Thank YOU to those who have been responding to these. Your thoughts, ideas, and current projects/art that you are working on has been a huge inspiration to me.

One of my biggest missions in life is to do my best to connect other like-minded individuals. It is a huge passion of mine.

The idea for this follow-up email came directly from one of my best friends Jeff McSweeny. He is a lifelong friend who literally was one of the key figures in my start to full-time entrepreneurship. If you are ever in the Boston area, hit him up! HE IS THE MAN!

If you read yesterday's email, it talks about spending your money to BUY YOU TIME, rather than just "saving" it like society + older generations have taught us.

So here are some of the categories in which I do this....

1. Groceries
2. Physical Health
3. Personal Investments
4. Business Investments
5. Education

Groceries: YOU ARE WHAT YOU EAT!!! How many times have you found yourself at a grocery store and you purchase things that you don't necessarily need?!? Probably all the time. Now calculate how much time you spend in grocery stores buying things that you don't need over the course of a year.

Lets assume the average grocery trip takes an hour. 10-15 min drive there, 30 minutes in the store, 10-15 minute drive back.

One hour per week for an entire year is 52 hours...aka one whole paycheck if you are a corporate worker. If you make anywhere from 50-100k a year... that is essentially saying you are missing out on 1-3k just from grocery shopping. THAT IS SOLID FAMILY VACATION MONEY!!!

Also,

At a minimum, this is gas $$$, car depreciation, risk of an accident, spending $$$ on items you don't need, etc.

Even worse, the time you are spending doing this, means you are not spending the current moment allocating your mind/spirit/body to earning you more freedom.

Solution to this? Instacart.com

But CJ that costs a bit more for delivery...

Yes, but while they are shopping for your foods...you could literally make a trade on an investment website, sell one of your own products/services, lock up a new client with a cold call, etc.... all ways that substantially earn you more than that $10 you spend on delivery.

Most importantly though....

I started with groceries because nutrition is THE NUMBER ONE METHOD to unlocking better health. And if you unlock better health, you will spend less time, $$$, and energy in doctor's offices, taking health tests, etc... and more time with friends/family, having fun, EARNING YOUR FREEDOM!!!

Also, by ordering online, you can keep yourself to a strict budget and only order things that are ESSENTIAL TO YOUR HEALTH.

I could go on and on about the pro's of this type of service. I am more concerned with you understanding the method of buying yourself time though, so lets move to the next topic.

Physical Health

I want to directly state that investing in your physical health (gym membership, massages, chiropractor, yoga...etc) will earn you so much time and freedom in your life, that I cannot even put a price to how worth it is.

A stronger, healthier you... is a more confident, happier, LOVER OF LIFE, you. And investing in methods to improve your health is a guaranteed way to do so.

What do I invest in?

1. Technology (I currently have an Apple watch, Peloton bike, Theragun, Nordic Track Treadmill to help keep my health in check at all times. I am currently looking into purchasing an Oura Ring to track sleep and recovery as well.
2. Facilities (Even though I have my own gym at my office, I invest into a local community at Squatch Frontier Fitness to play basketball, take ice baths, hit the sauna, and provide myself a well rounded wellness experience. I also hit up LifeSpring Chiropractic to get my shoulders in line for all the handstands and other forms of wear and tear on my body. The next step on my journey is a monthly massage.
3. Items (Bikes, kayaks, running shoes, headphones, gear...I invest in various items that provide outlets for me to continue to enjoy the journey of improving my overall health and wellness.

I have an auto-immune disease, so doctors appointments and trips to "sickcare" facilities (not healthcare because most doctor's don't get you healthy :/ ) are something I am familiar with. However, as soon as I started investing more money into preventative maintenance on myself, I have not been to a single doctors office. Literally almost 3 + years without a doctor's bill, compared to over 10k worth of bills just a few years before.

Personal Investments

This will be shorter than the above and sweet. What I will say is to invest in areas that you are willing to INVEST TIME INTO LEARNING. If you are not willing to spend the time to learn from other people, videos, books....just put your money elsewhere.

1. Stocks (The only stock I hold shares in is APPLE. I use their products every single day, and I believe they are going to be a major player in health technology, so I invest in them. When purchasing stocks as a side thing, PLAY THE LONG GAME!!! Over the next 50 years I believe APPLE will continue to grow, yet if they don't, and I lose money on it, I will be okay with it because their products have helped me over my lifetime.)
2. Real estate (My wife and I bought our first house as a future investment property, rather than the place we know we will stay for the long term. You only have to put 5% down on a house if you live in it for a year, then you can go put 5% down on another house and repeat while you rent out or Airbnb the first house. Real estate is another great way to earn passive income that earns you FREEDOM!!! Again, only do this if you are willing to invest the TIME into learning the game. I was the fractional COO of a real estate group earlier this year, + I have several friends in the industry, so it was an area Erin and I were confident to go into.
3. Credit Card points (Erin and I basically fly free almost every trip we take because I have figured out how to leverage credit card points. Only do this if you have the ability to be extremely disciplined with money. We pay all our cards off in full every single month.)

The passive, "free" money, we earn from above, help us live a higher quality of life than the average individual who spends their money on depreciating assets.

Business Investments

If you want to chat business, hit me up. I won't go into the weeds here on this email. In my eyes the best business investments you can make are...

1. Understanding accounting + financial management
2. Understanding the advantages/disadvantages of LLC/Corps to reducing your risk in the short term and long term.
3. Books
4. Advanced + Engaged Communities/Masterminds in your area of business
5. Mentors

Understanding the above will earn you FREEDOM, rather than spinning on the hamster wheel of business like most people do.

Education

I cannot stress this one enough. One of the things that saddens me the most, is how many people fail to continuously educate themselves. It is crazy to me that people will spend 50k-100k for a piece of paper and no guarantee...yet ask them to purchase an online course for $200-$1000 and they say it is "too much."

I have the 50k engineering degree, and I have 10k+ worth of other certificates, memberships, community subscription fees, and I will straight up tell you that the latter has been way more worth it than the expensive degree. I digress on this one though, this post is not about my disdain for the education system.

It is a simple equation for me...surround yourself with other people/books/courses that can educate you on how to EARN MORE FREEDOM...and ultimately you will earn more time freedom. I not only have done this myself, I have witnessed it over and over again with several of my closest friends.

I know this was a long one, so if you got this far, THANK YOU!!!

Please let me know if this was helpful or not. Also, let me know if you have specific questions in certain areas, or you feel I left something out. I appreciate you!!!

Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!

#thriveon

CJ