Kicking Financial Ass

by Paul Christopher Dumont

  Find your ikigai.

  Helping You Find a Purpose

  It can be hard to determine what your purpose should be. Use this list to get started:

  •Go back to university or college or take online courses that interest you.

  •Learn a new language.

  •Create a bucket list of places you want to travel to and do it. Take time to experience the culture and customs of each country and talk to the locals.

  •Volunteer with an organization.

  •Help the underprivileged.

  •Write a book.

  •Practice public speaking.

  •Pursue a side hustle or spend more time on one you already have.

  •Help others achieve retirement.

  •Give yourself athletic goals like running a marathon, weightlifting, or enroll in a martial arts program.

  •Create a list of books you want to read. Reading all the classics is a great goal.

  •Learn how to dance.

  •Start a blog.

  •Set family goals. Decide what kind of parent or partner you want to be.

  •Conquer a fear you have.

  •Start meditating.

  •Learn to cook.

  Setting Goals

  When finding a purpose for your life, there is a difference between goal setting and goal achievement. Both are important, but setting goals is not enough. You need to achieve them. If you feel blocked, Tim Ferriss recommends writing down the following:

  •One place to visit

  •One thing to do before you die (a memory of a lifetime)

  •One thing to do daily

  •One thing to do weekly

  •One thing you have always wanted to learn

  Set short-term and long-term goals. Write down a specific goal with a specific deadline. If the goal is five years away, set shortterm goals you can achieve while working toward the long-term goal.

  For example, say your goal is running a marathon one year from today. Your short-term goals could be to run once a week for the first month, then twice a week, then a certain distance, and then a distance per month.

  Develop a system where you create little steps on a regular basis that move you toward your desired result. Scott Adams in his book How to Fail at Almost Everything and Still Win Big calls this process “creating systems.”

  “Goal-oriented people exist in a state of continuous pre-success failure at best, and permanent failure at worst if things never work out. Systems people succeed every time they apply their systems, in the sense that they did what they intended to do. The goals people are fighting the feeling of discouragement at each turn. The systems people are feeling good every time they apply their system. That’s a big difference in terms of maintaining your personal energy in the right direction.”

  In the same vein, Tim Ferriss says the key is to set easily attainable goals that you can over deliver on. “Alleviating that performance anxiety… allows you to overshoot that goal, continually succeed, and sort of build that confidence and momentum.” He continues, “The feeling that you’re winning, is a precursor to winning on a really large scale.”

  You want to set realistic goals to avoid putting too much pressure on yourself, giving you the option of smashing them out of the park. If the goals are not realistic and you have no plan of attack for accomplishing them, then they are inflexible goals and can set you up for disappointment.

  Here is an example of creating inflexible goals versus systems:

  Inflexible Goals

  •Lose 20 pounds in one year.

  •Write a 200-page book.

  Systems

  •Be active every day: Could be to walk up the stairs instead of the elevator or walk to work.

  •Write every day: Could be for 10 minutes, one hour, or more.

  Inflexible goals set you up for disappointment if you do not fulfill them. The systems, however, make it easier to win daily.

  Whether you call setting small goal systems or refer to them as realistic goals, they are the same concept.

  Another key is not to set too many. It is okay to set a couple, achieve them, and then set more. And, I know what you are probably thinking, “In Chapter 1, he said that I should be content with what I have, so why am I setting goals?”

  You can set ambitious goals while at the same time being content and satisfied. How? It is all about whether your goals are intrinsic or extrinsic. If you set goals to impress other people or to gain status, money, or power, those are extrinsic goals. In this case, you will be running on the “hedonic treadmill” I mentioned in Chapter 1: Be More with Less, always trying for more, never satisfied, and never happy. If your goals are intrinsic, however, such as setting a goal because you want to learn something new to become a better person, you can be both goal-oriented and satisfied at the same time. Do things that will make you happy.

  GET OVER YOUR FEARS

  A lot of retirees think that they will finally do what they want to do in retirement, believing that they will finally have the time they need. Then, when they retire, they find they are afraid to take action. If you are nervous about starting something new or simply putting it off because you fear the unknown, try this solution. Tim Ferriss refers to this as “Fear Setting”:

  1.Define your worst-case scenario. Write out every detail and rate it on a scale of 1 to 10 of how bad the outcome could be. How likely is this to occur? Are the results somehow permanent?

  2.What steps could you take to undo the damage or get things back on track, even temporarily? It is likely easier than you think.

  3.What are the outcomes or benefits, both temporary and permanent, of more likely scenarios? Now that you wrote down the worst-case scenario, what is the more probable scenario? What would the impact of these be on a scale of 1 to 10? What is the more moderately good outcome and how likely is that?

  4.If you retired today, what would you do to get things under financial control? This is to help you think through what is putting you off from retiring.

  5.What are you putting off out of fear? Usually, what we fear most is what we most need to do. The fear of not knowing the outcome is what prevents us from doing what we need to do.

  6.What is it costing you—financially, emotionally, and physically—to postpone action? Do not simply assess the cost of taking action. It is equally important to measure the downside of the cost of inaction. If you do not pursue those things that excite you, where will you be one year into retirement, five years, ten years? Inaction is the greatest risk of all.

  7.What are you waiting for? Chances are you cannot answer this with any legitimate argument. The answer is simple: You are afraid just like most people. Measure the cost of inaction, realize the unlikelihood of the worstcase scenario and reparability of most missteps, and develop the most important habit of those who are happy in retirement: Action.

  SUMMARY

  People are living longer than ever into their retirement years. Focusing on the financial side of retirement is important, but just as valuable is planning for what you want to do once you retire, especially if you retire at a younger age. To get started, follow this advice:

  •Ask yourself questions to find what you want to do in retirement. Look for activities that will provide you with a sense of community, structure, offer stimulation, and a sense of purpose. If you find a sense of purpose, everything else will fall into place. Figuring out what you want to do in retirement makes retiring far easier.

  •Stay active, set realistic goals, and create systems to achieve them every day. You can never be too young to retire if you have saved 25x your annual expenditures.

  •Practice fear setting. A lot of people living in retirement are afraid of taking action. It allows you to visualize all the bad things that could happen to you and the steps you can take to mitigate them. You will often find that the worst thing that can happen is not as bad as first imagined when you have a plan.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  HAPPINESS
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br />   Happiness comes from meeting certain core human needs. The thing is there are many ways to meet each of those wants— some cheap, some free, and some expensive. For example, travel is a great way to experience new things and get outside of your comfort zone. But you can accomplish this by staying in $50-a-night hostels, $200-a-night hotels, or $1,000-a-night luxury hotels. Same happiness, different cost. The same holds true for most things in life. Almost everything is available at a wide range of costs. It is up to you to decide what makes you happy and spend appropriately. So, live your life the way you want to live it because you only live once.

  Explore the following for a better chance at a good life and greater happiness:

  1.Focus on your physical health. If you are not healthy, then everything else you do will bring less joy.

  •Exercise regularly. Not only will you look good, but you will also feel good. Tony Robbins says, “motion equals emotion.” Even a 7-minute workout to start your day will make you feel better. I make it a habit of working out every day at lunch and then reward myself with a sweet. Remember the habit loop: cue – routine – reward.

  •Eat a healthy diet. You will have more energy during the day and feel better about yourself. I meal prep on Sundays, so I know exactly what I am eating throughout the week.

  •Get enough sleep. Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, makes getting eight hours of sleep a night a priority.

  •Drink enough water, at least eight glasses per day. Studies102 show that hydration has a major effect on energy levels and brain function. I fill up my 34-ounce water bottle first thing in the morning and refill it at lunch.

  •Get outside more. Spending time in the fresh air has been shown to increase happiness. I love running outside and going for hikes. Focus on your mental health. Practice meditation, mindfulness, and gratitude daily. I meditate at least 15 minutes every morning as soon as I get up and use the 5 Minute Journal to practice gratitude. Practicing mindfulness is one of the most important things you can do, and top performers cannot recommend it enough.

  •Tim Ferriss on his podcast, The Tim Ferriss Show, found that over 80% of his guests have some form of meditation practice.

  •Tony Robbins channels his energy with a 9-minute priming exercise every morning. He breaks it down into three-minute sections:

  1.Think of three things you are grateful for.

  2.Focus on creating gratitude by imagining an inner presence that can heal and solve any obstacles in your life.

  3.Identify three things you are absolutely going to make happen for yourself. Imagine what it would feel like to complete these tasks and “see it as though it’s already been done.”

  3.Learn constantly. Challenge yourself every day to learn something new, whether a new language or how to dance. You want to continuously learn. I read at least 20 pages of a book each day, in addition to listening to 20 minutes of either a podcast or audiobook on my walk to work. Keep your mind active. Other suggestions include:

  •Take a painting class

  •Learn a new language

  •Learn to program

  •Start a website

  •Join a book club

  4.Solve problems. Part of the happiness equation is changing your reality. We need something to accomplish. To do this, solve problems. Happiness is a work in progress because solving problems is a work in progress.

  •Set goals. This is the best way to set your mind to something and achieve it. Make them daily and often, leading up to a larger goal. Once accomplished, set another and then another.

  5.Indulge and splurge, in moderation. I am not perfect and do not follow everything in this book 100%. While I stand behind everything I have written and follow it most days, I splurge and treat myself in moderation. Have fun and enjoy life! You have one life to live.

  6.Travel. One of the best methods to find a purpose is to travel. You are exposed to new people, cultures, and lifestyles. You gain valuable insights and ways of seeing the world, which can give you a new purpose.

  •Look for flight deals using apps like Hopper or Kayak. If you live in Canada, look up flight deals using your airport code and adding deals, like yyzdeals.com or yycdeals.com. I flew roundtrip to Peru for $480 a few years ago.

  7.Do one thing per day that scares you. By breaking out of your comfort zone, you gain confidence, and over time, your comfort zone will expand so much that your small sphere of comfort will turn into a large circle.

  •Afraid of swimming? Take swimming classes.

  •Afraid of talking to strangers? Strike up a conversation with at least one random person per day.

  •Afraid of heights? Sign up for a skydiving class.

  8.Spend time with your family and friends. Close relationships are a key to happiness. Studies show that social time is highly valuable for improving our happiness even for introverts, and losing touch with family and friends is one of the top five regrets of the dying. If you find you are losing touch with people you care about, try the following:

  •Create a list of people you want to keep in touch with.

  •Set reminders when you want to reach out.

  •Invite them to coffee or some other activity to hang out. If they turn you down or forget to reply, follow up again after. People are usually busy, and it is up to you to make the first move.

  9.Volunteer. Volunteering gives us a greater purpose in life and helping others is tremendously rewarding. Even as little as two hours a week is ideal to enrich our lives. For me, I teach high school students how to start a business with Junior Achievement’s Company Program and am a Global Shaper as part of the World Economic Forum. A volunteer position exists for almost anything you can think of. The more personal the cause is to you, the more rewarding you will find it.

  10.Move closer to work. A short commute is worth more than a big house. A commute can have a significant impact on your happiness.

  This book, backed by science and human psychology, is a system of living your best life in all ways rather than saving every dollar. I do not advocate living without but rather living life to the fullest. Everything I wrote will not apply to you, so use what works for you. There is no right or wrong way to incorporate the ideas in this book, and they are always open for tweaking. Whatever you take away is yours to keep. In fact, I challenge you to refine and adapt the ideas to make them your own and to fit your life. If you believe in yourself and your capabilities, you can achieve anything.

  Lastly, I end by asking you to take the time to appreciate life. When you walk down the street, stop and smell the flowers. Often, the small things in life are the big things. Focusing too much on the larger picture of early retirement can take the fun out of day-to-day living—that is not what I want for anyone. Be frugal but not cheap. Take up a side hustle that interests you. Invest wisely in index funds. And, set your finances in a way that is automatic so that you can spend time on the things that bring you joy. By following the advice in this book, early retirement is a bonus.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  When I pick up a book for the first time, I like to flip to the Acknowledgements. Like many readers, I’m eager to see where the author got their inspiration and who helped them get their book to where it is today. This book has been a long time in the making so I want to give credit to those who helped me along the way. If I miss anyone, I apologize; any omissions are inadvertent.

  First and foremost, I want to thank my editors, Samantha Mason, who improved my writing and encouraged me to get this book out into the world into as many hands as possible, and Fraser Nelund, who was patient revising my first draft. I will forever be grateful. I also want to thank my friends and family who helped improve my earlier drafts. For their invaluable comments, I thank Ryan Cramer, Judy Ferris, Lina Kudzhak, Dalia Nasr, Kourtney Rylands, Melissa Ta, and Leo Tam.

  I am immensely grateful for everyone who had faith in me and supported me. All those long evenings and weekends certainly took its toll but your understanding and commitment will not be forgotten. A
nd finally, for this book’s beautiful cover, I am grateful to my graphic designer, Mila, and also Sue Balcer for doing the interior design work.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Chris Dumont is the founder of MoneySensei.com, a personal finance hub that offers a blog and e-courses to help guide people to become financially free.

  For nearly a decade, he has worked in finance learning both inside and outside the classroom the fundamentals of personal finance. Chris holds an MBA from the Schulich School of Business in Toronto, Ontario and a Bachelor of Commerce from the Alberta School of Business with a major in Finance. He completed his CFA designation in 2016.

  Chris lives in Calgary, Alberta, Canada where he is often found running in Eau Claire, petting as many dogs as he comes across.

  Connect with Chris:

  Blog: moneysensei.com

  LinkedIn: Chris Dumont

  Facebook: @themoneysensei

  Twitter: @moneysensei_

  Instagram: @moneysensei_

  Notes

  1$3.82 trillion divided by US population estimate https://www.census.gov/popclock/

  2David Clingingsmith, “Negative emotions, income, and welfare: Causal estimates from the PSID,” Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 130(C), 1-19.

  3Daniel T. Gilbert, and Timothy D. Wilson, “Affective forecasting knowing what to want,” Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14 (3), (June 2015): 131-134.

  4Raksha Arora, Ed Diener, and James K. Harter, Weiting Ng, “Wealth and happiness across the world,” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99 (1): 52-61.

  5Philip Brickman, Dan Coates, and Ronnie Janoff-Bulman, “Lottery winners and accident victims: Is happiness relative?” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36 (8): 917.

  6Bart Duriez, Joke Simons, Bart Soenens, and Maarten Vansteenkiste, “Materialistic Values and Well-Being Among Business Students: Further Evidence of Their Detrimental Effect, Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36 (12): 2892-2908.