May 6, 2024

About

In 2020 the coronavirus COVID19 crisis was sweeping across the US decimating human health and financial markets. Everything was interrupted and nothing was normal. Companies were Laying-off and furloughing employees in droves. The unemployment rate flirted with 25%. And I wanted a way out – or at least a raft to safety.

Figuring things out, out loud.

It encouraged me to face some real questions about what I wanted out of a career and life and try to make sense of things. I had been working in the business world for 10-years with not a lot to show for it besides a partial employer-paid MBA and a considerable amount of self-loathing. I wasn’t happy and it was affecting my work. I gained 45lbs and was grumpy and irritable and had started to amass some visible gray hairs.

My mental health was waning and I came to the conclusion that I couldn’t do the same thing for another thirty-five years. My health and sanity wouldn’t last. At this same time, I had a baby on the way. I had to provide for my family and could not make any rash decisions. But I knew something had to change.

I started this blog to keep track of my journey towards improving my professional satisfaction and eventual Financial Independence. I’m hoping that contained herein will be some advice I would have given to a younger version of myself. I’m sure in a few years I will change my mind on some things and need to go back and re-write parts of posts.

It’s not just a money question.

I don’t think this is a subject talked about very often in the FIRE community. Very quickly I came to the conclusion that what I was chasing was not 100% about money alone. It was also about satisfying an innate desire to be useful. And self-identity. I’ve known rich and I’ve known poor people, and poor people who became rich and without self-improvement, their accumulation of wealth only served to magnify their pre-existing conditions.

I hope in due time I can help answer these questions:

  • What is my exit strategy?
  • How do I create more purpose in my life?
  • How do I create a more rewarding personal and professional life now?
  • How should I spend to maximize my present and future happiness?
  • Is FIRE Financial Independence the right path for me?
  • How do I create passive income streams?
  • Is entrepreneurship right for me?