If I were to use one word to describe the most powerful mindset that I developed in recent years that word would be CONTENTMENT. The path to this state of mind is through mastering your personal finance. For me it has set the foundation for the next stage of my journey through life, it has been an awakening.
Seeking Contentment by Mastering Your Personal Finance
Seeking Contentment has allowed me to discover mindfulness. Have greater transparency and understanding of my wants and needs. To fully appreciate my good fortune and privilege. To know that it is ok to just be, the reality is that those who care most about you don’t care about anything else…not your house, your car, you cool holiday, how fast you did your 5k run or how nice your garden is. Share your smile and your wisdom and your authentic self.
This journey becomes so much more than one of money. With the wise steps we have taken I personally believe it is our responsibility to become softer on ourselves and the planet. Avoid the excess, waste and over indulgence of the rat race that society still hasn’t comes to grips with. Unhealthy lives and making profits off the back of communities and the environment.
I have had the incredible gift of time and resources by putting these fundamental behaviours and habits into place. All my blog posts on getting outdoors, climbing mountains, bike packing and road trips is all because I have decided to invest into what I value most.
My Explore FI Canada Interview on my Financial Independence Journey
I am writing this post today to share with you a recent podcast guest interview I did with Explore FI Canada. The podcast gives a voice to the Canadian financial independence community. Their goal is to explore regional differences across our great country—and share that knowledge with you. The wonderful hosts are Chrissy who blogs at Eat Sleep Breathe FI and Money Mechanic who co-hosts the FI Garage podcast & blog.
“Chris’s FIRE journey is particularly fascinating: he and his family went from living the high life in the oil industry to lean FIRE on Vancouver Island. Since discovering FIRE, Chris has fully embraced Mustachianism, mindfulness, and a focus on leaving a lighter footprint on our Earth.“
Here is the direct link to the audio from podcast off the Explore Fi Canada website; Listen Now or on Apple Podcasts if you prefer.
A big thanks to Explore Fi Canada for the opportunity to share my story and message. They can also be found on twitter and facebook , please consider giving them a follow.
Related Personal Finance Reading on Mindful Explorer
- Mindfulness and Your Money or Your Life
- ECOFrugality – The New Consumer Mindset
- Simple Life With Less : A Mindful Happy Healthy Lifestyle
- The Importance of Embracing Life Over Money
- 8 Money Tips to Fund Your Next Adventure
“A master in the art of living draws no sharp distinction between his work and his play; his labor and his leisure; his mind and his body; his education and his recreation. He hardly knows which is which. He simply pursues his vision of excellence through whatever he is doing, and leaves others to determine whether he is working or playing. To himself, he always appears to be doing both.”
Lawrence Pearsall Jacks
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Subscribe to the Mindful Explorer website and share this article if you liked it. As always I love to read your comments and answer any questions so be sure to leave one below.
It’s so powerful to understand you wants and needs, then figure out a good way to manage your money around that. Thank you for the food for thought!
It is a work in progress and something I have to put an effort into each day. Some days will be bad, some good, there will be happiness and pleasure, there will be crappy days. Embracing them all and striving for contentment is the sustainable and logical path. Thanks for stopping by and sharing your thoughts. Cheers ~ Chris
It was our pleasure to interview you, Chris. I’m thrilled to be able to share your story. The twist in your story is so unique, and I hope it speaks to those who are living the life you used to live.
While it was a good life, I think it became that much more meaningful once you fully embraced mindfulness and FIRE.
My hope is for more people to discover this path and embark on it for more contentment in their own lives. We shouldn’t only be working to pay for our lifestyles. There’s so much more to it than that!
Thanks for the opportunity and keep up the great work on sharing so many different stories for your listeners. Collectively we can make a tiny difference in a few lives, that makes it all worth it.
Loved your episode Chris on EFIC and it’s very clear you’ve figured out what a happy and fulfilling life looks like to you. Contentment, joy, and helping others is hard to figure out but ultimately, it’s what it’s all about. Great post.
Lots of great chats with you along the way to help learn more and get to this place in a journey of life long learning
I really appreciated the bit where you spoke to the outward focus of your lifestyle, and how FI’ing put you in a position to be able to help, assist, empower other people, in a way authentic to your values. Thanks for sharing your story in such an authentic way, Chris, looking forward to following from here.
Thanks Tyler, I mess up from time to time but keep striving to do my best to inspire others from my mistakes and awakening to an alternate way of living.