Mindful FIRE : Life Design for Financial Independence

In this episode: mindfulness, taking time off work, managing expectations, self-limiting beliefs, lessons learned from sabbaticals, and rest with Julia LI

I'm taking three months off work and recently talked to Julia Li about my plans for this time off.

She's had experience taking a sabbatical and gave me some great insights and advice on how to make the most of this time and manage my expectations.

We talked about common self-limiting beliefs and guilt around taking time off and how to overcome them.

Julia also shared how lessons from her sabbatical continued to reveal themselves even after the time off had ended.

Guest Bio

Julia and I are good friends who have known each other for a while. Julia has been a guest on my Mindful Fire Podcast four times now, where we've covered topics like taking sabbaticals and pivoting from tech to sustainability.

In our latest episode, we discuss my upcoming three months off work and Julia shares her insights and advice from her own experiences taking time off. It's amazing to have such a supportive friend to talk to about this. I'm excited to see what comes from this break!

Key Takeaways

• Acknowledge that time off is finite and get curious with thoughts and feelings around it.
• Rest is important and it's okay to take breaks without judgment.
• Lessons from sabbaticals continue to reveal themselves even after the time off has ended.
• Guilt and self-limiting beliefs around taking time off are common and can be overcome.
• Manage expectations and don't put pressure on yourself to use the time off in a specific way.
• The quality of experience during time off is based on being present in each moment, not on the quantity of time.

In this episode: Envisioning 3 months off work, Mindfulness, Burnout, Learning to Rest & more - Adam Interviewed by David Moltz

Today, I’m kicking off something a bit different. Last year, around this time, I took a three-month break from work and decided to chronicle my experience by recording an episode before, during, and after. I invited my friends, Julia Li and David Moltz, to interview me at different points throughout the journey.

In this four-part series, you’ll hear what’s going on in my head and in my life before, during and towards the end of this 3 months off of work.

On today’s episode, I’m interviewed by one of my best friends, David Moltz about how I came to realize I needed the time off, how I overcame fear to ask for it and how I’m thinking about making the most of this 3 months off.

Note: The audio is slightly wonky in this episode. My microphone had an issue and I got help to fix it as best I could. Thanks for understanding.

Resources & Books Mentioned

• 3 Part Series with Julia LI 
  • 54 : Leaving Google For a Career In Sustainability and a 3 Month Break (Before)
  • 56 : Leaving Google, Learning How to Rest and Clarifying Her Vision
  • 59 : Finding Her Dream Job In Sustainability & An Entirely New Relationship With Money (Part 3)

Key Takeaways

• Mindfulness can help develop self-awareness to prevent burnout
• Asking for extended time off can be difficult, but it's important to prioritize personal wellbeing
• Taking a longer break, such as a sabbatical, can provide the necessary space and time to recharge and prevent burnout
• Broaching the subject of extended time off with a manager can be easier if there is an existing good relationship and open communication
• The importance of rest and how it doesn’t come naturally for me
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In this episode: Envision your ideal future in vivid detail with a surprise ending.

In today's guided meditation session, we will delve into the art of envisioning the life of our dreams. 

This practice involves mindfulness, which is the state of being fully present in the moment without any judgment. By being mindful, we allow ourselves to experience the present moment without getting caught up in worries about the past or future.

Once we have achieved a calm state of mind, we will proceed to visualize the life we want. We will imagine ourselves living out our ideal life, feeling as if it is already a reality. We will focus on the details of this life, including the sights, sounds, and feelings.

But that is not all. After we have fully immersed ourselves in this visualization, we will shift our attention in a way that may surprise you.

I hope you enjoy this guided meditation.

In this episode: Lifestyle Design, Mindfulness, Financial Independence, Entrepreneurship, Location Independence with Jess from The Fioneers.

Jess from The Fioneers shares her journey to financial independence and how she shifted her focus to mindful living. She discusses the importance of understanding your needs and crafting a life that aligns with your values rather than sprinting towards the finish line. Jess also shares practical tips for lifestyle design and how to create three distinct life paths to explore different possibilities.

Guest Bio

Jess from The Fioneers is a financial independence and lifestyle design blogger who encourages mindful and intentional living. She is an entrepreneur, speaker, and coach who helps people create a life they love today rather than waiting for FI.

Resources & Books Mentioned

• Jess' Upcoming Slow FI Retreat 
• "Designing Your Life" by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans

Connect with Jess

• Website: TheFioneers.com
• Retreat : Slow FI Retreat 9/28-10/1
• Twitter: @thefioneers
• Instagram: @thefioneers

Key Takeaways

• Lifestyle design requires introspection, idea generation, and experimentation.
• Create three life paths to explore different possibilities and force curiosity.
• Adopt an improv mindset of "yes and" to generate ideas without criticizing.
• Mindfulness is about being kind, curious, and open to whatever arises.
• Reflect on your ideal day/week/month/year and peak experiences to understand your passions.
• Track your activities and rank them to make shifts and understand what you enjoy.

In this episode: Loving kindness of the body practice

Are you listening to what your body is telling you?

In this guided meditation, we practice bringing a kind, curious, and loving awareness to our body.

We start by checking in with ourselves to see how we are feeling.

Then, we perform a guided body scan, bringing loving awareness to each part of our body.

Finally, we conclude by bringing loving kindness and compassion to our body, which makes our entire existence possible.

In this episode: mindfulness and compassion, overcoming anxiety and depression, cultivating compassion, finding meaning and purpose, and writing and creativity with Claire E. Parsons.

In today’s episode, I’m joined by my new friend, Claire E. Parsons, a mindfulness and compassion teacher, lawyer, writer and author of “How to Be a Badass Lawyer”.

Claire shared her struggles with anxiety and depression and how meditation helped her overcome these challenges. She emphasized the importance of compassion in mindfulness practice and how it can help us cope with suffering and stress.

Claire also talked about how cultivating compassion can help us find meaning and purpose in our lives, especially for those in the legal profession. It was a great conversation and I learned so much from her.

Guest Bio

Claire E. Parsons is a lawyer, mindfulness and compassion teacher, and writer. She is the author of "How to Be a Badass Lawyer" and runs the Brilliant Legal Mind blog.

Connect with Claire E. Parsons

• Website: https://www.brilliantlegalmind.com/
• Claire’s Book: “How to Be a Badass Lawyer”

Resources & Books Mentioned

• "How to Be a Badass Lawyer" by Claire E. Parsons
• "The Gifts of Imperfection" by Brené Brown
• "Self-Compassion" by Kristin Neff
• "Search Inside Yourself" by Chade Meng Tan
• Loving Kindness (Metta) meditation

Key Takeaways

• Mindfulness and compassion go hand in hand. You cannot have true awareness without some level of compassion.
• Compassion is the ability to be present with suffering and stay willing to help without taking on the suffering.
• Lawyers often overemphasize service to others and underemphasize what they want to do and what they want in their lives.
• Cultivating compassion can help lawyers find meaning and purpose in their lives.
• Compassion and mindfulness practices can help individuals cope with suffering and stress and improve their overall well-being.
• Writing and creativity can be helpful tools for lawyers to find meaning and purpose in their lives.

In this episode: Body scan meditation to experience impermanence.

Impermanence - the fact of life that everything is constantly changing and nothing stays the same for long - can be best observed and experienced within our own body.

During my 10 day silent Vipassana meditation retreat in Northern California, I truly experienced the impermanence of life.

The practice of body scan meditation, where we were aware of each part of the body from head to toe for 10 hours per day, made it clear that even something that seems fixed, say a pain in my shoulder, is actually changing and moving continuously.

Impermanence is all around us, and it was mirrored by the mountain scene I walked past each day, which was different every time.

I invite you to experience the ever changing nature of your body and life through this guided body scan meditation.

In this episode: The mindful money method, overcoming a scarcity mindset, using bridge thoughts, envisioning our future selves, living debt-free, and the power generosity on the journey to FI with Liz Carroll, the mindful money coach.

On today’s episode,I am joined by my new friend, Liz Carroll, who shared her journey towards financial independence. Liz was inspired to become financially independent after reading Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey, when she was 30 and working for AT&T. Her plan to become financially independent within 20 years included college educating their children and creating enough passive income.

Liz introduced us to the Mindful Money Method, which is all about awareness, clarity, and vision to create a spending plan that aligns with our values and desires. She also talked about overcoming scarcity mindset and the importance of envisioning our future selves. 

Guest Bio

Liz Carroll is a mindful financial coach and founder of The Mindful Money Method. She is passionate about empowering women to take control of their finances and achieve financial independence. She has helped countless women realize their financial goals through her Mindful Money Method, which focuses on awareness, clarity, and vision to create a plan that aligns with their values and desires.

Resources & Books Mentioned

• Financial Peace by Dave Ramsey

Connect with Liz Carroll

• Website: https://www.mindfulmoneymethod.com/
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/money-coach
• Instagram: @mindfulmoneycoaches

Key Takeaways

• The Mindful Money Method is all about awareness, clarity, and vision to create a spending plan, a safety net, and aligning our finances with our values and desires.
• Overcoming scarcity mindset is key to achieving financial independence. Liz recommends completing sentences like "Rich people are..." to uncover hidden beliefs and emotions around money.
• Envisioning our future selves can help us make better financial decisions in the present.
• Being debt-free allows us to be more present and make decisions for our future selves.
• Generosity can be a powerful motivator for achieving F

Today's guided meditation is focused on creating space within your busy life to invest in yourself.

When we slow down, sit down, and turn our attention inward, something powerful happens.

It's like a snow globe being set down on a table; our mind and body settle, and we can start to see more clearly what's going on inside.

I hope you enjoy the meditation.

In this episode: Teaching Kids Financial Independence, Allowance, Rob’s road to FI and more.

In this episode of the Mindful Fire Podcast, Rob Phelan, a high school math and personal finance teacher, shares his passion for teaching about money and raising a financially responsible generation. He discusses his own journey into personal finance and how to equip children with better decision-making skills for their future. He also emphasizes the importance of personal finance and the role of teachers in educating students.

Guest Bio

Rob Phelan is a high school math and personal finance teacher living in Maryland. He is also a certified financial education instructor and very passionate about helping kids, teachers, and parents learn about money and become financially responsible. He has written a children's book called "M is for Money" and runs his own business called "The Simple Startup" where he teaches 10 to 18-year-olds how to start their own businesses.

Resources & Books Mentioned

• M for Money : Rob’s Children’s Book 
• The Simple Startup by Rob Phelan

Rob Phelan’s Contact Information

• Websites: 
  • SimpleStartup.com
  • MisforMoneybook.com
• Instagram : @FIeducator
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robphelan/

Key Takeaways

• It's crucial to start building positive money habits and mindsets in young children since the majority of our money habits are set by age nine.
• Parents and educators spend the most time with children, making it important to educate them about personal finance. This will equip children to make better decisions in the future.
• Understanding personal finance and money management is essential for achieving financial independence, which gives you more options and control over your future.