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Today’s episode is a very, very special interview with the Mad Fientist, LIVE from FinCon 2017 in Dallas!
We had an amazing time at FinCon, and were fortunate to speak with some amazing FIRE bloggers…including the man, the legend: Brandon from The Mad Fientist.
Brandon is recently (early) retired, and it was fun to catch up with him and chat about how life has been AFTER reaching FI, how he thinks about money these days, and more.
(including why he applied to be a NASA astronaut).
Brandon has an insane amount of insights and value to add to all of us seeking financial independence. Enjoy this chat from FinCon!
Show notes and links from today’s episode
- The legendary FI blog – Mad Fientist
- FinCon!
- The Princess Bride – The single best movie ever made.
- Brandon’s really, really cool credit card travel rewards tool
- An Astronaut’s Guide to Life on Earth: What Going to Space Taught Me About Ingenuity, Determination, and Being Prepared for Anything
Key takeaways from our chat with Mad Fientist
1 – Don’t put off your health!
Regardless of when you’ll reach FI, it can be allll too easy to say “I’ll start working out later, when I have more time.”
Or more money. Or different circumstances, or a full moon on Friday the 13th, or…
Brandon’s one regret was not exercising earlier, before retiring. He has been working out (strength training, lifting) for several months now, and has seen several benefits in addition to just looking better.
- More motivation to wake up earlier.
- Increased happiness
- He sleeps better.
Don’t put it off, it’s worth the extra effort and time now.
2 – Brandon’s biggest lesson learned AFTER reaching FI
Money is no longer a motivating factor.
This is potentially huge, and fascinating to boot.
For Brandon, money was the ultimate driving factors behind his entire adult life, including work, what side-projects to take on, what to blog about, etc.
With his FI money, combined with other streams of income coming through the blog and his app, Brandon no longer has to worry about money.
But it goes a bit deeper.
All the entrepreneurial projects Brandon had planned on working on in retirement, and no longer as appealing to him. Money was the driving force behind those projects.
This is a monumental shift in attitude and motivation, and sounds like an incredibly confusing feeling to deal with at first (granted a good problem to have).
This might even be a mindset physically unavailable to the rest of us, who depend on at least some money coming in every month (regardless of wealth).
Again, this is a good problem to have, but it does beg the question…
What would you work on if money were not a factor at all? Leave us a comment!
Let us know your thoughts below!
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