Kaizen My Life.
/The last blog post I wrote was on December 31, 2020. It’s now 2022. A whole year and some change has passed.
What’s interesting is that the same content that I wrote about at the end of 2020 is essentially what brought me back to my blog today. As I was reading the post, I realized that I have some of the same feelings that I wrote about over a year ago.
Don’t get me wrong, a lot has happened since I wrote it. 2021 was hands down the most accomplished year of my life. In the last year, I:
Grew and birthed a whole baby (who is now 4.5 months old)
Planned a trip with my husband for 600+ people to travel to Punta Cana, DR
Saved and invested over $100k on our path to financial independence
Gave over $30k to nonprofit organizations
Traveled once a month for the first six months of the year
So why do I feel like I’m in the same place as last year when I’ve accomplished so many AMAZING things?!
I think what I’m struggling with is the fact that I have such limited time to choose what I want to do. Even when I attempt to Make Room for the things that are important to me, it always seems like there aren’t enough hours in the day. Or that I’m typically too tired from working a full work day to have the energy to spend on those things. And of course, that has only amplified since I became a parent.
That’s what it is. Lack of choice and freedom.
As an Enneagram 7, my basic desire is to be satisfied and content - to have my needs fulfilled. My key motivations are to want to maintain my freedom and happiness, to avoid missing out on worthwhile experiences, and to keep myself excited and occupied.
Currently, I spend 40 hours a week working a job that, honestly, is a good job with a really good company that gives me tons of flexibility; but also, one that I feel is preventing me from doing the things that I really want to do. One that doesn’t always allow me to show up as my authentic self. One of necessity and obligation that limits me to evenings, weekends, or PTO and flex days to do the things I truly desire. I feel like I’m missing out on so many worthwhile experiences because I spend most of my days doing something that pays my bills but doesn’t necessarily bring me joy.
The concept of trading my time for money is one that just doesn’t sit right with me. Once I discovered the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) I feel like I finally discovered the solution to all my problems. I’ve always had the “Work Smarter, not Harder” mentality but what if I could not work at all?! My husband and I have been on the journey to financial freedom for a few years now and I think that’s what makes it even harder to go (upstairs) to work everyday. I know what my dream life looks like, I have a plan to get there, I’m just not there yet. Having a solid plan to one day be able to be work-optional is extremely empowering, but knowing it will still take years to get to is a little frustrating.
I was listening to a podcast the other day and heard something that really stuck with me.
One of my favorite podcasters, Jamila Souffrant (Journey to Launch podcast), was being interviewed on a different podcast about her journey towards financial independence (FI). She spoke about how for her discovering FI was a gift and a curse. The idea of leveraging your income to achieve this goal is exciting, but also, when you become aware of this other way of life, it’s hard not to imagine what your life future life could look like which could cause you to get annoyed with everything in your current situation.
Her advice to listeners was this:
“Don’t make your situation your enemy…Make peace with where you are…You might think that quitting your job is going to solve all your problems and it won’t.”
“Get your mind right about where you are now. Give gratitude to the job that you have that is paying your bills, hopefully IT IS paying your bills. Really lean into that and see the positives of where you are because you don’t want to make it an enemy.”
I’m not going to lie, part of me was a little annoyed to hear her say this. Especially because she had already quit her job a few years ago to become an entrepreneur and work on her passion project.
The other part of me was kind of intrigued. I’ve really had this mindset that quitting my job was THE ANSWER. And truthfully I can’t say that she has convinced me otherwise but her words made me really take some time to reflect. Here are some thoughts that came to mind.
“Don’t make your situation your enemy.”
There are so many good things about the situation I’m currently in. Because I work from home, I get to spend every second I’m not working with my son and my husband, who also works from home. My job creates an environment where I can be a mom and employee and not have to choose between the two. My income allows me to save and invest at a very high rate to help me achieve my goals. Although, we have a few years until we reach our financial independence goal, my current situation is in no way bad or toxic, and is in fact, pretty ideal and I should treat it as such. (I’m still going to post on Instagram every chance I get about how ghetto working is lol.)
“Make peace with where you are.”
I’m not where I want to be but I am well on my way. I have to remember to balance the desires for my future with gratitude for my past and present. I’m extremely blessed and have to make sure not to rob myself of experiencing joy in every period of this journey.
“You might think that quitting your job is going to solve all your problems and it won’t.”
Again, I’m still not 100% convinced on this one but it got me thinking… maybe there’s a mindset shift that needs to happen. Maybe there’s another way to get what I’m aiming for without spending the next 13 years saving and investing aggressively to “retire early” at the age of 45. Maybe I have more freedom and choice than I think. Maybe instead of focusing on the end goal, I need to assess what I have control over today. Start small. Make incremental changes. Kaizen my way to the life I truly want to live. Isn’t that what this blog is all about anyway?!