WEBVTT - Personal Mission Statements with $Pro Scott Rieckens #054 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.960 Welcome to How to Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:06.520 and today we're discussing creating a personal mission statement with 0:00:06.640 --> 0:00:29.360 money Pro Scott Rickens. Joel money Pro, you would explain 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:31.160 to our listeners, but this is all about Yeah. So 0:00:31.240 --> 0:00:33.680 this is a new show that we're putting out once 0:00:33.720 --> 0:00:35.919 a week, and we thought it would be really interesting 0:00:36.000 --> 0:00:38.960 to bring together some of the finest personal finance minds 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:41.479 from around the nation and some of them around the world, 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:44.320 to to bring onto the show to discuss the topic 0:00:44.400 --> 0:00:47.199 that they're passionate about, that they're an expert on, and 0:00:47.200 --> 0:00:48.800 then you and I were going to kind of unpack 0:00:48.880 --> 0:00:50.199 some of the things that they have to share with 0:00:50.240 --> 0:00:53.000 our audience. I think it's just gonna be a really neat, interesting, 0:00:53.360 --> 0:00:56.280 kind of different way to get a super relevant personal 0:00:56.280 --> 0:00:58.680 finance topic out there for our listeners. But before we 0:00:58.720 --> 0:01:00.600 get to that, Matt, I want to tell you about 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:03.320 a historical event that I had never known existed until 0:01:03.440 --> 0:01:05.360 just the other day. Yeah, so you dropped this down 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.280 and I have never heard of it either, so I'm 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:10.160 excited to hear man. Okay, So, there was this thing 0:01:10.160 --> 0:01:14.440 called the London beer Flood of eighteen fourteen, we talked 0:01:14.480 --> 0:01:16.000 about beer on our show. We drink a beer on 0:01:16.040 --> 0:01:18.560 our show, and I just thought, London beer flood, that's 0:01:18.560 --> 0:01:20.360 something I have to tell everyone about. Just I didn't 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:23.000 know anything about it until recently. And so it happened 0:01:23.160 --> 0:01:27.160 in eighteen fourteen in London, and there was I gathered 0:01:27.160 --> 0:01:30.520 that from the title, right, the London beer flood. And 0:01:30.560 --> 0:01:32.760 so there was a huge vat that had a hundred 0:01:32.800 --> 0:01:37.240 and thirty five thousand imperial gallons of beer ruptured and 0:01:37.240 --> 0:01:39.240 it caused all the other vats of beer in the 0:01:39.280 --> 0:01:43.119 same building to also rupture. Domino effect, right, Yes, so 0:01:43.280 --> 0:01:47.280 there were over three hundred and twenty three thousand imperial 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:49.880 gallons of beer that gushed into the streets. It was 0:01:49.960 --> 0:01:54.600 a true tidal wave of beer that destroyed homes, crumbled walls, 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:59.560 and actually killed multiple people. Uh. Yeah, beer should not 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:01.920 be used for death. Let mean, come on, if that's 0:02:01.920 --> 0:02:04.280 how you're gonna go, though, that's a good point, right, 0:02:04.400 --> 0:02:05.800 that's a good point. If I was going to go, 0:02:05.880 --> 0:02:09.079 I would choose beer flood. But but yeah, sadly people 0:02:09.120 --> 0:02:11.520 were were killed in the flood back in fourteen. But 0:02:11.639 --> 0:02:13.960 just kind of a crazy thing to think about that 0:02:14.000 --> 0:02:15.920 stuff like that happened back then and it was a 0:02:15.919 --> 0:02:19.800 different time and obviously just huge bats of beer just 0:02:19.880 --> 0:02:22.919 randomly rupturing at times, and it's just an interesting story. 0:02:22.960 --> 0:02:24.560 I thought, Yeah, I love that. Man. It sounds like 0:02:24.600 --> 0:02:26.000 it's sort of a made up thing, right, like you 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:28.320 hear like small town is getting engulfed by whatever it 0:02:28.400 --> 0:02:30.399 is that they that one small town happens to make. 0:02:30.919 --> 0:02:32.959 And uh, but I love that this is a real 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:34.600 thing that happened. But I want to know, is what 0:02:34.720 --> 0:02:37.560 exactly is an imperial gallon. That's a good question. I 0:02:37.600 --> 0:02:39.960 don't know either. I know that just mean British, like 0:02:40.280 --> 0:02:42.720 it must like a British gallon, but I know that 0:02:42.919 --> 0:02:45.760 an imperial pint is twenty ounces versus an American point, 0:02:45.800 --> 0:02:47.240 which is sixteen ounces. I was shut up. So it 0:02:47.280 --> 0:02:49.040 was actually more than that. I'm imagining that it was 0:02:49.080 --> 0:02:50.760 more than a regular gallon. But I'm sure one of 0:02:50.760 --> 0:02:52.760 our listeners knows, and they'll shoot us an email and 0:02:52.760 --> 0:02:55.480 and tell us that's right, because our listeners pay attention, 0:02:56.280 --> 0:02:59.840 and we've had multiple folks actually message us about this 0:03:00.080 --> 0:03:03.000 program man called every Kid in a Park, which is 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:06.040 this fantastic program with the National Park Service where every 0:03:06.040 --> 0:03:09.160 fourth grader gets a free pass to go to national 0:03:09.240 --> 0:03:12.600 parks for an entire year, and not just the kid, 0:03:13.080 --> 0:03:16.160 but their entire family. And so this is in response 0:03:16.200 --> 0:03:18.760 to our episode where we did taking advantage of free 0:03:18.760 --> 0:03:21.520 stuff and we talked about getting into national parks, how 0:03:21.560 --> 0:03:23.240 there are certain days in the year where you get 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:25.240 in for free. But you and I, I I guess we 0:03:25.280 --> 0:03:27.640 just weren't pretty overlooked. Yeah. I didn't know about this. Man, 0:03:27.680 --> 0:03:29.800 I don't have a fourth grader yet, so we didn't know. 0:03:29.880 --> 0:03:32.360 And so a couple of our listeners wrote in and 0:03:32.360 --> 0:03:35.600 they were like, you dummies, how did you Yeah? So, yeah, 0:03:35.600 --> 0:03:38.800 we really appreciate anytime we miss something or there's valuable 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:40.680 information for the rest of the audience that we didn't 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:43.320 get to. We'd love to hear your input. We'd love 0:03:43.320 --> 0:03:44.880 for you to reach out to us, because then we 0:03:44.880 --> 0:03:47.640 can let everybody know. So, now, everybody listening, if you 0:03:47.680 --> 0:03:50.240 have a fourth grader, or you have a younger kid 0:03:50.240 --> 0:03:51.920 who's going to be a fourth grader one of these days, 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:54.960 start making plans, make plans to go visit a bunch 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.280 of national parks that year, because you get in for 0:03:57.320 --> 0:04:00.040 free for all three sixty five calendar days of the 0:04:00.080 --> 0:04:01.760 year while your kids a fourth grader. Ye, man, and 0:04:01.800 --> 0:04:04.400 I got three kids, which means that for three years, 0:04:04.400 --> 0:04:05.800 we're gonna be able to go to all the parks 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:12.200 for free. And I was joking that in we got 0:04:12.200 --> 0:04:15.839 plans and one other. I don't know. You could tell 0:04:15.840 --> 0:04:17.839 me whether this is cheaper, frugal or not. But what 0:04:17.920 --> 0:04:20.159 if my youngest when she gets to fourth grade, what 0:04:20.200 --> 0:04:22.680 if I just continually hold her back so that we 0:04:22.720 --> 0:04:24.960 can keep going to national parks for free every year. 0:04:25.160 --> 0:04:27.600 Frugal or cheap? Yeah, cheap, I would I would say 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:30.440 dishonest as well. Okay, all right, I'll avoid that then. 0:04:30.760 --> 0:04:32.800 And there are hundreds of national parks out there. Do 0:04:32.800 --> 0:04:34.120 you have a favorite of all the ones that you've 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:35.600 been to? All Right? So, if I had to pick 0:04:35.720 --> 0:04:38.560 one national park, favorite one that I've been to, that's 0:04:38.560 --> 0:04:41.600 a tough question because they're all so unique. Yeah, there's 0:04:41.600 --> 0:04:43.760 so many, and I've only been a few. But my 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:45.760 favorite at this point in my life has to be 0:04:45.800 --> 0:04:50.479 Glacier National Park. Dude, Yeah, Glacier Glaciers very nice. Mine 0:04:50.560 --> 0:04:53.880 is Yosemite even there twice. Now, my question for you 0:04:53.960 --> 0:04:56.200 is when your oldest is in fourth grade and you 0:04:56.240 --> 0:04:58.320 start going to the parks, are you gonna go straight 0:04:58.320 --> 0:04:59.680 to Glacier? Like, are you the kind of guy that 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.400 goes to your favorite and it's all sort of downhill 0:05:02.440 --> 0:05:04.440 from there or do you kind of like to build 0:05:04.480 --> 0:05:06.760 up to it and sort of say the best for last. 0:05:07.240 --> 0:05:09.720 So I do have a problem with when I travel, 0:05:09.760 --> 0:05:11.640 if I've gone somewhere before, I want to go back 0:05:11.680 --> 0:05:13.960 and do the same things that I enjoyed, so so 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:17.760 that that's definitely like my bent um and I love 0:05:17.800 --> 0:05:20.400 exploring new things, but if I'm anywhere in the vicinity, 0:05:20.440 --> 0:05:22.320 I'm going to choose something that I've done before that 0:05:22.360 --> 0:05:24.159 I if I absolutely loved it, so try to like 0:05:24.200 --> 0:05:26.480 challenge myself to do something else. But I there are 0:05:26.520 --> 0:05:28.240 so many national parks that I haven't been to that 0:05:28.279 --> 0:05:29.960 I don't think I would have any trouble. I mean, 0:05:30.000 --> 0:05:31.240 I want to go to Yellowstone, I want to go 0:05:31.279 --> 0:05:33.560 to Joshua Tree. They are all these racial parts that 0:05:33.640 --> 0:05:36.560 I haven't even visited. So I would definitely like Glacier 0:05:36.760 --> 0:05:38.920 is last on my list for a while. I'd love 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:41.239 to go back someday, but but it's probably like twentieth 0:05:41.279 --> 0:05:42.880 on the list right right, do let's take a how 0:05:42.880 --> 0:05:45.760 the money trip to uh Joshua Tree, because I've never 0:05:45.800 --> 0:05:48.000 been there either, and that's that places awesome I'm in. 0:05:48.320 --> 0:05:50.240 It's awesome in the pictures, that's all I know. So yeah, 0:05:50.320 --> 0:05:52.040 right right, Well I mentioned that because I I'm kind 0:05:52.040 --> 0:05:54.080 of the slow burn kind of guy, and so so 0:05:54.080 --> 0:05:55.560 I think I'm gonna make my family go to like 0:05:55.560 --> 0:05:57.880 all the smaller, crappier national parks and they're gonna be like, 0:05:57.920 --> 0:05:59.960 why are we here? And I'll say, oh, there's a reason, 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:01.640 and you know, we got to build up before we 0:06:01.680 --> 0:06:04.400 get to the Pinnacle National Park, at least my favorite. 0:06:04.440 --> 0:06:06.600 So because you can't handle it yet exactly, you're just 0:06:06.600 --> 0:06:09.000 gonna waste our time. It's not gonna nearly mean nearly 0:06:09.040 --> 0:06:10.800 as much to you if you've only been to like 0:06:10.920 --> 0:06:12.960 the best places. Yeah. I don't know what that says 0:06:13.000 --> 0:06:14.720 about me, but that's just sort of how I see things. 0:06:14.760 --> 0:06:16.240 And so I don't know, we might end up going 0:06:16.240 --> 0:06:18.720 to some of the crappier national parks before we get 0:06:18.760 --> 0:06:20.640 to the really nice ones. That being said, there aren't 0:06:20.680 --> 0:06:23.159 that many crappy national parks, man, They're they're all good. 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:25.200 Have you been Have you been to Alcatraz. I have 0:06:25.279 --> 0:06:27.400 been to Alcatraz, really, yeah, I've never been there. It's 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.040 I think it's technically a national park though, you know. 0:06:29.080 --> 0:06:31.240 And I didn't really want to go to Alcatraz when 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:33.840 I was in San France, but I'm so glad I did. 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:37.200 It was fascinating. Sean Connery is the rock. That's all 0:06:37.200 --> 0:06:39.799 I could pick. Go truly the whole time with Sean Connery. 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:41.960 All right, Matt, onto the beer that we're drinking today, 0:06:42.040 --> 0:06:46.000 Highland Brewing Cold Mountain Winter Warmer. Yeah, technically it says 0:06:46.160 --> 0:06:49.680 legendary spiced Ale. This beer was actually donated to us 0:06:49.839 --> 0:06:52.920 by our friends Clark and Nancy up in Asheville, North Carolina. 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:55.200 They were kind of enough to, yeah, hook us up 0:06:55.200 --> 0:06:57.760 with one of these over Thanksgiving. Actually, we were up 0:06:57.800 --> 0:07:00.760 there visiting, and you know, Clark was my first introduction 0:07:00.800 --> 0:07:03.480 to sort of real estate. He was getting into real estate. 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:05.640 They moved into a triplex right when I had finished 0:07:05.640 --> 0:07:08.800 graduating college, and so Clark hired me to do a 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:11.520 lot of work around his house and getting the place 0:07:11.520 --> 0:07:13.080 fixed up. So I created them with my sort of 0:07:13.120 --> 0:07:16.240 introduction to real estate and specifically house hacking. Oh man, 0:07:16.280 --> 0:07:18.000 it's something else. Too. They do a camping trip over 0:07:18.000 --> 0:07:20.040 the summer, and we need to talk about that because 0:07:20.160 --> 0:07:22.000 they get a bunch of friends together and last year, 0:07:22.040 --> 0:07:24.880 over the fourth of July they got the sweet campsite, 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.240 super cheap vacation. Kids are running around in the woods. 0:07:28.640 --> 0:07:29.920 What do you think? Does that sound a little too 0:07:30.000 --> 0:07:33.720 a little too wild and free? Well, you know how 0:07:33.760 --> 0:07:37.320 I like my all inclusive vacations, Matt, right now, totally kidding, No, 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:39.560 camping sounds so much better than an all inclusive I'm 0:07:39.640 --> 0:07:41.960 I'm totally I totally be down with a camping trip 0:07:42.000 --> 0:07:43.800 with good friends. Yeah, I mean it. So let's dive 0:07:43.800 --> 0:07:45.560 into this beer. What do you think? Yeah, I just 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:47.600 took a sip, Matt and cold Mountain Man. It's kind 0:07:47.600 --> 0:07:50.120 of a tradition in Nashville. This beer gets released every 0:07:50.200 --> 0:07:52.120 year and it's one of the quickest sellers. This period. 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:54.840 Doesn't last on store shelves very long because everyone looks 0:07:54.840 --> 0:07:57.120 forward to it. And that's because it's so interesting and 0:07:57.160 --> 0:08:00.800 it's so the word I'm gonna use distinct nice man. 0:08:01.160 --> 0:08:03.840 My ward will be chewy, and we will share more 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:05.880 of our thoughts on this beer at the end of 0:08:05.880 --> 0:08:08.200 this episode. All Right, Matt, but let's get onto the 0:08:08.240 --> 0:08:10.920 topic at hand, and we're talking about creating a personal 0:08:10.960 --> 0:08:14.080 mission statement. And this is the first episode of what 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:16.800 we hope to be a weekly episode featuring a different 0:08:16.800 --> 0:08:19.240 money pro. And most of these people that we're going 0:08:19.280 --> 0:08:21.720 to be featuring are either our friends or kind of 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:23.840 heroes in the money space, people that we look up 0:08:23.880 --> 0:08:27.800 to and we appreciate their thoughtfulness about money. And Scott Rickens, 0:08:27.840 --> 0:08:29.400 He's gonna be the first money pro that we have 0:08:29.480 --> 0:08:31.520 on and in each of these episodes, we're gonna bring 0:08:31.560 --> 0:08:34.680 them on for five minutes to talk about one subject 0:08:34.679 --> 0:08:36.920 that they're super passionate about, and then you and I 0:08:36.920 --> 0:08:38.719 will kind of break it down, right, we'll give our 0:08:38.760 --> 0:08:40.920 thoughts on kind of what they brought to the table. 0:08:41.160 --> 0:08:43.000 And so I'm really excited. I think this is gonna 0:08:43.000 --> 0:08:45.080 be like just a really fun way to tackle really 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:48.240 interesting and diverse subjects that that other people are really 0:08:48.240 --> 0:08:52.079 passionate about. And Scott so he is a film producer, 0:08:52.120 --> 0:08:55.800 he's a director, filmmaker, and he's had Emmy nominated stuff. 0:08:56.120 --> 0:08:59.680 He does commercial work with Wired with Taylor Guitars. He's 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:02.320 all been to that filmmaking stuff, right, which resonates with 0:09:02.360 --> 0:09:05.120 me right as a photographer. But what we're specifically going 0:09:05.160 --> 0:09:07.760 to talk about is his journey with Fire, which is 0:09:07.840 --> 0:09:11.280 financial independence retire early. Yeah, and Scott stumbled onto this 0:09:11.360 --> 0:09:13.680 movement not too long ago, just a few years ago, 0:09:14.000 --> 0:09:17.200 and it completely changed his life. It up ended his 0:09:17.280 --> 0:09:19.680 life and in a good way though, right, And so 0:09:19.800 --> 0:09:23.839 ever since Scott discovered the idea of financial independence, it's 0:09:23.920 --> 0:09:26.360 changed the way he looks at life really, and that 0:09:26.480 --> 0:09:30.480 led him to creating a full length documentary called Playing 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:34.040 with Fire, as well as a book by the same name, 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:36.920 and he's about to come out with a podcast as well. 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:39.040 So Scott has been hard at work ever since kind 0:09:39.040 --> 0:09:42.320 of figuring out that financial independence could change lives. And 0:09:42.720 --> 0:09:45.840 what I love too about what Scott's doing is in 0:09:45.880 --> 0:09:49.160 the movie and in the book, Scott's really just documenting 0:09:49.600 --> 0:09:53.160 exactly how it has changed his family. So there's so 0:09:53.200 --> 0:09:58.080 many people blogging, writing, talking about the tenants of financial independence, 0:09:58.080 --> 0:09:59.880 and Matt right, we talked about some of those right 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:01.839 year on the show. We try at the same time 0:10:01.840 --> 0:10:04.679 to talk about how it's affecting our lives. And Scott 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:07.920 his book that you and I both devoured very quickly, 0:10:08.280 --> 0:10:10.960 is amazing because it reads more like a diary. You're 0:10:10.960 --> 0:10:13.720 seeing the emotions, You're seeing the way that the idea 0:10:13.720 --> 0:10:16.760 of financial independence affected his relationship with his wife, his 0:10:16.840 --> 0:10:19.360 young daughter, his family as a whole, and the changes 0:10:19.440 --> 0:10:22.120 that it led them to make, and then the financial 0:10:22.240 --> 0:10:25.720 and lifestyle changes that they decided to make based on 0:10:25.760 --> 0:10:29.280 discovering those tenants. So the book, it's called Playing with Fire. 0:10:29.440 --> 0:10:31.480 It is out now, so you can I mean you 0:10:31.480 --> 0:10:33.200 can buy that right now, which is awesome. It's kind 0:10:33.200 --> 0:10:35.240 of cool that something that a friend of ours wrote 0:10:35.640 --> 0:10:38.680 that you can buy and read. And the documentary that 0:10:38.679 --> 0:10:40.439 you mentioned, it'll be out soon. I don't think there's 0:10:40.440 --> 0:10:43.280 a specific date yet, but you can go to Playing 0:10:43.280 --> 0:10:46.000 with Fire dot c o and you can learn all 0:10:46.000 --> 0:10:48.319 about the documentary there, you can learn all about the book, 0:10:48.480 --> 0:10:50.040 or you can just go straight to Amazon and buy it. 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:51.800 But yeah, I love what you said about it being 0:10:51.840 --> 0:10:54.840 sort of a diary, right. It's about their personal journey, 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:57.800 their discovery of fire and financial independence. One of the 0:10:57.800 --> 0:10:59.520 things he said in the book was that he's not 0:10:59.640 --> 0:11:02.360 looking to set a standard or what fires should be, 0:11:02.800 --> 0:11:06.040 but to basically do their part to get people talking 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:09.120 about money in our everyday lives. And that totally resonated 0:11:09.160 --> 0:11:12.120 with me because obviously that's what we like to do, right, Like, 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:14.880 big reason that we have this podcast is because we 0:11:14.960 --> 0:11:17.280 like talking about money. We wanted to be part of 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:20.200 our our daily conversation. It needs to be something that 0:11:20.320 --> 0:11:22.520 is a common topic, not something that you only talk 0:11:22.600 --> 0:11:24.840 about with HR when you're deciding how much you know 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:27.080 you're gonna set aside towards your four ohn k. It 0:11:27.080 --> 0:11:28.760 needs to be something we talk about with our friends 0:11:28.760 --> 0:11:31.839 and with our families. Yeah, Matt, And when reading his book, 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:34.240 one of my favorite things it stuck out to me 0:11:34.360 --> 0:11:37.600 just instantly, it leapt off the page was Scott's passion 0:11:37.720 --> 0:11:41.000 when he talked about creating a personal mission statement, and 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:43.920 that seemed to change his life in a major way, 0:11:44.080 --> 0:11:46.440 actually putting pen to paper and coming up with a 0:11:46.440 --> 0:11:49.600 personal mission statement of his own. And it's been kind 0:11:49.640 --> 0:11:51.920 of a guiding light for him and for his family. 0:11:52.320 --> 0:11:54.320 And and Matt, you and I, based on based on 0:11:54.360 --> 0:11:57.120 Scot's advice, we've created our own personal mission statements that 0:11:57.120 --> 0:11:59.040 will share later in the show too. Yeah, that's right. 0:11:59.200 --> 0:12:02.120 I'm just excited for Scott to share his his wisdom 0:12:02.160 --> 0:12:05.120 with with our listeners and with us. Yeah, too often 0:12:05.160 --> 0:12:07.720 in life, right, it's like we're just sleepwalking. You know. 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:10.280 Life is sort of more whatever is happening to us, 0:12:10.400 --> 0:12:13.320 versus proactively taking control and feeling like you have a 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:16.360 say in the direction of your future. And so Scott's 0:12:16.360 --> 0:12:19.320 here to change that with his approach to creating uh 0:12:19.360 --> 0:12:21.960 that personal mission statement? All right, Matt, So I'm excited 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:24.640 about this first Money Pro episode with Scott Rickens. We're 0:12:24.640 --> 0:12:26.160 gonna get five minutes with him and then you and 0:12:26.200 --> 0:12:38.680 I will unpack his wisdom right after this break. Okay, 0:12:38.800 --> 0:12:41.280 it's time now to hear from Scott Rickens, and he's 0:12:41.280 --> 0:12:45.640 gonna talk about creating a personal mission statement. Hi, gents, 0:12:45.840 --> 0:12:48.200 Scott Rickens coming at you here from Bend, Oregon, and 0:12:48.240 --> 0:12:52.400 I just cracked a crux fermentation project. Fresh Hop I 0:12:52.520 --> 0:12:56.240 p A. Gets his name Fresh Hops because they pick 0:12:56.360 --> 0:13:00.200 these hops the same day they brew them for maximum freshness. 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:05.920 It's delicious, all right. Being an entrepreneur, I've drafted many 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:08.400 mission statements for various companies that I've started or been 0:13:08.400 --> 0:13:11.520 a part of over the years. They're useful to guide 0:13:11.520 --> 0:13:13.680 you and to know where you're heading as a team 0:13:13.760 --> 0:13:17.200 or as a business. But somehow I had never created 0:13:17.240 --> 0:13:19.959 one for myself, so I'd love to share my thoughts 0:13:19.960 --> 0:13:23.360 on the personal mission statement. I was first introduced this 0:13:23.440 --> 0:13:26.920 concept through Get Rich Slowly as jd. Roth. His post 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:30.880 titled how to write a Personal Mission Statement breaks down 0:13:30.920 --> 0:13:34.120 four steps you can use to get started here. They are, 0:13:34.960 --> 0:13:37.319 what are my lifetime goals? How would I like to 0:13:37.360 --> 0:13:39.920 spend the next five years, how would I live if 0:13:39.960 --> 0:13:42.000 I knew I'd be dead in six months? And my 0:13:42.040 --> 0:13:45.440 most important goals? And we'll review this list in a minute, 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:48.440 but right now, let's talk about why you would do this. 0:13:49.600 --> 0:13:53.040 It helps defind what you're trying to accomplish and why 0:13:53.080 --> 0:13:56.120 you've chosen this pursuit. And I feel this is incredibly 0:13:56.120 --> 0:13:59.280 helpful if you're on a path to financial freedom, fire, 0:13:59.640 --> 0:14:02.840 or really any path you find yourself on. It gives 0:14:02.840 --> 0:14:05.640 you tools to use in the beginning, middle, and end 0:14:05.760 --> 0:14:10.240 of whatever journey you're embarking on. Knowing your what will 0:14:10.280 --> 0:14:13.480 help see the strengths you possess and by default, the 0:14:13.559 --> 0:14:17.720 weaknesses you'll need to account for. Knowing where your weaknesses 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:22.880 lie is a strength. Knowing your why helps define where 0:14:22.920 --> 0:14:25.600 you're heading and how to make decisions to stay on course. 0:14:26.240 --> 0:14:30.360 Think of it as a filter for choices, and this 0:14:30.480 --> 0:14:33.680 framework will help you define your goals more clearly. And 0:14:33.720 --> 0:14:36.960 when you're focused and you know your goals, it's easier 0:14:36.960 --> 0:14:40.800 to start, stay on track, and be prepared when an 0:14:40.800 --> 0:14:45.480 opportunity arises. So when I sat down to do the exercise, 0:14:45.920 --> 0:14:48.360 I used a few of j D's suggestions and added 0:14:48.360 --> 0:14:51.360 a few of my own. Here's my recommended approach to 0:14:51.400 --> 0:14:55.800 reaching your personal mission statement. First, what are my top 0:14:55.840 --> 0:14:59.800 five most favorite things to do? Two? What are my 0:15:00.440 --> 0:15:03.800 top traits or qualities that are repeatedly noticed by my 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:07.760 close circles? Three? How would I like to spend the 0:15:07.840 --> 0:15:12.360 next five years? Four? How would I live if I 0:15:12.440 --> 0:15:15.800 knew I'd be dead in six months? And finally, what 0:15:15.880 --> 0:15:18.360 are my most important goals to achieve in my lifetime? 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:21.280 And I found it helpful to pull from the answers 0:15:21.320 --> 0:15:25.280 I had generated to formulate the following equation. So it 0:15:25.360 --> 0:15:29.920 starts out with what's your superpower plus who you're creating 0:15:29.960 --> 0:15:35.280 it for plus what's your desired outcome? And that will 0:15:35.360 --> 0:15:39.760 culminate an equal your first draft of your personal mission statement. 0:15:40.680 --> 0:15:42.520 So I thought i'd give you an example of my 0:15:42.600 --> 0:15:45.400 personal mission statement to help you if you end up 0:15:45.440 --> 0:15:49.720 doing this exercise, and I quote, I want to be 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:51.800 present for those who love me and rely on me. 0:15:52.240 --> 0:15:55.000 I want to live a rich, happy and fulfilled life 0:15:55.600 --> 0:15:59.360 and empower others to do the same. Now j D 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:02.000 adds a disc alimor in that blog, and I quote, 0:16:02.520 --> 0:16:07.400 your mission statement isn't permanent. As your priorities and tastes change, 0:16:07.600 --> 0:16:10.880 and as new opportunities present themselves, your mission will adopt 0:16:10.880 --> 0:16:14.840 and grow end quote. I plan to revisit this mission 0:16:14.840 --> 0:16:17.520 statement once a year. Taylor and I have a journal 0:16:17.560 --> 0:16:20.080 we write in every year during our anniversary where we 0:16:20.080 --> 0:16:23.200 answer a series of questions about the previous year. We 0:16:23.320 --> 0:16:25.760 hope our daughter will find value in our answers to 0:16:25.800 --> 0:16:28.840 help guide her through the later years. I plan to 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:33.560 add this personal mission statement exercise to that tradition. Once 0:16:33.600 --> 0:16:36.000 you get comfortable with your mission statement, it's also helpful 0:16:36.000 --> 0:16:40.320 to run a SWAT or Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis. 0:16:41.760 --> 0:16:44.760 What are your greatest strengths, What are your largest weaknesses? 0:16:45.600 --> 0:16:49.360 What opportunities are available to you or are you not 0:16:49.440 --> 0:16:53.640 taking advantage of but should be? What threats currently exist 0:16:54.040 --> 0:16:57.000 to prevent you from reaching your goal? This type of 0:16:57.000 --> 0:17:00.000 clarity will immediately put you in a far better position 0:17:00.080 --> 0:17:04.159 and to set your trajectory in an intentional direction, and 0:17:04.160 --> 0:17:08.439 in my experience, the positive effects are immediate. So I 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:11.239 highly recommend rocking this exercise to get clear about your 0:17:11.280 --> 0:17:15.480 direction and your future. This will help you be more 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:18.679 efficient with your time and provides focus on what you 0:17:18.720 --> 0:17:22.159 want and how to get there. All right, thanks for 0:17:22.240 --> 0:17:24.560 letting me ramble. You guys are doing a killer job. 0:17:25.119 --> 0:17:27.280 Keep up the good work, all right, Matt. First thing 0:17:27.280 --> 0:17:28.879 we have to note is way to go Scott for 0:17:28.920 --> 0:17:31.520 knowing your audience, because drinking a beer on this show 0:17:31.680 --> 0:17:33.520 gets you mad. Points. Yeah, that's how we do it. 0:17:33.560 --> 0:17:35.600 And I think he wanted to uh kind of join 0:17:35.720 --> 0:17:38.760 us in spirit. So he fits in nicely here, doesn't he. 0:17:38.960 --> 0:17:41.640 All right, let's get into the nitty gritty. I love 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:45.880 what Scott said about approaching life like you approach a business, 0:17:45.920 --> 0:17:49.119 because typically businesses, they set out to be successful, and 0:17:49.160 --> 0:17:52.040 anybody who wants to start a successful business comes up 0:17:52.080 --> 0:17:54.960 with a business plan a way of doing things, and 0:17:55.000 --> 0:17:57.560 they're taken seriously because of that. But it's just not 0:17:57.640 --> 0:17:59.600 too often that we do that with our own lives. 0:18:00.040 --> 0:18:02.760 Sometimes we drift. We move away from the things that 0:18:02.760 --> 0:18:05.840 are meaningful to us. We don't apply ourselves towards things 0:18:05.880 --> 0:18:08.640 that actually bring meaning in our lives. And it's not 0:18:08.720 --> 0:18:11.120 because we don't want to. It's not for a lack 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:14.200 of desire, but it is for a lack of intentionality, 0:18:14.240 --> 0:18:16.399 I think, And I think Scott made that point really nicely. 0:18:16.840 --> 0:18:19.359 I couldn't agree more that aspect about being intentional with 0:18:19.400 --> 0:18:23.160 your life. Me naturally, I tend not to be intentional, 0:18:23.200 --> 0:18:25.199 and so to hear that, like, I know that this 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:27.040 is something I need to hear. I know that I 0:18:27.080 --> 0:18:29.359 need to be more intentional with my life because a 0:18:29.440 --> 0:18:31.480 lot of times I do sort of float through life. 0:18:31.560 --> 0:18:34.119 I tend to just accept whatever sort of comes next. 0:18:34.400 --> 0:18:36.480 I think it's just my personality. But sometimes I wonder 0:18:36.560 --> 0:18:39.160 too if it has to do with our schooling, like education, 0:18:39.560 --> 0:18:42.679 because like for years, right, like we go through life 0:18:43.119 --> 0:18:46.280 not having to make the next step intentionally. You just 0:18:46.440 --> 0:18:48.160 get to go to the next grade. And the same 0:18:48.200 --> 0:18:51.000 thing even with college. Sometimes like you graduated high school 0:18:51.040 --> 0:18:53.160 and what's the next step. It's like, oh, by default, 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:55.720 you're gonna go to undergrad and so for you know, 0:18:55.760 --> 0:18:57.959 over twenty years of our life. We're trained and not 0:18:58.040 --> 0:19:00.200 really think about the next steps. That's how I feel, 0:19:00.200 --> 0:19:01.800 at least. The first thing I thought of when you 0:19:01.840 --> 0:19:04.320 said that is kind of the way we watch videos now, 0:19:04.320 --> 0:19:07.000 whether it's YouTube or Netflix. There's auto play, so the 0:19:07.000 --> 0:19:10.040 next video just happens, and you know what, most of 0:19:10.080 --> 0:19:12.840 us don't do anything to stop, and and so you 0:19:12.880 --> 0:19:16.320