Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence

by Chris Mamula

FI is not about retiring early or retiring at all really. It’s all about having the freedom and flexibility to design your life in alignment with your values.

Similarly, most people say relationships and family are the most important things in their lives, but a job is where they spend the majority of their time and energy. Why do people stay in lifestyles so out of alignment with their stated values?

FI is not about running away from the things you hate in life. It’s about running toward something. It’s being intentional about life and not just grazing through it. Once you start living intentionally, earning, spending, and investing decisions become much easier. Decisions that previously seemed hard and felt like sacrifices become automatic as they drive you toward your desired outcome.

FI is about having the ability to reclaim your time and control of your life. It’s about having time for family, friends, and hobbies. FI is about having flexibility. It’s about having the freedom to fit in meaningful work around your life rather than trying to fit in life around your work. FI means having the freedom to pursue the options that are most personally rewarding rather than needing to chase the highest financial returns. It means having the freedom to fail on a project or in business without it leading to failure in other aspects of your life.

They believe you need a big break to become rich. They can’t envision a path to a better ending for their story, so they never bother trying to write it.

When you Choose FI, you give yourself the chance to regain the wonder you had as a child, when anything was possible. No longer being beaten down by the world, you regain the ability to think big. As Jonathan frequently says, “You were born to do more than pay bills and die.” That’s easy to forget when you’re stuck on the standard path. We tell our kids they can do and be anything they want, but how many adults actually live that out?

Choosing FI is as simple as having the knowledge and motivation to do things a little bit smarter than those on the standard path through life. By taking action and accumulating small wins, you can create the life you want far faster than most believe is possible.