1% Better: Building Life Skills

Our family’s latest obsession is the cooking show ‘MasterChef Junior’ with Gordon Ramsay.

Early in Season 6, Gordon demonstrated how to make an incredible pan-seared chicken breast. My daughter Molly is learning to cook and wanted to test this out. The next night she gave it a try (with some help from mom and dad) and to say it turned out well is an understatement!

This was the best chicken I’ve eaten in my life and it was so easy to make! It was just about having the knowledge and the interest to give it a try.

Molly is 8 years old, and now, for the rest of her life, she can cook a piece of chicken like the best chef in the world. She followed an interest and simply watched the YouTube replay a few times, took notes, and tested it out.

This is how we all can continue to build life skills to keep getting 1% better every week!

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Increasing Your ‘Luck Surface Area’

Danny Kenny of FI-nancialPlanner.com sent me an article on increasing your ‘luck surface area’ and a TED talk from Dr. Tina Seelig of Stanford on ‘The little risks you can take to increase your luck’ and I was blown away by both.

Dr. Seelig talked about what you can do to “catch the winds of luck” and increase your chances of success in life by “taking little risks that get you out of your comfort zone.” This message tied so directly with what we talk about at ChooseFI that I implore you to take 11 minutes and watch this:

ChooseFI Community Taking Action This Week

• Brendan said, “Our win is pulling the trigger to go Coast FI. I’m transferring my job to a lower cost of living area and cutting back to 3 days a week while my wife is going work optional. We’re slowing down on work to focus on raising our son and any other children we may be blessed with. This geoarbitrage is getting us a 4bd house for less than our current 2bd value. We shopped around and negotiated the new mortgage and locked in a 2.5% rate with bare bones fees and they’re writing us a check at closing for $1300.”
• Jen said, “This week I started investing in a taxable brokerage account since I have maxed out both mine and my husband’s tax advantaged accounts. We’re 8 years to FI and are using the brokerage account to save for a mortgage down payment. We’re doing a 30% stock and 70% bond split since we plan on needing it in 3-5 years.”
• Lindsay said, “It’s open enrollment time for employer benefits and my employer restructured their health plans. I decided this was the year I’d do a HDHP and start an HSA. The extra bonus is that my employer is offering a contribution to the HSA. It’s not a windfall, but it’s literally free money that is completely tax free. Since I’ve been listening to the ChooseFI podcast, I’ve gained such a better understanding of how HSAs work and their benefits. They are no longer intimidating to me!”
• David said, “We bought a house in CASH! We still owed $50K on our old house. We sold that one and bought a new house for $50K less. Threw in some extra money to cover all the fees, and now we have a house we own free and clear. It’s an amazing feeling!”
• Stephanie said, “Amidst the chaos of COVID, I got out of my morning routine. For November, I have reinvigorated my morning routine which includes reviewing my personal mission statement, writing affirmations, practicing Spanish on Duolingo, and enjoying a cup of coffee. It requires me to get up 30 minutes early, but the impact on my mindset and the daily feeling of accomplishment is well worth it. This isn’t necessarily FI but more life optimization and habits, which I feel go hand in hand with FI.”