Build A Wealthy Spirit

Show Notes: Values Quiz Want to Join Michelle’s Sabbatical Course? Michelle and Toby recently reunited with the first cohort of their sabbatical course. It is more than just a course, it is a community of people looking to think outside the corporate box. Anyone interested in sabbaticals is welcome to join. Click here if you are interested in joining the course [finished]! Find more show notes and...

Show Notes: Forget New Year’s Resolutions and Conduct a ‘Past Year Review’ Instead by Tim Ferris CampFI Community Time: Thank you Tamara Herring for your pledge and for supporting our podcast! Pledges like this help us with podcasting costs like OUR NEW MICROPHONE! It helps us out so much :) Thank you, Paul and Harris HYPRfocus for your comments on our episode about uncertainty! Thank you, Lucca a...

When we pay to eliminate things, we pay for time and peace of mind. What are some ways you have used money to subtract things from your life? Show Notes: Chris Janson- Buy Me a Boat “Having money isn't everything, not having it is.” ― Kanye West Happiness Through Subtraction by The Madfientist  Nassim Nicholas Taleb defines Via Negativa as, “The principle that we know what is wrong with more c...

In 2019, I moved into “Mummy Daddy”’s House to save BIG for my retirement. I recently got into FIRE and was looking for a way to cut down on housing costs while living in the Bay Area.  Though I was on the fast track to early retirement, my parents were barely on track for normal retirement. The culprit? A low savings rate. My parents spent too much money on things they did not care about. The wou...

If you are finding yourself in an uncertain situation and wondering how to deal with uncertainty, this is the episode for you. Sammie and Michelle reflect on how uncertain life still feels in 2024 and share tips they've been using to deal with uncertainty. Show Notes: The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People  by Stephen Covey  Seven Ways to Cope with Uncertainty  by Christine Carter The Work of...

If dependency is not a bad word, nobody told Michelle and me. Since we were children our mom has implanted us with the mantras: “You must be independent”, “Never depend on a man”, etc.  Immigration to the United States of America probably self-selects for the most independent-minded people and we were brought up in an entire family of freedom lovers.  Independence has served us well. We were eager...

What can the dying teach us about how to live our lives? This week we replay our episode with Doc G, a hospice doctor, who wrote the book Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctor's Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life .  Our conversation with Doc G inspired me to think about how I am living my life. I stumbled upon this article I wrote last year on my blog ....

I remember reading Shonda Rhimes's Year of Yes shortly after moving to San Francisco. In the book, Rhimes discusses how she spent a year saying yes to every invitation, request, and opportunity to play with her children that came her way. She found the experience brought her so much joy as well as new friendships and opportunities. What did I feel when I read this book? Guilt.  I felt guilty...

What if you could change from the negative to the positive without changing anything about your circumstances? No, this is not a multi-level marketing scheme! The key is changing our perspective. I remember when I was in my early twenties I would rarely have more than a few hundred dollars and I never felt any scarcity about this. When I think back on this I’m shocked. A flat tire, a broken arm, a...

Here are the 5 parasocial relationships I have decided to surround myself with:  At Home with Byron Katie Podcast Tony Robbins Podcast  Eckhart Tolle: Essential Teachings Audiobooks, currently Not Nice and Map of Consciousness  Oprah's Super Soul Podcast Check out the HYPRfocus Podcast by our previous guest Harris! If you like self-optimization and hearing inspiring stories about other people...

Law of Attraction is a great way to start visualizing and manifesting your dreams. However, sometimes we are blocking ourselves without even realizing it. Sammie and Michelle dive into Law of Attraction, how to clearly visualize what you want and blockers they ran into.  Show Notes: Legally Blonde The Secret by Rhonda Byrne Jim Carrey interview with Barbara Walters  Finance Friday: Using Student L...

Show Notes: Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab Not Nice by Aziz Gazipura  The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho Community Time Episode 173. Clearing the Mind: Using Byron Katie's Inquiry to Banish Negative Judgements IDR WAIVER EXTENSION: Payment Count Adjustments Toward Income-Driven Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness Programs AirHelp: Partne...

My sabbatical has been a journey inward. I deeply appreciate how we arrive at this “earth school”, Byron Katie’s words, to break the disruptive thought patterns that otherwise play out repeatedly. For many years, I’ve enjoyed meditation in calming the mind and recognize thought patterns, but sometimes I need a little extra help when I am deep in my emotions.  This is where I have found The Work of...

Michelle and I first heard about taking a sabbatical in 2017 from a woman at Artesa Winery in Sonoma pictured above. This is the first time we had heard of anyone taking a long break from work. The woman, of Indian heritage like us, inspired us by her easygoing approach to life. She mentioned nothing about her previous work life and nothing about plans to return to work. She was simply enjoying ea...

We received this piece entitled “ Millennials want to retire by 60. Good luck with that. ” from Michael, a listener of this podcast who wanted to know our thoughts. This piece, published in USA Today, reflects the click-bait content that is out there to scare people while not providing guidance on how to make changes.  In this episode, Michelle and I go through this piece and point out the flaws i...

A sabbatical can change our perspective on time and money, changing how we perceive work. Since being on my sabbatical, I now prioritize my time over income. Of course, there may be jobs that provide me with both free time and a solid income, time freedom is the priority. When considering your priorities and options after a sabbatical, here are some key factors to think about: Time: How much time...

This week Michelle and I discuss our insights after reading Same As Ever by Morgan Housel. In Same As Ever, Housel talks about how many things- patterns, behaviors, economic cycles- never change and how these constants can be more interesting than things that evolve.  He quotes Naval Ravikant “In 1,000 parallel universes, you want to be wealthy in 999 of them. You don’t want to be wealthy in the f...

This week we are re-visiting one of our favorite early episodes interviewing Andrew Johnson. Andrew Johnson is know for his guided meditations and hypotherapy sessions. He created the first meditation app ever! Michelle has been a huge fan of Andrew Johnson for years. She regularly uses his manifestation meditations and she genuinely feels these meditations helped bring in many of the blessings sh...

When I started calculating my net worth in 2019, I felt like a complete fraud. I had -$164,000 in student loan debt and I knew I would continue to have this debt until my student loan forgiveness period is completed in April 2025. Previously, I also assumed that my net worth would be negative until the loans were forgiven. This is where I was completely wrong.  As I started tracking I found that w...

When Michelle and I heard that James Clear, author of the renowned book Atomic Habits , launched Atoms, a habit-tracking app, we had to try it for ourselves. Michelle and I are HUGE fans of James Clear, to the point where Michelle may have had a less-than-wholesome dream about him ;). (ahahaha that’s what happens when you let me write the newsletter, Michelle!) He is the captain of our generation’...

Michelle and I often talk about the “ FI Number” : your annual spending x 25. This is the amount of money you need in your nest egg to retire [based on the Trinity study , see show notes]. By retire, we mean you can live off this amount forever assuming you take a 4% withdrawal every year for your annual spending.  Knowing my FI number helped me set a goal that I could move toward, but knowing the...

In this episode, Michelle and I discuss knowing two numbers, (1) monthly spending and (2) net worth, provides a great framework for understanding how much money we have available for our sabbatical. We also talk about two additional numbers, (3) FI number and (4) Coast FI number, that help create a clear picture of what our financial situation looks like relative to our overall spending needs.  We...

The average adult makes 35,000 decisions a day. This tasks our willpower which slowly depletes throughout the day. Many of these little decisions waste our time and our decision-making bandwidth. Reducing decision fatigue helps us be more productive and reach our goals.  Here are some strategies to combat decision fatigue: Create Structure : Group or batch routine tasks together. By doing similar...

If you've ever wondered if there is an alternative to the traditional corporate life, this episode is for you! Sammie and Michelle had the great pleasure of interviewing Paul Millerd, author of The Pathless Path. We are sharing this episode again because this conversation had a huge impact on us and our listeners. Since we originally aired this episode, Sammie is on the Pathless Path now!  Pa...

If you want to save money but are afraid of being cheap, this episode is for you. Sammie and Michelle delve into why being cheap is considered bad but frugal is not. They look at the characteristics of cheap people and those of frugal people. A big difference is in values, people who know what they value, can say an enthusiastic yes to things they love and no to the things they don't. However...