I Dream of FIRE

In pursuit of financial independence and personal fulfillment

Category: attitude (page 2 of 9)

Gratitude in a car crash

January 15, 2019 / / 3 Comments

My wife’s car has been declared a total loss over a relatively minor crash.

Our car insurance will assuredly go up — maybe a lot.

I’m not bringing in a steady income right now, so this is not a good time to buy another car.

The crash happened the day before we boarded a flight to Florida for Christmas, meaning everything was done over the phone during vacation.

We were in limbo for three weeks while the repair shop and insurance went through their process.

All told, this will probably cost us at least $5,000.

And yet, I am gratefully annoyed at the situation. Continue reading

The huge difference between being in debt and having debt

January 8, 2019 / / 0 Comments

Who do you picture in your mind when you think of “people in debt”?

Is it someone struggling to pay the bills, not sure where next month’s housing payment is going to come from or how to put gas in the car because the credit card is topped off?

Do you think of people with lots of expensive clothes, pricey cars, and lavish furnishings throughout their picturesque home, knowing full well they’re leveraged up to their kids’ eyeballs when she’s riding on daddy’s shoulders?

Or maybe you think of a new college graduate just finding out what all those years of schooling are really going to cost over the next decade as they begin to make their way in the world.

But how often do you think of someone who has their financial house in order, plenty of money to cover expenses, and a good balance between enjoying life now and delaying gratification for the future? Because maybe you should. Continue reading

Self-care is not an optional expense

October 23, 2018 / / 2 Comments

I’ve spent thousands of dollars I hadn’t planned to spend this calendar year.

I’ve broken out the credit card for several mastermind groups, purchased nutritional supplements, gotten extra massages, booked more travel, and begrudgingly bought shoes faster than I would like.

Why? Well, I’m starting to better recognize when not paying for something actually costs more than the sticker price. Continue reading

Life lessons learned on the climb to 14,265 feet

September 19, 2018 / / 3 Comments

Last week, I did something I never thought I’d do: I climbed a 14,000-foot Colorado mountain with six friends.

It was challenging, rewarding, exhausting, exhilarating, and symbolic on so many levels. It really was an experience of a lifetime.

We all have mountains to climb.

Some of them are difficult, some are terrifying, some are intimidating. You may be staring up at the mountain of debt, addiction, despair, relationship trouble, career stagnation — whatever it is in your life that you see before you that looks to big to take on. I promise you it’s not.

What I learned on Mount Quandary applies to all of them, and I want to share those lessons with you.

Continue reading

Mini-retirement book review: ‘Outwitting the Devil,’ by Napoleon Hill

August 21, 2018 / / 2 Comments

The Devil controls 98 of every 100 people on Earth, coercing them not into a life of evil but one of malaise. He leads people to his command by instilling fear in them, which weakens their resolve to pursue a purposeful, meaningful life.

“Think and Grow Rich” author Napoleon Hill wrote “Outwitting the Devil” in 1938 as a one-on-one interview with the Devil himself, in which Hill was able to force the Devil to confess to how he conquers men at an astounding rate and how they can escape his grasp.

The book was deemed too controversial to print – for reasons I’ll delve into later – and shelved an amazing 73 years until its release in 2011. It was incredibly relevant at that time, as the economic climate reflected that of the original period in which Hill wrote it. However, the principles in “Outwitting the Devil” are timeless and valuable even today.

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