing expenses and build wealth.
• Setting and sticking to a budget is crucial for achieving financial independence.
• Avoid lifestyle inflation by keeping expenses low and investing the difference.
• Focus on increasing income streams, not just cutting expenses.
• Don't be afraid to take calculated risks to build wealth.
• Financial independence is a journey, not a destination.

Join the Mindful FIRE Legends community at MindfulFIRE.org/join.