WEBVTT - Striving for Work-Life Balance #173 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.840 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:25.520 and today we're discussing striving for work life balance. Yeah, Joel, 0:00:25.560 --> 0:00:30.240 the percentage of professional, college educated workers working over fifty 0:00:30.400 --> 0:00:34.040 hours a week and that has dramatically increased over the 0:00:34.040 --> 0:00:36.599 past few decades. And I think this is something our 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:38.760 listeners can resonate with as well. I'm sure there have 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:41.479 been times in everyone's life where you you feel like 0:00:41.479 --> 0:00:44.080 you're just working way too much, and so I think 0:00:44.120 --> 0:00:46.000 it's great that we're gonna discuss some of the things 0:00:46.200 --> 0:00:49.120 that can lead to over working in that imbalance in 0:00:49.159 --> 0:00:51.199 our work life balance, as well as things that we 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:53.080 can do to fix that as well. Yeah, for sure, 0:00:53.080 --> 0:00:54.840 I think it's gonna be a great conversation. I'm looking 0:00:54.880 --> 0:00:57.120 forward to it. But Matt, before we get to that, 0:00:57.520 --> 0:00:58.840 you just got a new bike for your little five 0:00:58.880 --> 0:01:00.720 year old and it looks pretty sweet. Tell me more 0:01:00.720 --> 0:01:03.160 about it. It It is very sweet, man. Yeah, Well, so Clover, 0:01:03.360 --> 0:01:06.240 she has been really into biking, Like she rides like 0:01:06.280 --> 0:01:08.320 we have a little balance bike that we only keep 0:01:08.319 --> 0:01:11.000 inside the house. It's like this, it stays clean, it's 0:01:11.000 --> 0:01:12.520 really light weight, and we're like, no, you can't take 0:01:12.520 --> 0:01:14.720 that bike outside, but she rides it all the time 0:01:14.760 --> 0:01:17.399 inside and need somewhere outside. She also loves riding on 0:01:17.400 --> 0:01:19.600 the balance bike, and so you know, we thought for 0:01:19.640 --> 0:01:22.600 her birthday, she like, she's a perfect candidate for you know, 0:01:22.640 --> 0:01:25.160 stepping it up to the next level, skipping the training 0:01:25.160 --> 0:01:27.240 wheels and going with this fancy bike that I came 0:01:27.280 --> 0:01:29.280 across a few years ago. It's it's by this company 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:31.440 called Womb. Well, I will say to the whole reason 0:01:31.480 --> 0:01:35.000 behind balanced bikes, the purposes to skip training wheels all together. Yeah, exactly. 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:36.840 There are a lot of arguments out there that say that, 0:01:36.920 --> 0:01:39.080 I mean, the balance is the hardest part, so it 0:01:39.120 --> 0:01:41.559 can be a lot easier for folks to skip training 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:43.759 wheels all together and goes straight to like a big 0:01:43.840 --> 0:01:45.959 kid bike. Like I mentioned though, So womb is this 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:48.680 company that came across a few years ago, and they 0:01:48.720 --> 0:01:52.200 make bikes specifically for like little kids. The center of 0:01:52.200 --> 0:01:54.480 gravity is really low to the ground and the little cranks, 0:01:54.480 --> 0:01:56.360 you know, like they got their little feet pedaling. They're 0:01:56.400 --> 0:01:58.640 also really short so that the you know, their feet 0:01:58.680 --> 0:02:00.480 are always close to the ground in case they need 0:02:00.520 --> 0:02:02.120 to kind of set their feet down for like a 0:02:02.200 --> 0:02:04.720 quick stop they've just thought through all these different design 0:02:04.800 --> 0:02:08.560 decisions with like a little kid writer in mind. But 0:02:08.680 --> 0:02:11.640 here's the thing, man, these bikes are not cheap. Like 0:02:11.680 --> 0:02:14.600 this is not a frugal or cheap segment. This is 0:02:14.639 --> 0:02:18.640 more like a splurge segment of our show, because like, 0:02:18.720 --> 0:02:21.000 these bikes can cost a few hundred bucks for the 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:23.959 little ones, like for the littlest ones, and I will 0:02:24.000 --> 0:02:26.800 say I was a little bit more frugal this particular company. 0:02:26.880 --> 0:02:29.120 They have a a nice eBay store where they do 0:02:29.200 --> 0:02:31.399 sell some used ones, they don't have a ton of them, 0:02:31.639 --> 0:02:34.160 and so that's where we actually purchased hours for Clover. 0:02:34.639 --> 0:02:36.120 But I think it's good for us to to talk 0:02:36.160 --> 0:02:39.000 about this because we talk about biking a lot, right, 0:02:39.040 --> 0:02:41.080 Like it's something that you and I that we both value. 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.400 It's something that I want to see, you know, as 0:02:43.440 --> 0:02:46.200 part of my family culture. And yes, these little bikes 0:02:46.240 --> 0:02:49.600 are pretty expensive. But what I'm specifically looking for is 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:51.520 is for you know, my kids to have a great 0:02:51.560 --> 0:02:53.760 experience as they learn how to ride bikes. So that 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:57.120 is something that they can take to a little more easily, 0:02:57.240 --> 0:02:59.240 right than if they were to you know, pick up 0:02:59.320 --> 0:03:02.200 that secondhand uffe which we have picked up literally on 0:03:02.240 --> 0:03:03.600 the side of the road. Like, I've got three or 0:03:03.639 --> 0:03:06.880 four bikes in our cross base in our basement because folks, 0:03:07.000 --> 0:03:08.120 I mean, they toss them out and it's like, oh, 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:10.600 this is a great, perfectly fine bike, but in fact 0:03:10.639 --> 0:03:13.240 they're crazy heavy. You know that these wound bikes are 0:03:13.240 --> 0:03:15.840 really lightweight. They're not designed for new riders in mind, 0:03:15.880 --> 0:03:17.240 like and a lot of times too, they have the 0:03:17.240 --> 0:03:20.720 coaster break, which you know kid bikes in the US 0:03:20.800 --> 0:03:23.800 they're required to have a coaster break. But again there's 0:03:23.800 --> 0:03:26.560 all these reports talking about how like that is a 0:03:26.639 --> 0:03:29.880 more difficult way for a kid to stop the bike 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:32.519 because it puts them off balance. And so all of 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:35.320 their bikes they have actual handbrakes. Uh, start teaching them 0:03:35.360 --> 0:03:37.120 from an early age that that is how you stop 0:03:37.160 --> 0:03:39.200 the bike. Yeah, that's great, And I think it's always 0:03:39.240 --> 0:03:41.080 good for us to be able to share the ways 0:03:41.120 --> 0:03:43.960 in which we have spent more money and potentially regretted it, 0:03:44.000 --> 0:03:47.200 and then and then the ways in which we've spent 0:03:47.240 --> 0:03:49.600 more money and we feel like it's really paid off. 0:03:49.640 --> 0:03:51.760 And it sounds like this bike for Clover has been 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.840 just this step up from the balance bike, and then 0:03:54.920 --> 0:03:58.400 she's really enjoying bike riding, and she loves it, like literally, 0:03:58.440 --> 0:04:00.560 I mean, it's been raining a lot recently, but every 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:03.000 stinking day after school she wants to go outside and 0:04:03.080 --> 0:04:05.080 ride her bike. And I'm like, oh, I'm sorry, it's 0:04:05.080 --> 0:04:06.960 been raining for like five days in a row. We 0:04:07.000 --> 0:04:09.320 can't go out again. But no joke. When we first 0:04:09.360 --> 0:04:11.240 got it, it took her two or three minutes to 0:04:11.280 --> 0:04:13.960 get started riding on that thing. And you could not 0:04:14.040 --> 0:04:16.559 have seen me smiling any bigger than you know, seeing 0:04:16.560 --> 0:04:18.440 one of my kids ride a bike, ride a big 0:04:18.480 --> 0:04:20.760 kid bike for the first time ever. I was so proud, 0:04:20.839 --> 0:04:23.920 so happy, And it's totally worth the money when that happens, right, Yes, 0:04:24.600 --> 0:04:27.040 that's a great investment right there, And truly is I mean, 0:04:27.040 --> 0:04:29.680 we we we I'm kind of finicky about using the 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:33.080 word investment, but really I really only want to use 0:04:33.120 --> 0:04:34.560 it and when I'm talking about something that is going 0:04:34.600 --> 0:04:36.800 to pay off in the end. Uh, And we use 0:04:36.880 --> 0:04:40.360 investment about buying couches or just stupid stuff that actually 0:04:40.400 --> 0:04:42.600 isn't really an investment, but but a bike is kind 0:04:42.640 --> 0:04:44.920 of an investment in your kids future for loving biking. 0:04:45.080 --> 0:04:46.920 That's going to save them money in the long term, 0:04:46.960 --> 0:04:49.800 So I think I can use it appropriately in that context. Yeah. Man, 0:04:49.800 --> 0:04:51.680 It's something else that I feel like you could get behind, 0:04:51.880 --> 0:04:54.719 is that this specific bike, it's gonna work for two 0:04:54.720 --> 0:04:56.880 other kids. Like, we've got two more kids who will 0:04:56.960 --> 0:04:59.520 be able to ride on that bike. And so when 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:00.919 you know that you can take a purchase like that 0:05:00.960 --> 0:05:02.960 and stretch it out, you're not just dividing it by 0:05:03.040 --> 0:05:05.159 one kid, You're dividing it by three kids. That is 0:05:05.200 --> 0:05:08.000 a lot of use. And Uh, well, I'll let you 0:05:08.000 --> 0:05:09.520 guys borrow it soon as well, so you can kind 0:05:09.520 --> 0:05:11.280 of get a field for it. Man, sounds good. I'm 0:05:11.600 --> 0:05:14.120 get you on board, all right, Matt, let's talk about 0:05:14.120 --> 0:05:15.920 the beer that we're having on the show today. Our 0:05:15.960 --> 0:05:19.480 friends Waffles on Wednesday. They write a blog about pursuing 0:05:19.480 --> 0:05:21.960 financial independence, and they tossed a beer are away last 0:05:21.960 --> 0:05:23.600 time they were in town. This one's called I learned 0:05:23.600 --> 0:05:26.800 it by watching you, and it's a collaboration by literally 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:30.360 two of our favorite breweries, Burial and Other Half. I've 0:05:30.360 --> 0:05:32.840 been to both breweries, Matt, and I love what these 0:05:32.839 --> 0:05:35.120 guys are pumping out, and I'm excited to try this 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:38.000 one that they've created together with you. Today on the show, 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:39.880 my friend yeah man, and you may have noticed, I'm 0:05:39.920 --> 0:05:42.720 wearing my other half half like I do so often 0:05:42.760 --> 0:05:45.440 these days, step in that swag. I really like that 0:05:45.480 --> 0:05:47.840 brewery man, the other half up in Brooklyn. They're really good, 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:49.960 so good, so good. All right, Matt, let's get onto 0:05:50.000 --> 0:05:51.720 the topic at hand. Today on the show, we're talking 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:54.920 about striving for work life balance. And I will say 0:05:54.920 --> 0:05:57.080 that work life balance, well, it's it's not really the 0:05:57.080 --> 0:06:01.039 most popular term when we're discussing this topic anymore. You know. 0:06:01.080 --> 0:06:04.160 We had author Kurt Steinhorst on recently, and he prefers 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:07.040 to discuss how you can integrate the worlds of work 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:09.520 and life. So he's talking about work life integration and 0:06:09.560 --> 0:06:12.400 I understand that. I understand why he's choosing those terms instead, 0:06:12.720 --> 0:06:16.880 but I still appreciate the desire to achieve work life 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.400 balance in our lives, and I think striving for balance 0:06:19.440 --> 0:06:21.919 in and of itself it takes effort, right, It's like 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:24.479 pursuing margin, And we talked about that the very first 0:06:24.480 --> 0:06:28.040 episode of this year. It feels like we're a salmon, 0:06:28.160 --> 0:06:31.680 like swimming upstream, fighting the current. It's not easy, but 0:06:31.680 --> 0:06:33.839 but it's possible. And I think it's worth making that 0:06:33.920 --> 0:06:36.560 effort because all work and no play, well, it makes 0:06:36.640 --> 0:06:39.800 us really dull. And this effort, well, it might feel 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:42.560 very much like a pendulum at times where we never 0:06:42.680 --> 0:06:45.920 quite hit it exactly right. So while there's not really 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:47.640 any sort of silver bullet, I don't think that we're 0:06:47.640 --> 0:06:49.719 gonna offer up in this episode, Matt when it comes 0:06:49.720 --> 0:06:52.320 to the question of work life balance and how to 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:54.600 find it, we can at least find ways to help 0:06:54.640 --> 0:06:58.080 ourselves achieve more balance, just a greater level of it 0:06:58.120 --> 0:07:00.480 in our everyday lives. Yeah, man, this is something I 0:07:00.680 --> 0:07:03.200 definitely want to make sure that I am striving after myself, 0:07:03.360 --> 0:07:07.200 because in a culture that idolizes work, we find ourselves 0:07:07.279 --> 0:07:10.680 chronically fatigued and exhausted because we give too much of 0:07:10.720 --> 0:07:15.200 ourselves to our work while leaving little left for ourselves 0:07:15.200 --> 0:07:17.800 and for the folks around us. Like most Americans don't 0:07:17.840 --> 0:07:21.080 even take all of their vacation time, and when they do, 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:24.800 they find it impossible to actually stop working. When we 0:07:24.840 --> 0:07:27.880 do that, that that leads to burn out. Burnout can cause 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:31.120 us to make worse decisions, and then oftentimes that causes 0:07:31.200 --> 0:07:33.600 us to become impulsive with our money. So this is 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:35.640 really important stuff for us to talk about. And so 0:07:35.720 --> 0:07:38.239 regardless of the job that you have and what fields 0:07:38.240 --> 0:07:41.240 you're in, I think there is room for more balance 0:07:41.280 --> 0:07:43.480 and striving after that in all of our lives. Yeah, 0:07:43.520 --> 0:07:45.120 all right, so, Matt, let's talk about some of the 0:07:45.200 --> 0:07:48.280 symptoms that someone might be experiencing that would indicate a 0:07:48.360 --> 0:07:51.080 lack of balance in their lives. I feel like I'm 0:07:51.080 --> 0:07:55.800 a doctor or something trying to diagnose somebody right now. 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:58.280 But I think some of these symptoms that we're gonna 0:07:58.320 --> 0:08:00.960 discuss here, well, the ones that you and I've experienced before, 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:04.920 because we're normal human beings that have prioritized work over 0:08:04.960 --> 0:08:08.520 life at different times. Finding that balance is hard to do, 0:08:08.720 --> 0:08:11.000 and and we know these symptoms because there are things 0:08:11.080 --> 0:08:13.280 we've dealt with over time, or maybe we're even dealing 0:08:13.320 --> 0:08:14.920 with now. I mean, let's be honest, you know, like 0:08:15.000 --> 0:08:17.480 launching a podcast and trying to maintain that while we 0:08:17.520 --> 0:08:20.840 have full time jobs, new born children. It's not super easy. 0:08:21.120 --> 0:08:23.480 And so like, these are things that are are kind 0:08:23.480 --> 0:08:25.480 of hitting close to home for us, and so I 0:08:25.480 --> 0:08:26.960 think maybe for both of us, this is a good 0:08:26.960 --> 0:08:28.880 reminder to to keep our eyes open to some of 0:08:28.920 --> 0:08:31.920 these different signs yeah for sure. So all right, those symptoms, 0:08:32.040 --> 0:08:34.760 Let's start with stress. That's an obvious one, right, being 0:08:34.800 --> 0:08:38.160 consistently stressed out, that's a major indicator that we might 0:08:38.200 --> 0:08:41.360 be working too much. And depending on the individual, well, 0:08:41.440 --> 0:08:44.480 this stress can manifest itself in all sorts of ways, 0:08:44.760 --> 0:08:48.280 and that can be debilitating, like an inability to get 0:08:48.360 --> 0:08:50.800 proper sleep every night. So if we find it hard 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:53.160 to rest, what's a good chance that we're working too 0:08:53.240 --> 0:08:56.839 much and enjoying life too little. And stress can leads 0:08:56.840 --> 0:08:59.160 to physical pain as well, that you know, like physical 0:08:59.160 --> 0:09:02.240 being that we actually experience in our bodies, right, like headaches, 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:04.400 that strain that you feel in your neck, like if 0:09:04.400 --> 0:09:05.880 you're sitting there at the office, you know it kind 0:09:05.880 --> 0:09:07.640 of hunched over in your chair, staring at your computer. 0:09:08.240 --> 0:09:10.880 It can have a literal effect on our sumas ability 0:09:11.000 --> 0:09:14.280 to digest food properly, and it even affects our health 0:09:14.280 --> 0:09:16.760 and more serious ways as well, Like it's documented that 0:09:16.880 --> 0:09:20.080 working more than fifty five hours a week that raises 0:09:20.160 --> 0:09:24.000 our risk of heart attack and stroke by a significant amounts. Man, 0:09:24.040 --> 0:09:26.800 this is serious stuff. Yeah, we talk about money, right, 0:09:26.840 --> 0:09:29.520 but money isn't as important as your life. And I 0:09:29.520 --> 0:09:31.920 think when we're super stressed out because we're working too 0:09:32.000 --> 0:09:34.520 much and too much of our faculties, too much of 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:37.160 our focus, too much of our attention is going to 0:09:37.559 --> 0:09:40.680 our everyday nine to five, but it turns into more 0:09:40.760 --> 0:09:43.719 like an eight to seven or something like that, then 0:09:43.880 --> 0:09:46.359 it is going to lead to a lot of unhealthiness. 0:09:46.600 --> 0:09:49.000 And that stuff impacts your wallet, but more than anything, 0:09:49.000 --> 0:09:51.040 it just impacts the way you feel. It impacts the 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.240 way you move through life, and it just makes life 0:09:53.240 --> 0:09:55.160 a whole lot less fun. And so, yeah, I think 0:09:55.160 --> 0:09:57.280 it really is important to talk about this topic from 0:09:57.280 --> 0:09:59.560 a bunch of different angles today. And that leads into 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:02.640 one of the night symptoms that people often experience when 0:10:02.679 --> 0:10:06.120 they're overworked and they're lacking balance, and that's pessimism. Well, 0:10:06.200 --> 0:10:09.280 we tend to have more negative thoughts and respond poorly 0:10:09.360 --> 0:10:11.520 to the good things that we experience when we're overwhelmed 0:10:11.520 --> 0:10:14.240 and overworked. If you kind of find yourself having more 0:10:14.240 --> 0:10:16.360 of a negative outlook in general, well it's time to 0:10:16.480 --> 0:10:19.600 kind of reassess how balance your life currently is. Yeah, 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:21.640 and will not just a sort of negative alok on 0:10:21.720 --> 0:10:25.000 on things. Another sign is just an overall lack of 0:10:25.400 --> 0:10:28.160 the other good and healthy things in our lives. If 0:10:28.320 --> 0:10:31.199 you find yourself cutting back in other areas of your 0:10:31.200 --> 0:10:34.160 life that you know are important, right, then you might 0:10:34.200 --> 0:10:37.760 be working too much, Like maybe you've eliminated exercise from 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:41.280 your weekly routine, or maybe like your relationships are suffering. Right, 0:10:41.520 --> 0:10:45.720 If important healthy habits are consistently missing from your daily life, 0:10:46.160 --> 0:10:48.800 I think that's a key sign that you are in 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:52.240 an imbalanced states. Yeah, these symptoms, well, they can be 0:10:52.280 --> 0:10:54.360 a huge sign that the more that we notice these 0:10:54.360 --> 0:10:57.360 things cropping up in our lives that things just aren't balanced. 0:10:57.480 --> 0:11:00.480 They'll work in life just aren't aligned properly. Yeah, And 0:11:00.520 --> 0:11:02.360 a lot of folks would argue that the sort of 0:11:02.360 --> 0:11:04.720 the main cause for this that it's noble, right, Like 0:11:04.760 --> 0:11:06.720 we're working hard because we're trying to make more money 0:11:06.760 --> 0:11:08.400 because we want to get ahead, like we we're trying 0:11:08.440 --> 0:11:09.960 to set our families up to be in a better 0:11:09.960 --> 0:11:12.440 position down the road. But unfortunately that can mean that 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:14.880 a lot of other areas in our life suffer. Yeah. 0:11:14.880 --> 0:11:17.040 For sure, money plays a huge part in this whole 0:11:17.120 --> 0:11:20.000 discussion about work life balance, and so we'll talk more 0:11:20.040 --> 0:11:22.360 about that in just a second. Right after this break 0:11:31.720 --> 0:11:33.720 al right here, we are back for the break, we're 0:11:33.720 --> 0:11:36.080 talking about how important it is for us to strive 0:11:36.160 --> 0:11:39.360 after work life balance, man. And you know what, I 0:11:39.360 --> 0:11:41.520 think it's important for us to address the fact that 0:11:42.240 --> 0:11:44.360 we talk about side hustles all the time, right, Like 0:11:44.360 --> 0:11:47.240 we talk about working hard to get ahead, and so 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:51.480 how does suggesting more work help you to achieve greater balance? Right? Yeah, 0:11:51.480 --> 0:11:52.920 Matt and Jewel are always trying to give me to 0:11:52.920 --> 0:11:54.959 work more to make more money. What's up with that? 0:11:55.920 --> 0:11:57.640 And now here we are talking about work life balance. 0:11:57.679 --> 0:11:59.720 But I think it's important for us to talk about 0:11:59.760 --> 0:12:01.800 side hustles and trying to make more on the side, 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:05.200 and fact that side hustles are not for everyone. You 0:12:05.280 --> 0:12:08.000 might be currently tapped out with what you are already doing, 0:12:08.080 --> 0:12:10.240 and so if that's you, starting a side hustle is 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:12.920 probably going to be a bad idea. And then if 0:12:12.920 --> 0:12:15.160 you do start one, If you do have a side hustle, 0:12:15.600 --> 0:12:19.200 do not be afraid to reassess your situation. Is it 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:21.480 actually bringing you closer to your goals? Like do you 0:12:21.480 --> 0:12:23.280 have an actual goal set that you know that you're 0:12:23.320 --> 0:12:27.160 working towards. Oftentimes the perfect side hustle can stem out 0:12:27.200 --> 0:12:29.840 of expanding a hobby and it could allow you to 0:12:29.920 --> 0:12:32.720 replace your full time job. Certainly, for a while you're 0:12:32.760 --> 0:12:36.760 gonna be pulling double duty, right, But eventually, hopefully that 0:12:36.920 --> 0:12:39.040 side hustle might be able to scale up into a 0:12:39.040 --> 0:12:41.640 full fledged business and you can replace that time that 0:12:41.640 --> 0:12:44.040 you're spending at your full time job with this new 0:12:44.120 --> 0:12:47.800 side hustle. We're not necessarily advocating for you to add 0:12:47.840 --> 0:12:51.440 hours that you're spending working to your life. And definitely, yeah, 0:12:51.440 --> 0:12:53.320 and a side hustle is just not for everyone, and 0:12:53.320 --> 0:12:55.600 it's not for everyone at all times. It makes me 0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:58.760 think of our our friend Paul, and he kind of 0:12:58.800 --> 0:13:01.840 worked for this major corporation. He didn't hate it, but 0:13:02.000 --> 0:13:04.640 it wasn't really his jam either, and so he kind 0:13:04.640 --> 0:13:08.120 of started to get into real estate investing, and you know, 0:13:08.160 --> 0:13:10.679 over time, he just found it more interesting and he 0:13:10.720 --> 0:13:12.080 found that he was doing well at it, and so 0:13:12.080 --> 0:13:14.360 he just continued to kind of ramp that up, and 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:16.320 at this point in time he's been able to quit 0:13:16.320 --> 0:13:18.840 his full time job. He does consulting on the side, 0:13:18.880 --> 0:13:20.680 so he is able to go back and work for 0:13:20.720 --> 0:13:23.600 that corporation on his terms and other places too, like 0:13:23.720 --> 0:13:26.720 very right, which is which is a huge benefit and 0:13:26.840 --> 0:13:29.360 his real estate essentially funds his lifestyle, So all that 0:13:29.400 --> 0:13:32.319 consulting stuff, that's just kind of the icing on top 0:13:32.360 --> 0:13:34.199 of the cake. But yeah, if you were to try 0:13:34.240 --> 0:13:36.600 to continue once he reached at certain point of real 0:13:36.679 --> 0:13:40.040 estate to work that full time job as well, I 0:13:40.040 --> 0:13:41.760 think he realized that it would have led to a 0:13:41.840 --> 0:13:44.679 massive imbalance. At some point, something's got to give, right 0:13:44.720 --> 0:13:46.720 and and so yeah, I think that's an important thing 0:13:46.800 --> 0:13:48.920 to note when we're talking about side hustles. At some 0:13:48.960 --> 0:13:50.960 point something has to give, and maybe it's a side 0:13:51.000 --> 0:13:53.160 hustle and maybe it's a day job, but trying to 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:56.240 continue both in perpetuity, that's definitely gonna lead you to 0:13:56.280 --> 0:13:58.160 a place where you're gonna find yourself in a in 0:13:58.200 --> 0:14:01.480 a massive situation of balance. Well, so let's ahead and 0:14:01.480 --> 0:14:03.959 talk about some of the things that can lead to imbalance, 0:14:04.000 --> 0:14:06.000 that can lead to us over working when it comes 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.760 to work in our life. And you touched on this 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.280 with Paul a little bit, but when someone doesn't know 0:14:11.720 --> 0:14:13.840 why they are working, right, Like we talked about the 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:16.079 why behind our money, If you don't know why you're 0:14:16.080 --> 0:14:19.480 doing what you're doing, that can seriously lead to overwork. 0:14:20.120 --> 0:14:23.040 Not having a mission statement can lead to that imbalance. 0:14:23.520 --> 0:14:27.280 You might feel conflicted consistently by how you are spending 0:14:27.320 --> 0:14:29.920 your time if you do not have a clear direction. 0:14:29.960 --> 0:14:32.000 It sounds like with Paul, perhaps he was looking for 0:14:32.080 --> 0:14:34.160 a little more flexibility when it came to his time, 0:14:34.520 --> 0:14:36.680 or even a slightly different challenge when it came to 0:14:36.720 --> 0:14:38.880 his work. For everyone out there, it's going to be 0:14:39.000 --> 0:14:41.760 something different. But it's hard to know what your why 0:14:42.120 --> 0:14:45.280 is if you haven't taken some time to consider what 0:14:45.320 --> 0:14:47.920 it is that you truly want your life to look like. Yeah, 0:14:48.000 --> 0:14:50.640 so really, I guess the marching orders when you hear 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:53.400 something like that is to find out what your why 0:14:53.600 --> 0:14:57.320 is spend some time because oftentimes I think, Matt, you're right, 0:14:57.320 --> 0:14:59.880 like we're we're looking at someone else's why. We're living 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:02.800 life according to somebody else's terms and kind of what 0:15:02.880 --> 0:15:06.360 they think is important, and we as individuals need to 0:15:06.440 --> 0:15:09.080 do some soul searching to figure out what what it 0:15:09.160 --> 0:15:11.560 is that we want our life to look like, and 0:15:11.600 --> 0:15:15.040 that might involve big changes like moving or downsizing. But 0:15:15.200 --> 0:15:18.240 when we can identify our goals and then reframe our 0:15:18.320 --> 0:15:21.240 work as a means to achieve those goals, then I 0:15:21.240 --> 0:15:23.400 think we're on the right track. Yeah, And if you 0:15:23.440 --> 0:15:25.720 don't identify your why, it's gonna be really easy for 0:15:25.760 --> 0:15:28.320 your boss or if your company to identify that thing 0:15:28.360 --> 0:15:30.680 for you. Right, Because, like I mean, we live in 0:15:30.720 --> 0:15:34.240 a culture, like an American culture, where achievement and you know, 0:15:34.280 --> 0:15:37.760 getting ahead, that's kind of the defaults. And while those 0:15:37.840 --> 0:15:41.760 can be great things, if left unchecked, those things can 0:15:42.000 --> 0:15:43.600 kind of ruin the rest of our life. It can 0:15:43.600 --> 0:15:45.680 cut them up, Yes, exactly. I think if it as 0:15:45.760 --> 0:15:48.640 like this flame, this fire, right, a camp fire is 0:15:48.680 --> 0:15:51.720 this beautiful, wonderful thing when it's sitting there where it's 0:15:51.720 --> 0:15:54.160 supposed to be, you know, like the bear wants it 0:15:54.520 --> 0:15:56.280 exactly where the kids can sit there and they've got 0:15:56.320 --> 0:15:58.480 their smores, right, But if that fire gets out of 0:15:58.480 --> 0:16:01.040 that firing, well, then it's a se reous problem. So 0:16:01.080 --> 0:16:02.520 I think it can be helpful for us to view 0:16:02.840 --> 0:16:06.400 achievement in getting ahead through that lens. Only you can 0:16:06.440 --> 0:16:11.400 prevent achievement fires. Right, So we're going with that, Okay, perfect, 0:16:11.440 --> 0:16:14.320 all right. So another root cause that can really lead 0:16:14.320 --> 0:16:17.440 to a good amount of work life and balance is 0:16:17.800 --> 0:16:21.240 out of control spending. It's not having our finances in order. Finally, 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:24.600 we're talking about money, it's in the title of the podcast, like, 0:16:24.640 --> 0:16:26.600 we should get to that a little bit sooner, but yeah, 0:16:26.720 --> 0:16:29.640 we're we're there now, so out of control spending truly 0:16:29.680 --> 0:16:31.720 can force us to work more than we want to, 0:16:31.920 --> 0:16:34.400 and that's a real problem, racking up debt, buying more 0:16:34.400 --> 0:16:37.400 stuff that means being forced to up our income. Man, 0:16:37.480 --> 0:16:40.120 we I hate hearing about that, Matt, where the where 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.240 people have essentially pigeonholed themselves in the corner by racking 0:16:43.320 --> 0:16:46.120 up credit card debt because they found curbing their spending 0:16:46.160 --> 0:16:48.600 to be just too difficult. And I know it's easier 0:16:48.600 --> 0:16:50.920 said than done, right, we talked about it a lot, 0:16:51.160 --> 0:16:53.400 but it is something that we have to do if 0:16:53.400 --> 0:16:55.080 we do want more of a work life balance, if 0:16:55.120 --> 0:16:57.680 we don't want to have to work more to fund 0:16:57.680 --> 0:16:59.800 our lifestyle, well then we need to have a simpler 0:16:59.800 --> 0:17:01.920 life style, that's right. And so the solution here is 0:17:02.000 --> 0:17:04.639 to create and stick to a budget, which, like you said, 0:17:04.720 --> 0:17:07.199 easier said than done for a lot of people. If 0:17:07.200 --> 0:17:09.960 you're in bad shape, get some help and some accountability, 0:17:10.080 --> 0:17:12.440 Like do not let the reason for your work life 0:17:12.440 --> 0:17:16.480 imbalance be that you are consistently spending more than you make. 0:17:16.680 --> 0:17:19.280 We are actually gonna do an episode on Budgets next week, 0:17:19.359 --> 0:17:21.280 so you can look forward to that one showing up 0:17:21.280 --> 0:17:24.119 in your podcatchers soon. I'm at the edge of my 0:17:24.160 --> 0:17:27.399 seat right now. It's gonna be a good one, yeah, man. 0:17:27.400 --> 0:17:28.840 And I think another root cause that we need to 0:17:28.880 --> 0:17:32.879 discuss that leads to a work life imbalance is difficulty 0:17:33.040 --> 0:17:36.400 actually working. You might be on the clock, but constant 0:17:36.400 --> 0:17:39.679 distractions could be keeping you from working efficiently on the 0:17:39.680 --> 0:17:42.320 good stuff. And you're not the only one that has 0:17:42.320 --> 0:17:44.720 this issue either. It takes an average of twenty three 0:17:44.800 --> 0:17:49.960 minutes for an individual to refocus after getting distracted. Believes 0:17:50.000 --> 0:17:53.240 that as someone who works from home, I'm pretty sure 0:17:53.240 --> 0:17:55.280 it takes me that long to like fully get back 0:17:55.320 --> 0:17:58.000 into the groove. Yes, completely. If you're distracted from a 0:17:58.040 --> 0:18:00.920 specific task you're working on by any mail or your 0:18:00.920 --> 0:18:04.159 phone buzzing in your pocket, or just a coworker coming in, 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:05.959 you know how hard it is to get re engaged 0:18:06.000 --> 0:18:08.720 in that task that you were working hard at. So 0:18:09.160 --> 0:18:10.960 how do we tahle this, Well, we have to make 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:14.240 changes so that we can actually get the things accomplished. 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:16.879 Then we need to get accomplished instead of just quote 0:18:16.920 --> 0:18:21.280 unquote like being at work, having our work day dictated 0:18:21.520 --> 0:18:25.120