44. Why We Fail our Goals (and 7 Tips to Overcome Them)

I delve into 4 typical traps that stop people doing the actions to achieve their life goals. I then give you 7 tips to dodge these traps so that you can successfully get to your goals in life.

Whether you want to achieve Financial Independence, start a side hustle, go on sabbatical, be self employed, lose weight - whatever your goals are for the year these tips will help you get there.

Freedom Before FI Links:

• Free Guides: Download the free ‘Freedom Ideas’ Cheat Sheet and the free ‘Find Your Purpose’ worksheet at: https://freedombeforefi.com/free-guides/
• Website: Check out our resources and services at www.freedombeforefi.com
• Email: If you want to connect, send me a note at greg@freedombeforefi.com

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice

Do you suffer from always writing your yearly goals down, but never finding time to actually do them or they just fade away after a few weeks? On this episode I take you through a simple exercise you can do in under 1 hour to set you up well for achieving your goals.

Whether you want to achieve Financial Independence, start a side hustle, be self employed, lose weight, whatever your goals are for the year, you can use this method to make sure you stay on track.

Freedom Before FI Links:

• Free Guides: Download the free ‘Freedom Ideas’ Cheat Sheet and the free ‘Find Your Purpose’ worksheet at: https://freedombeforefi.com/free-guides/
• Website: Check out our resources and services at www.freedombeforefi.com
• Email: If you want to connect, send me a note at greg@freedombeforefi.com

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice

How does your upbringing influence your money decisions today? We got to chat with Shang Saavedra of Save My Cents who talks about this very thing. Shang achieved work optional at 31, she has a 15 year career in management consulting and last year (at 37 years old) she quit her 6 figure career to spend more time with her kids. She Started Save My Cents - a personal finance platform - in 2017 focusing mainly on the mindset side of money. She’s also the author of the upcoming book Wealth is a Mindset ‘Change your mind, change your money’ which is being released January 2025.

The things you’ll learn:

• How Shang was able to achieve ‘work optional’ status by 31 years old
• Why she quit full time career and pursued motherhood and Save My Cents instead
• The biggest expenses people in the US have and ways to reduce them
• True cost of owning a car and how she saves money on food
• How she handled not going out to eat and alternative solutions to eating out
• Hiding her wealth and handling people perceiving her as ‘cheap’
• How she started her personal finance platform Save My Cents
• How Instagram has changed over time
• Why she focused on mental health with her Instagram content
• Connecting childhood and mental health
• Introducing her new book Wealth is a Mindset: Change your Mind, Change your Money
• The 3 root causes of unhealthy money behaviours
• Her ‘Trigger, Action, Reward’ tool to tackle the root causes
• Growing up in a migrant household
• Advice for people considering to have kids

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. What Freedoms Shang has experienced in her life so far
2. The daily habits that helped her in her life
3. Her most important lesson in life
4. Shang’s Transformational book recommendations
5. Biggest takeaway for listeners pursuing FI

Shang’s Websites/Socials:

• Instagram: savemycents
• YouTube: savemycents
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/shangsaavedra
• Book: savemycents.com/book

Freedom Before FI Links:

• Free Guides: Download the free ‘Freedom Ideas’ Cheat Sheet and the free ‘Find Your Purpose’ Worksheet at: https://freedombeforefi.com/free-guides/
• Website: Check out our resources and services at https://freedombeforefi.com/
• Email: If you want to connect, send me a note at greg@freedombeforefi.com

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice

Not quite sure what goals to aim for in the new year? Today, I give you an easy framework to use to create clear achievable goals to set you up well for the new year.

Using the ‘333 method’, I take you through 8 easy steps. At the end of the exercise you will have created a simple 3 month plan to take on the first quarter of the new year. You can do this exercise in your free time in just under one hour.

Freedom Before FI Links:

• Free Guides: Download the free ‘Freedom Ideas’ Cheat Sheet and the free ‘Find Your Purpose’ worksheet at: https://freedombeforefi.com/free-guides/
• Website: Check out our resources and services at www.freedombeforefi.com
• Email: If you want to connect, send me a note at greg@freedombeforefi.com

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice

We got to chat with Katrina McGhee, a Career Break & Sabbatical Coach. She Helps 9-5ers create mind-blowing career breaks. She’s a certified Master Coach with an MBA, and left a high paying corporate career for a 20-month career break to travel around the world. She’s also the author of the book ‘Taking a Career Break for Dummies’.

The things you’ll learn:

• Her own experience of being coached by a life coach
• Why and how she was able to quit her job and take a 20 month sabbatical
• How she saved 40,000 US dollars to take the break
• The ups and downs of her sabbatical journey
• How she managed her finances while on her break
• Her career change journey from corporate to entrepreneur
• Her return to work story and how she chose her new career
• How she paid her student loan debt of 40,000 US dollars in 21 months.
• How she started her coaching business from a side hustle to full time
• How she was able to negotiate part time work to spend more time on her coaching
• Some example client transformation stories
• When sabbaticals and breaks are not a good solution
• We also dive into her her book Taking a Career Break for Dummies
• We take a peak inside the book and some of the content
• She also gives great advice for people coming back from sabbatical

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. The freedoms she has experienced in her life
2. Something she wished she done 10 years ago
3. The daily habits that helped her in her life
4. Her most important lesson in life so far
5. 2-3 transformational book recommendations
6. 2-3 key takeaways for listeners

Katrina’s Websites/Socials:

• Career Break Coach Website: https://kmcgheecoaching.as.me/
• 45 Epic Things to do on a Break: www.kmcgheecoaching.com/45things
• BreakSpace Community: www.gobreakspace.com
• Connect with Katrina on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/katrinamcghee222/

Freedom Before FI Links:

• Free Guides: Download the free ‘Freedom Ideas’ Cheat Sheet and the free ‘Find Your Purpose’ Worksheet at: https://freedombeforefi.com/free-guides/
• Website: Check out our resources and services at https://freedombeforefi.com/
• Email: If you want to connect, send me a note at greg@freedombeforefi.com

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice

I talk through the 10 rules of Ikigai. These are the rules that the longest living people in the world follow (centenarians) to live a balanced and healthy life way into their senior years. The authors of the book ‘Ikigai’ (which is loosely translated as your reason for being or simply your purpose in life) interviewed over 100 people living in Ogimi in Japan which also had the nickname ‘The Village of Longevity’. They distilled their findings into what they call the ‘simple secrets to a long and happy life’. Let’s try to incorporate these on our journey to Financial Independence.

In part 3, I discuss rules 9-10. I also give you a quick exercise to give you clues to find your own Ikigai.

Freedom Before FI Links:

• Free Guides: Download the free ‘Freedom Ideas’ Cheat Sheet and the free ‘Find Your Purpose’ worksheet at: https://freedombeforefi.com/free-guides/
• Website: Check out our resources and services at www.freedombeforefi.com
• Email: If you want to connect, send me a note at greg@freedombeforefi.com

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice

I talk through the 10 rules of Ikigai. These are the rules that the longest living people in the world follow (centenarians) to live a balanced and healthy life way into their senior years. The authors of the book ‘Ikigai’ (which is loosely translated as your reason for being or simply your purpose in life), interviewed over 100 people living in Ogimi in Japan which also had the nickname ‘The Village of Longevity’. They distilled their findings into what they call the ‘simple secrets to a long and happy life’. Let’s try to incorporate these on our journey to Financial Independence.

In part 2, I discuss rules 6-8

Freedom Before FI Links:

• Free Guides: Download the free ‘Freedom Ideas’ Cheat Sheet and the free ‘Find Your Purpose’ worksheet at: https://freedombeforefi.com/free-guides/
• Website: Check out our resources and services at www.freedombeforefi.com
• Email: If you want to connect, send me a note at greg@freedombeforefi.com

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice

The 10 rules of Ikigai: These are the rules that the longest living people in the world follow (centenarians) to live a balanced and healthy life way into their senior years. The authors of the book ‘Ikigai’ (which is loosely translated as your reason for being or simply your purpose in life), interviewed over 100 people living in Ogimi in Japan which also had the nickname ‘The Village of Longevity’. They distilled their findings into what they call the ‘simple secrets to a long and happy life’. Let’s try to incorporate these on our journey to Financial Independence.

In part 1, I discuss rules 1-5. I will then discuss rules 6-10 on the following episodes. Enjoy!

Freedom Before FI Links:

• Free Guides: Download the free ‘Freedom Ideas’ Cheat Sheet and the free ‘Find Your Purpose’ worksheet at: https://freedombeforefi.com/free-guides/
• Website: Check out our resources and services at www.freedombeforefi.com
• Email: If you want to connect, send me a note at greg@freedombeforefi.com

Disclaimer: This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered as financial advice