Derk de Korver joins The Mindful Fire podcast to share his journey to becoming a professional Ironman Triathlete, reaching the World Championships several times.

 He recalls his time in Dublin, where he and Adam Coelho, the host, bonded over side hustling and partying. 

Derk talks about his transformation to becoming a healthier person, and how his goals shifted from just wanting to finish his first marathon, to wanting to qualify for Kona, and eventually winning his age group overall. 

He also shares his decision to stop racing professionally and focus on his family and business.

Guest Bio

Derk de Korver was born in the Netherlands and moved around a lot in his youth due to his dad's work. He went to college in the Netherlands, and started working for Cargill, trading orange juice concentrate. 

He moved to Dublin to work for Google and discovered a new part of himself -- training for a marathon. He eventually signed up for his first Ironman, and after three years of training, he qualified for Kona, the world championships. 

He has done it four times and finished 8th overall and 4th in his age group in 2019. He has also won several Ironman races overall. He recently decided to stop racing professionally and focus on his family and business.

Guest Contact Information

• LinkedIn: Derk de Korver

Key Takeaways

• Derk de Korver is an entrepreneur, triathlete and Google employee.
• I met Derk in 2012 when we worked on the same global team at Google's Dublin office.
• Derk started his journey to achieve his goals by signing up for a marathon.
• He trained for an Ironman event and stopped drinking for the year because of his focus.
• After three years of Ironman, Derk managed to qualify for the Ironman World Championships In Kona, Hawaii.
• He achieved multiple successes in Ironman races and placed 8th overall in the world at Kona and 4th in his age group in his last race in Kona.
• Inspired by his success, Derk decided to go pro, and raced professionally for the next two years.

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

PS: Introducing the… 🔥 FIRE Starter Group Coaching Program

You did the “money” part. You saved, invested, and built real options. But if you’re being honest… FU money alone isn’t enough—and you might still feel stuck in “one more year syndrome,” unclear on what you actually want next.

In 10 weeks or less, we’ll help you get clear on what you want—and start living it now—using envisioning, mindfulness, and practical mini-experiments (not endless overthinking).

Interested? Let’s chat: https://mindfulfire.org/chat

🔥 WHO I’m creating this for

This is for you if you’re at or near FI (Coast FI or full FIRE) and:

• You feel stuck after “doing everything right,” but you’re not sure what you’re optimizing for anymore.
• You’re caught between freedom and overwhelm (“I could do anything… so I do nothing”).
• You want clarity and momentum—but you don’t want someone to tell you what to do.

🔥 WHAT we’ll do together (over 10 weeks)

In a small group (mastermind-style), you’ll:

• Get clear on what you actually want (beyond expectations, comparison, and “shoulds”).
• Create a big, meaningful vision for your next chapter—one that fits who you are now.
• Learn the brain science behind envisioning (why it works, and how to use it).
• Turn yo...

Take a moment to appreciate how far you come in your life with this new guided meditation by Adam Coelho. 

So often people race from thing to thing trying mightily to reach their goal...

But once they get there...

They just look immediately past that goal to the next goal

Never stopping

Never fully appreciating:

• How far they've come
• All the things they've learned
• All the things they've overcome

To be who they are

Right here. Right now

This practice invites us to take in the good and appreciate all the wonderful things we have done and achieved in our life. 

Meditation Overview

• We begin by taking a moment to check in with yourself and to observe the sensations of breathing in your body.
• I then encourage you to reflect on your life five years ago and all you've achieved since then
• Then you'll explore something from the last 12 months that you are proud of
• Finally, I remind you that your brain is predictive and that by paying attention to the good things in your life, you will be able to experience more of them.

I hope you enjoy this guided meditation which was inspired by my podcast conversation  with my friend Nirav Shah on episode 64.

PS: Introducing the… 🔥 FIRE Starter Group Coaching Program

You did the “money” part. You saved, invested, and built real options. But if you’re being honest… FU money alone isn’t enough—and you might still feel stuck in “one more year syndrome,” unclear on what you actually want next.

In 10 weeks or less, we’ll help you get clear on what you want—and start living it now—using envisioning, mindfulness, and practical mini-experiments (not endless overthinking).

Interested? Let’s chat: https://mindfulfire.org/chat

🔥 WHO I’m creating this for

This is for you if you’re at or near FI (Coast FI or full FIRE) and:

• You feel stuck after “doing everything right,” but you’re not sure what you’re optimizing for anymore.
• You’re caught between freedom and overwhelm (“I could do anything… so I do nothing”).
• You want clarity and momentum—but you don’t want someone to tell you what to do.

🔥 WHAT we’ll do together (over 10 weeks)

In a small group (mastermind-style), you’ll:

• Get clear on what you actually want (beyond expectations, comparison, and “shoulds”).
• Create a big, meaningful vision for your next chapter—one that fits who you are now.
• Learn the brain science behind envisioning (why it works, and how to use it).
• Turn yo...

“I'm not leaving Google, I'm actually joining another company and in order to join the other company, I've got to move” - Jeena James

In this episode of The Mindful Fire Podcast, Adam Coelho interviews Jeena James. Jeena shares her incredible journey of growing up in India, working at Google for 13 and a half years, and then transitioning to a startup environment. She talks about the challenges of making the transition and why she felt the need to push beyond her comfort zone. Jeena also offers a unique insight into her current role at Catchpoint and how she is helping to shape the digital experience monitoring and observability platform.

Guest Contact Information

• Jeena James on LinkedIn.
• Jeena's Instragram

Guest Bio

Up until recently, Jeena James was the head of the WebPageTest business unit at Catchpoint, a digital experience monitoring and observability platform. She has an economics degree from India and started her career at Google, where she worked for 13 and a half years. Jeena is based in the Bay Area and is passionate about pushing the boundaries of what is possible.

Key Takeaways

• She started her career with Google in India, where she worked for 13.5 years.
• She experienced working with customers and users of Google products from various angles, from advertisers to publishers to app developers.
• She realized that in order to get to the next opportunity, she had to leave Google
• In 2019, Jeena decided to move to a startup environment and joined Catchpoint as the head of the business unit
• Jeena shares her experience and learnings from working in a few different statups

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

PS: Introducing the… 🔥 FIRE Starter Group Coaching Program

You did the “money” part. You saved, invested, and built real options. But if you’re being honest… FU money alone isn’t enough—and you might still feel stuck in “one more year syndrome,” unclear on what you actually want next.

In 10 weeks or less, we’ll help you get clear on what you want—and start living it now—using envisioning, mindfulness, and practical mini-experiments (not endless overthinking).

Interested? Let’s chat: https://mindfulfire.org/chat

🔥 WHO I’m creating this for

This is for you if you’re at or near FI (Coast FI or full FIRE) and:

• You feel stuck after “doing everything right,” but you’re not sure what you’re optimizing for anymore.
• You’re caught between freedom and overwhelm (“I could do anything… so I do nothing”).
• You want clarity and momentum—but you don’t want someone to tell you what to do.

🔥 WHAT we’ll do together (over 10 weeks)

In a small group (mastermind-style), you’ll:

• Get clear on what you actually want (beyond expectations, comparison, and “shoulds”).
• Create a big, meaningful vision for your next chapter—one that fits who you are now.
• Learn the brain science behind envisioning (why it works, and how to use it).
• Turn yo...

This guided meditation is all about creating space for possibility in the face of challenging situations in your life.

While we all have challenging situations in life, I created this meditation for my 12,000 Google colleagues who were laid off last Friday and the thousands of other people affected by layoffs in the tech sector. 

I am grateful to still have my job but so many of my friends do not. Friday was a wake up call - a reminder of why it's so important to be intentional about your life and to build financial resilience to overcome challenging times. 

Overview of the practice

• We begin by finding a comfortable and alert position, then taking three deep breaths to notice the breath sensation in our body. 
• We are practicing mindfulness and observing our thoughts in a kind and curious way.
• Then we zoom out on our life a bit and bring to mind a challenging situation we are dealing with - a layoff, a divorce, death of a family member or pet.
• We observe this situation with mindfulness, which is simply a kind, curious awareness 
• Then we shift to exploring what possibility might exist, however small, in this challenging situation.

I sincerely hope this meditation is useful to you as you process the challenges you face and shift into embracing the possibilities life is presenting to you.

Wishing you all the best on your journey. 
Adam

PS: Introducing the… 🔥 FIRE Starter Group Coaching Program

You did the “money” part. You saved, invested, and built real options. But if you’re being honest… FU money alone isn’t enough—and you might still feel stuck in “one more year syndrome,” unclear on what you actually want next.

In 10 weeks or less, we’ll help you get clear on what you want—and start living it now—using envisioning, mindfulness, and practical mini-experiments (not endless overthinking).

Interested? Let’s chat: https://mindfulfire.org/chat

🔥 WHO I’m creating this for

This is for you if you’re at or near FI (Coast FI or full FIRE) and:

• You feel stuck after “doing everything right,” but you’re not sure what you’re optimizing for anymore.
• You’re caught between freedom and overwhelm (“I could do anything… so I do nothing”).
• You want clarity and momentum—but you don’t want someone to tell you what to do.

🔥 WHAT we’ll do together (over 10 weeks)

In a small group (mastermind-style), you’ll:

• Get clear on what you actually want (beyond expectations, comparison, and “shoulds”).
• Create a big, meaningful vision for your next chapter—one that fits who you are now.
• Learn the brain science behind envisioning (why it works, and how to use it).
• Turn yo...

In this podcast episode, Adam Coelho and Ashanti Branch talk about Ashanti's move from engineering to teaching. Ashanti explains the moment he made the decision to switch and how he had to keep himself from constantly thinking about the money he could have made if he had stayed in engineering. They also discuss the five F’s and strategizing for success and how it can help us achieve our goals.

Key Takeaways:

• Ashanti Branch is an educator who left engineering to pursue teaching.
• He saw a news report about a project he was working on in San Jose, California, catching fire, and this was a sign for him to leave engineering.
• He had to make a financial sacrifice in order to pursue his passion.
• He works hard not to compare himself to his friends who are still in engineering and have been promoted to VP roles.
• He is satisfied with the passion and purpose of his work, even if the financial side of things does not always make sense.
• He uses a system with his men's team called the five F's (fitness, family, fun, finances, and finish it) to set goals.
• It would have been helpful to have someone to strategize with when he was making the transition to teaching.
• Ashanti is thankful for the work he is able to do.
• He encourages others to ask themselves what it would take to feel satisfied in every area of their life.
• He encourages others to make decisions based on their passion and purpose, not just the numbers.

Guest Bio:

Ashanti Branch is an engineer-turned-teacher and founder of the Ever Forward Club, an organization that works to help young men of color reach their full potential. He has a passion for helping others find success and fulfillment through education and personal growth. 

Guest Contact Information: Get in touch with Ashanti and bring him to speak or lead the “Taking Off The Mask” workshop for your team.

• Website: everforwardclub.org
• Instagram: @everforwardclub
• Ashanti's Talk@Google on YouTube

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

PS: Introducing the… 🔥 FIRE Starter Group Coaching Program

You did the “money” part. You saved, invested, and built real options. But if you’re being honest… FU money alone isn’t enough—and you might still feel stuck in “one more year syndrome,” unclear on what you actually want next.

In 10 weeks or less, we’ll help you get clear on what you want—and start living it now—using envisioning, mindfulness, and practical mini-experiments (not endless overthinking).

Interested? Let’s chat: https://mindfulfire.org/chat

🔥 WHO I’m creating this for

This is for you if you’re at or near FI (Coast FI or full FIRE) and:

• You feel stuck after “doing everything right,” but you’re not sure what you’re optimizing for anymore.
• You’re caught between freedom and overwhelm (“I could do anything… so I do nothing”).
• You want clarity and momentum—but you don’t want someone to tell you what to do.

🔥 WHAT we’ll do together (over 10 weeks)

In a small group (mastermind-style), you’ll:

• Get clear on what you actually want (beyond expectations, comparison, and “shoulds”).
• Create a big, meaningful vision for your next chapter—one that fits who you are now.
• Learn the brain science behind envisioning (why it works, and how to use it).
• Turn yo...

Today’s guided meditation is all about cultivating and sharing kindness.

We’ll begin by checking in with ourselves and observing our breath.

Then, we'll take some time to gather and multiply kindness within ourselves.

Then we will practicing sending kindness out to others.

Finally, we open to receiving kindness from others.

I hope you enjoy this practice

PS: Introducing the… 🔥 FIRE Starter Group Coaching Program

You did the “money” part. You saved, invested, and built real options. But if you’re being honest… FU money alone isn’t enough—and you might still feel stuck in “one more year syndrome,” unclear on what you actually want next.

In 10 weeks or less, we’ll help you get clear on what you want—and start living it now—using envisioning, mindfulness, and practical mini-experiments (not endless overthinking).

Interested? Let’s chat: https://mindfulfire.org/chat

🔥 WHO I’m creating this for

This is for you if you’re at or near FI (Coast FI or full FIRE) and:

• You feel stuck after “doing everything right,” but you’re not sure what you’re optimizing for anymore.
• You’re caught between freedom and overwhelm (“I could do anything… so I do nothing”).
• You want clarity and momentum—but you don’t want someone to tell you what to do.

🔥 WHAT we’ll do together (over 10 weeks)

In a small group (mastermind-style), you’ll:

• Get clear on what you actually want (beyond expectations, comparison, and “shoulds”).
• Create a big, meaningful vision for your next chapter—one that fits who you are now.
• Learn the brain science behind envisioning (why it works, and how to use it).
• Turn yo...

On today's episode, Adam Coelho is joined by his good friend Susie Ade. Susie works as a global program manager for driving mental health and wellbeing programs for Google's data centers and is a certified professional coactive coach. Together, they discuss the FIRE movement, designing your life and career in a way as if you've already reached financial independence.

Key Takeaways

• Developing a FIRE mindset can help you change your life
• Design your life and career in a way as if you've already reached financial independence
• Pull in from the future what you think you want and bring it into your life right now
• Live every day and align with what's most important and brings you the most joy and connection.
• Find joy in maximizing your savings rate by optimizing for what brings you the most joy.

Guest Bio

Susie Ade joined Google eight and a half years ago and has had a career across sales, marketing, trust and safety, and learning and development. She is currently working towards becoming a certified professional coactive coach and coaches people at Google and outside of Google. She is also a facilitator for Search Inside Yourself, a leadership and emotional intelligence course that teaches emotional intelligence through mindfulness. Susie and her husband are working towards achieving financial independence through a mixed strategy of taking high risks and investing in low cost index funds.

Resources & Books Mentioned

• Your Money or Your Life
• The Simple Path to Wealth

Connect with Susie

Susie Ade on LinkedIn

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

PS: Introducing the… 🔥 FIRE Starter Group Coaching Program

You did the “money” part. You saved, invested, and built real options. But if you’re being honest… FU money alone isn’t enough—and you might still feel stuck in “one more year syndrome,” unclear on what you actually want next.

In 10 weeks or less, we’ll help you get clear on what you want—and start living it now—using envisioning, mindfulness, and practical mini-experiments (not endless overthinking).

Interested? Let’s chat: https://mindfulfire.org/chat

🔥 WHO I’m creating this for

This is for you if you’re at or near FI (Coast FI or full FIRE) and:

• You feel stuck after “doing everything right,” but you’re not sure what you’re optimizing for anymore.
• You’re caught between freedom and overwhelm (“I could do anything… so I do nothing”).
• You want clarity and momentum—but you don’t want someone to tell you what to do.

🔥 WHAT we’ll do together (over 10 weeks)

In a small group (mastermind-style), you’ll:

• Get clear on what you actually want (beyond expectations, comparison, and “shoulds”).
• Create a big, meaningful vision for your next chapter—one that fits who you are now.
• Learn the brain science behind envisioning (why it works, and how to use it).
• Turn yo...

9 months into my dream job I get called into my boss' office

He says my team is going away and I have a few months to find a new job or leave Google

30 days before the deadline...👇

I have a grand total of ZERO job offers

This is rock bottom.

If was to survive, something needed to change

My mindset needed to change

At rock bottom, I CHOOSE two NEW MINDSETS

1. The world is abundant with opportunity.
2. I don't worry about doing things right or wrong. I take action, which leads to learning, progress and growth

Everyday, I began to PRACTICE these new mindsets with this simple affirmations practice

1. State the new mindset outloud
2. Envision in your mind when this was true in the PAST
3. Envision in your mind how this is true in the PRESENT
3. Envision in your mind how this is will be true in the FUTURE

🎧 Link to Affirmations Meditation  in comments 🎧

Incredible things started to happen:

- Job opportunities came from everywhere
- I took tons of creative action like emailing the CEO of a startup

I ended that 30 days with two job offers:

- one internal at Google
- one external at a startup (yep, that one)

Check out my profile (+ follow me) to see which one I chose 😉

That's right.

Thanks to envisioning, I'm about to celebrate 12 years Google

Heres the thing though:

- It's NOT magic.
- It IS using the power of your predicting brain 🧠
- It IS planting & watering the seeds (ie. affirmations) of the future you want to create 🌱

🧠 Each of us has the power to create our own reality by cultivating our mindset intentionally

🧠 What new mindset are you choosing for 2023?

     🔥 Join the conversation - Connect with me on LinkedIn

🎧 Practice your new mindset with this affirmations meditation

More Inspiring Interviews : https://bit.ly/3FOqqAk
More Guided Meditations : https://bit.ly/3t4hO0V

PS: Introducing the… 🔥 FIRE Starter Group Coaching Program

You did the “money” part. You saved, invested, and built real options. But if you’re being honest… FU money alone isn’t enough—and you might still feel stuck in “one more year syndrome,” unclear on what you actually want next.

In 10 weeks or less, we’ll help you get clear on what you want—and start living it now—using envisioning, mindfulness, and practical mini-experiments (not endless overthinking).

Interested? Let’s chat: https://mindfulfire.org/chat

🔥 WHO I’m creating this for

This is for you if you’re at or near FI (Coast FI or full FIRE) and:

• You feel stuck after “doing everything right,” but you’re not sure what you’re optimizing for anymore.
• You’re caught between freedom and overwhelm (“I could do anything… so I do nothing”).
• You want clarity and momentum—but you don’t want someone to tell you what to do.

🔥 WHAT we’ll do together (over 10 weeks)

In a small group (mastermind-style), you’ll:

• Get clear on what you actually want (beyond expectations, comparison, and “shoulds”).
• Create a big, meaningful vision for your next chapter—one that fits who you are now.
• Learn the brain science behind envisioning (why it works, and how to use it).
• Turn yo...

Welcome to the Mindful FIRE Podcast, a show about crafting a life you love and making work optional, using the tools of mindfulness envisioning and financial independence.

Today we explore what it means to live and work mindfully with my new friend Jonathan Reynolds.

I'm your host, Adam Coelho (Connect & DM me on LinkedIn) and I'm so glad you're here. 

On today's episode of the podcast, I'm joined by my new friend, Jonathan Reynolds. Jonathan Reynolds is the founder and CEO of mindful life mindful work, Inc. A San Francisco based leadership development company, providing services that address the intersection of self-awareness and team performance. 

Since 1997, Jonathan has trained extensively in the discipline of mindfulness and his work with leaders emphasizes simple and practical ways to improve performance efficiency and workplace cultures by integrating mindfulness sensibilities. 

 In this conversation, Jonathan and I explore what it means to live and work mindfully. 

And I have to say it was one of my favorite episodes to not only record, but also to edit. And I listened to it a few more times so I know it's going to have a lot of value for you, and I'm really excited to share it. 

Connect & DM me on LinkedIn

Getting in Touch with Jonathan: 

• Connect with Jonathan Reynolds on LinkedIn
• Mindful Life, Mindful Work's Website

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

PS: Introducing the… 🔥 FIRE Starter Group Coaching Program

You did the “money” part. You saved, invested, and built real options. But if you’re being honest… FU money alone isn’t enough—and you might still feel stuck in “one more year syndrome,” unclear on what you actually want next.

In 10 weeks or less, we’ll help you get clear on what you want—and start living it now—using envisioning, mindfulness, and practical mini-experiments (not endless overthinking).

Interested? Let’s chat: https://mindfulfire.org/chat

🔥 WHO I’m creating this for

This is for you if you’re at or near FI (Coast FI or full FIRE) and:

• You feel stuck after “doing everything right,” but you’re not sure what you’re optimizing for anymore.
• You’re caught between freedom and overwhelm (“I could do anything… so I do nothing”).
• You want clarity and momentum—but you don’t want someone to tell you what to do.

🔥 WHAT we’ll do together (over 10 weeks)

In a small group (mastermind-style), you’ll:

• Get clear on what you actually want (beyond expectations, comparison, and “shoulds”).
• Create a big, meaningful vision for your next chapter—one that fits who you are now.
• Learn the brain science behind envisioning (why it works, and how to use it).
• Turn yo...