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This is the fifth interview in the Rich Life Habits interview series where we ask people some of their most successful habits and some lessons learned along the way. You can check out previous interviews here.

If you’d like to share your story with the Rich Life Habits community, please reach out here.

This interview was conducted in June.

Questions are in bolded italics and the answers are right below the questions.

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Background

How old are you? Do you have a spouse/partner? Do you have any children?

I am 30 years old, married, no children.

What part of the country do you live in? (ex. Suburbs of mid-Atlantic city, rural mid-western town, downtown west-coast city)

I live in Denver, CO.

How would you define “a rich life”? What does “living a rich life” mean to you? Can you provide any examples on how your definition evolved to what it is today?

A rich life to me is one in which I can do what I want, when I want, with who I want, without the need to worry about earning more income. A life where I can have impact, happiness, and relationships. A good metaphor for a “rich” life is one where your relationship with money is similar to your relationship with tap water: “it is essential to basic life, but it fades into the background once you have enough of it.”

What are some daily/monthly/yearly habits that have helped motivate you to reach your goals and how have they produced results for you?

I sit down with my wife once per quarter and revisit our life “vision” – a half page articulation of what we want our life to look like 2-3 years down the road. We modify this about once every quarter. From there, I set annual objectives and quarterly objectives and my wife does the same.

I then use a journal to map out weekly goals, and a daily log to track my to do list against those higher level objectives. This daily, weekly, quarterly, annual, and 2-3 year visioning process is essential to keeping myself on track for my big goals. I attribute outputs such as writing two books, launching a real estate investing company, 5 low-cost business failures, and becoming the CEO of a large technology business by 28 in part to this regular exercise of goal setting and goal revision, in addition to tracking daily progress.

Professional:

Business or Career part of life, aka your job

What are some habits that have helped you in your career/professional life? Can you provide some stories/examples of the habits?

I am a big goal setter and tracker. I make a point to regularly plan out my week with top priorities, daily goals, etc. I try to keep track of my progress day to day and move towards my biggest goals every single day.

What are some habits that you wish you didn’t have during your career/professional life? Can you provide some stories/examples of the habits?

I am not a morning person and am often sluggish in the mornings. This can really slow my day and I have numerous days where I get off to a weak start. It really begins the night before, and I am trying to be more intentional about planning my day the night before and going to bed with intention to make the next day a wonderful one!

How much time do you devote to your career/profession (work)? What is your work-life balance like?

I work likely 55-60 hours per week, sometimes more. I believe that I ping pong between a great work life balance and then a large amount of overkill in spending too of my mindshare on work.

Family & Friends:

Those people you love unconditionally even if they drive you crazy // Like-minded people you choose to spend time with

How have you been able to keep healthy and long-lasting family & friend relationships?

I think I’ve struggled here, to be honest. I think I have good relationships with my family, but I really don’t always get to see my friends as much as I would like, and oftentimes, it’s me and my schedule, or the simple fact that after dealing with people all day, I just want some quiet time with my wife.

What habits (actions done repeatedly) have you used to keep family & friend relationships going?

Perhaps like many other people, with COVID winding down, I have seen a lot more friends. I now have a cadence where I am seeing friends every week, volunteering, playing sports, and traveling the majority of weekends to interesting places. This has been wonderful!

Physical

The body

At what point in your life were you the most physically fit? Why?

I was most physically fit in high school, as a senior. I practiced or trained intensely for 6 days a week, year-round, playing football, wrestling, and lacrosse.

What was your schedule/life like during that time-period?

I worked 70+ hour works in high school. A typical day would begin at 6:45 AM. I would grab breakfast, get to school, took 5-6 AP classes throughout the day. School would end at 2:10, and then practice would begin. Rarely, I would end my day before 5PM. Depending on the sport, we might have multiple games which would require even more time (7+ hours for a Friday night football game, 3-4 hours for a wrestling match, depending on whether it was home or away), tournaments, and travel. I would usually have practice on Saturdays as well, and typically volunteered on Monday nights. I usually had time to wind down around 6:00 PM, but on Mondays and game days it could often be later. Sundays were usually free, except when homework piled up, and most Saturdays involved practice or games/tournaments.

Literally, 11 hour days on a light day.

What habits did you use during that time-period? 

I would say I simply showed up and brought it every day. Most everything was structured for me. My biggest thing, is that I wasted no time. If there was five minutes at the end of class, I was crushing a homework assignment. If school ended at 2:10 and practice began at 2:45 or 3:00, I was crushing homework. I made use of every minute. The singular goal every day was to get all my homework done, crush practice/games, and try to finagle a situation where I could not have to do any homework at home so I would have a few hours to myself.

Mental

Intellectual and cognitive parts of the brain

Are you able to stimulate your mind as much as you would like? Why or Why not?

I suppose so. My CEO role is extremely challenging and I have a new challenge every day. There are always competing interests and tradeoffs to make, with passionate people on either side of many issues. I like to spend a bit more time thinking about bigger picture items than I am often able to, and need to work towards an organizational structure that can facilitate that.

What habits have helped/hurt you from being able to achieve your intellectual goals? Can you reflect on why you do these habits?

I have a tendency to pull out my phone and scroll through the news or Facebook. This is not a good habit and I can probably get at least an hour in my day back if I can focus up here.

Spiritual

The soul of a person

How do you spend the time when you are doing things for yourself? How does each of these make you feel afterward?

I am intensely competitive by nature. My two favorite hobbies are playing rugby and playing video games competitively. When I’m playing these with the intensity that I bring, I can’t think about anything else. The total focus resets me and brings perspective to everything else.

What is your preferred practice to clear your mind?

Intense exercise and training for rugby in a general sense.

Financial

The monetary situation

What habits do you use to keep your budget under control? What software/tools do you use if any?

I use Mint.com to track all of my expenses and review the expenses once per month with my wife.

How have you been able to increase your net worth? By earning/saving/investing more? How? Please provide examples.

I consistently and steadily increase my average annual earned income, keep my expenses under control, and invest methodically in real estate, stocks, private businesses and syndications. When I have time, I also create assets and have authored two books which provide additional income.

Conclusion

What is one piece of advice you’d give yourself when you were 18 years old?

I’d tell myself to learn about financial freedom and financial independence and pursue it aggressively early in life. When one has financial freedom, one has infinite possibilities in life.

What are some of your favorite books? Why?

The Millionaire Next Door – Great discussion of American Millionaires!