263 | Pick Your Five: Accountability & Decision-Making

Jonathan draws a parallel between the episode on Monday with professional poker player Annie Duke and hitting his weight loss goals. Finding himself well over his desired weight, Jonathan took a health challenge and has kept the weight off for six months making him a weightloss statistical abnormality. Where most people diet and get to a goal weight, because the effort was a diet, they end up regaining the weight. What Jonathan did was make a lifestyle change. Tying to the discussion with Annie Duke, Jonathan recognized that he couldn't control everything, made better decisions, and set himself up for more opportunities. All of it helped to increase the opportunity for luck to strike. Jonathan isn't alone in his endeavor. Through weekly accountability phone calls with his father and FI community member, JD Roth, they check in to ask if each has followed through with their goals for the week Their goals aren't all that strict but they are trying to be 1% more intentional with their decisions and look at their decision-making framework, watching for triggers, giving into them less often, and coming up with solutions to not be tempted. Brad notes the discipline equals freedom and that the framework Jonathan has created for himself makes everything easier and no longer requires willpower. The accountability and decision-making strategies Jonathan applied to his weightless journey can be used for virtually anything you want to achieve in life. Taking action and trying to be just 1% better what ChooseFI is all about. All of the small wins begin to add up, creating nothing but good, grows your gap, and continuous the virtuous circle. When we upgrade the quality of our decisions, the impact of them begins to compound and increases our probability of success. Brad discusses how 70-80% of the contestations he hears involve one of the three killers of happiness: sarcasm, complaining, and blaming. We can change our mindset and the locus of control to impact our future. He believes putting space between stimulus and control can have positive and compounding effects. As often mentioned on the show, you are the average of the five people you spend the most time with. Those five have the greatest influence on your life and you don't want them to have those happiness killer characteristics. Be intentional with your five picks. Choose people who give you a path forward and will hold you accountable to the things you said were important to you. Brad and Jonathan discussed how the concept of resulting, pro and con lists, and infecting others with our opinions before asking for advice is not helpful when trying to make better decisions. As mentioned during Monday's episode, making better decisions requires depth and an understanding of probability and magnitude. A challenge for listeners is to write down the five people you spend the most time with and who have the most influence on you. Then write down that their characteristics are that make them a good fit for your top five. And finally, what are the ideal characteristics for people who would be influencing your decisions and where can you find them? The second exercise is to approach someone and ask for their opinion on something without prejudicing it first. Don't lead with what it is that you really want to do. Ask your question in a way that gets you additional information you maybe hadn't considered yet. The first win from the community comes from Jodie, a self-professed broke chick who found FI in 2016. Since then, she's doubled her salary, gotten out a debt, flipped a live-in property, paid off her card, got married, formed two business with her husband, quit her job, and hit $100,000 in investments. Congratulations on taking action and changing your life, Jodie! In response to Brad's weekly email, Evan writes about not shooting for FI with reckless urgency, but a thoughtful understanding of the use of money and how it can improve his life after breaking his finger required surgery. FI isn't about deprivation, but buying the things you value. While the world is slowly getting back to normal during the pandemic, John calls in sharing how his wife was able to pivot her events business, Escape Room Races. The pandemic killed her in-person events, but she was able to rebrand, and pivot to a virtual format which is bringing in tons of new virtual events and they just had their biggest month ever. Speaking of live events, previous ChooseFI guest, Christine, from episode 137, sent in a letter saying that at least 50 ChooseFI listeners have come to Nashville and taken her tour. Last Fall, one guest from New Zealand Brough five friends from all over the world after hearing about Christine's tour, A Little Local Flavor, on ChooseFI. She also has converted her friends into ChooseFI listeners. When you respond to Brad's weekly email and we read your win on the air, you will get one of the ChooseFI Publishing books. The first winner is Ahmed who wrote in to say he recently graduated college and was due to move to a high cost of living city. Because they moved to working remotely, Ahmad is saving on rent by staying at home with his parents in a low-cost of living city and investing the savings. The second winner is Tommy who received an email from his state's 529 program that he was receiving a $500 Maryland state contribution. RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY'S CONVERSATION Earn $1000 or more with ChooseFI's 3-card cashback strategy Open a commission-free brokerage account with M1 Finance Make more on your savings with high-yield savings account from CIT Bank Join the ChooseFI Facebook group Get on Brad's weekly email list and receive The FI Weekly every Tuesday ChooseFI Episode 137 Rebuilding a Life You Love With Christine Discover the sites, sounds, and flavors of Nashville with Christine ChooseFI Episode 021 The Pillars of FI Maryland's 529 State Contribution Program IF YOU WANT TO SUPPORT CHOOSEFI: Earn $1,000 in cashback with ChooseFI's 3-card credit card strategy.  Share FI by sending a friend ChooseFI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence.