Designing Your Rich & Radiant Life with Liz Carroll (ep. 238)

Speaker 0:05

Welcome to the Mindful Fire Podcast, a show about crafting a life you love and making work optional using the tools of mindfulness, envisioning, and financial independence. I'm your host, Adam Coelho, and I'm so glad you're here. Each episode of the Mindful Fire Podcast explores these three tools through teachings, guided meditations, and inspiring interviews with people actually living them to craft a life they love. If you're ready to start your Mindful Fire journey, go to mindfulfire.org/start and download my free envisioning guide. In just 10 minutes, this guide will help you craft a clear and inspiring vision for your life. Again, you can download it for free at mindfulfire.org/start. Let's jump into today's episode

Adam Coelho 1:06

Liz, welcome back to the Mindful Fire Podcast. I'm so happy to have you back.

Liz Carroll 1:10

Thanks, Adam. I'm excited to be here.

Adam Coelho 1:12

it's been a few years since you joined us on episode 200 of the podcast, and you have something pretty exciting to announce today, and I'm excited to get to that. But first, I wanna start with a question that's been on my mind. Why do more women not take control of their money?

Liz Carroll 1:27

Oh, God, that is such a good question, and it opens up a can of worms, I'll tell you. my thought We haven't been taught, we haven't had role models, and so we have been accepting this default programming that we have that we can just sit back and let someone else take care of it. We're not good with money, we're not good with math, we're not good with these things, and at least that's what was for me, was I thought, "I'm not good with money. I've been told that I wasn't good with money." And for me, I w- so I let other people take care of it, or not, or... And so for, that's when I decided to make a change at one point, is "Wait a second. This feels horrible. I don't like it anymore. I'm gonna change my default settings

Adam Coelho 2:11

Yeah, and I know that's a big part of your story and how you've achieved the level of wealth and success that you've built in your life. and now I know you work with a lot of women to help them do that for themselves. So tell me a little bit about, How you help them take control of their money in the work that you do with them.

Liz Carroll 2:28

we start with the body. That's the other part, is that so much of what I do with women has to do with getting them feeling safe and in their body, and feeling So we do not only the math, but we work on the mindset, but we first use mindfulness to get us there. So that's a different approach, because I wanna make sure that we're able to access w- and be honest of what we're truly thinking. What are we truly feeling about money and our ability to earn, spend, and save it? So a lot of that comes with first feeling safe to have those conversations, and I think that is what is a little unique of my approach, is that we really lean into that mindfulness which you and I share.

Adam Coelho 3:18

Yeah. And how does the mindfulness enable them to start to get in touch with, what they're feeling, what they're thinking about money? And, are those feelings usually hard to access, or is it pop open right away?

Liz Carroll 3:32

No, I think it's the, it's They might have initial things they don't want. things- that they're unhappy with, all the negative emotions boil up. But with mindfulness, we can tap into that awareness of the positive side, too. that's where we really dig in and process some of those negative emotions so that we can access all the positive ones, and that's where we can shift the story. We can shift the results based on what actions we take, and that's r- really important for women that are high-earning. These A lot of these women are high-performing that I work with. They have the degrees. they got the success in their corporate life or in their own business, but they really haven't touched on the money yet. And part of that is because they haven't had an example, or they haven't had role models. many of their mothers were not the ones managing the money. And the other thing is the women today are earning so much more than we've ever earned before. So when we add zeros onto what maybe their mothers have earned, or their grandmothers, it feels like it's so much bigger So then we step back further, and we lean into those- avoidance or those default settings. And w- we're not taking control of our money. We're letting- others be in control of our finances.

Adam Coelho 4:53

Are you saying because the numbers are bigger, the pressure is greater and the perceived risk of messing up goes up?

Liz Carroll 5:01

Oh, of course. Yeah. Yeah. Think about it. You can sit there with $50,000. Now add that to be $500,000. just me saying those two words made a difference in your nervous system.

Adam Coelho 5:12

Yeah. It just feels like, "Uh, I don't wanna mess this up." And honestly, that was my experience when I was starting out in my career. Fortunately I wasn't spending all my money, but I certainly wasn't doing anything with it because I did... I was afraid to do it wrong and pick the wrong investment, and then lose it ultimately.

Liz Carroll 5:30

Yeah. And so then that's a common thing that comes up. "I don't wanna lose it," right? So you don't do anything- with it. You, or you keep it. You don't take the risks that are wealth-building risks with it. And then the other part is that you, you have that, for women particularly, is it's never enough. We gotta do- the one more thing. One more. It's never enough- because we're so concerned with our performance- and being praised. And we see those numbers and those zeros as the next that we're going for all the time. And we really don't take time to enjoy what do we have today, and also determine when is enough, enough. Like- that's one of the things that so many of the women that I work with is we really sit down and go, "What does enough look like for you?"

Adam Coelho 6:19

And what does it feel like?

Liz Carroll 6:21

Yeah. And can you accept what you have now as enough, and then just have fun? Because it really goes from- so many women, even in these high-performing p- positions they have a high income. They just haven't built wealth, right? So they feel like they're stuck or they're in survival mode. So that whole sense of safety is not there for them to really build and take risks. So we talk a lot about building that up, and making sure that we determine what does safe feel like for you to then make some moves, make some career changes. I know I stayed in some of my roles way too long where I could have worked my way up. Does that make sense? But having that safety of feeling like, "Yes, I am safe to make a move, a career move," those are the kinds of things that I work with the ladies.

Adam Coelho 7:10

Awesome. Yeah, I think it's so important and so empowering for the people that you work with, and the message that you are bringing to the world. And I know that you mentioned before we started recording that you have been working one-on-one with women for about eight years now, and you've really had this desire to bring this information and these practices to more people. So would love to have you share the thing that you're excited to announce here- -on the podcast today.

Liz Carroll 7:35

I am. I'm very excited about this. So I just launched a book, Rich and Radiant. So it's the high-performing woman's guide to freedom, fulfillment, and a new definition of wealth. I think this is so important about us defining what wealth looks like for us. It, there's ways to calculate your FIRE number, and I love that. It's nice to set the GPS as to where you're going, but is that really what you need? Or where do you want to be? And to set your FIRE number, you have to know what's enough so that you can determine your FIRE number- and your monthly spend. So we have to look at the numbers. We can't sit in avoidance anymore. We have to sit in awareness, and then a lot of clarity as to what feels right for you, and for you not only today, but tomorrow. The beauty about this is I started doing this work on myself and my own money story 30-some years ago, now. So that's where it's beneficial for other women to have another woman who has gone through this journey, and that they can act as a mentor to them, or just even guide. especially as someone that's been a mom too. 'Cause my examples that I had ahead of me Were childless women, which is fine. It's just that they didn't have the same demands on their life that I did as- a working mother. And so being that resource for other women has been one of the best things in my encore career, I will tell you. I love calling it the encore career and- being an example of what's possible.

Adam Coelho 9:11

Yeah that's amazing. And yeah, congratulations on the launch of the book. I know you've had some great success, so I'd love for you to share the Yeah that you had with the reception of the book.

Liz Carroll 9:21

Yeah. It r- came out of the gates pretty fast and hot, and I loved that. And right after, we've seen some women that are having some s- great success, and I felt like it was fun for me to ha- be in that crowd. Yes, it came out right at the top number one on personal growth and family, which was wonderful for me because I think that's really important about the family dynamic that's in the book, is doing this with others. So not only do we uncover our money stories and edit them, but we're also often the driver. So many of these women that I work with are the primary breadwinner of their family, so I think of them as like the bus driver. They're bringing other people with them all the time. So that's where that felt really good that it was in family. It also was in personal success and spirituality on the, out of the gate, and then of course budgeting, which is funny because I was like, budgeting, I don't even use that word in the book. I repel the word budget, and I think most of my women feel that way because budget, it feels deprivation, right? And so I've never used that word in my coaching. I use the word spending plan, and or cashflow plan. A plan basically is what I use-

Adam Coelho 10:33

yeah

Liz Carroll 10:33

instead of budget because who doesn't like a plan? But not everybody likes a budget. Does that...

Adam Coelho 10:37

Yeah. That's awesome. Congratulations on the success of the book, and I know it's reaching a lot of people. And you mentioned this idea of defining your own definition of wealth. Tell me a little bit more about, how the book... I- in the book you advise people on doing that. How do they rethink? I think we're all fed an idea of what wealth looks like, a lot of money, f- big house, fancy car. And the FIRE movement has a somewhat different definition of wealth, but how do you help somebody get in touch with their own definition of wealth?

Liz Carroll 11:10

It's what would feel rich and radiant to you? What... How do you show up feeling rich and radiant? And for me, you talked about fancy car, right? W- and in our previous podcast, I talked about that I wanted to be fancy fire. I didn't wanna be-

Adam Coelho 11:25

Right.

Liz Carroll 11:25

Immediately fire. I'm like, "I want fancy fire." But for me, on that car, what felt so rich and radiant for me, and this could n- there's not another person that maybe has this, so it's defining what's unique to you, is that I wanted a car that I could put three car seats across the back bench, because I have three grandkids right now, and I wanted to be the kind of grandma that could load up three little kids and go and have a great time- with three little kids. And for me, that was so rich and radiant. And so being able to make that happen for myself was amazing, just-

Adam Coelho 12:03

So what do you drive?

Liz Carroll 12:04

in alignment.

Adam Coelho 12:04

What are you driving?

Liz Carroll 12:05

Oh. I'm driving a Tahoe.

Adam Coelho 12:07

Okay. Yeah. Which- Yeah, that'll fit three.

Liz Carroll 12:09

Yeah. It's one of the... There's not a lot of... I think the 4Runner's the other one that can do three car seats across the back. But there's not-

Adam Coelho 12:16

They're very wide on the bench. Yeah, no, they're very wide. I have a Subaru Forester and a, even a Volvo XC90, you can fit three car seats in there. Yeah. Which is great, because I don't want three kids.

Liz Carroll 12:26

Yeah. And anyway, It's just an example, though, of what is rich and radiant for a individual person. Another one of my examples is every Thursday I spend Grandma Thursday, and I love that I have created the kind of schedule that allows me to do that. And that feels so rich and radiant. And yes, financial independence at an early age helped me create that life. And I say early age. I was 48 when I hit my FI number, so I was much older than many people today, and much younger than many of my peers.

Adam Coelho 13:02

Sure. Absolutely

Liz Carroll 13:03

Yeah. So anyway, I was like, that's an example, it's Grandma Thursday. One of the other examples that I talk about in the book, and that's why the dahlias are on the cover of the book, is that I love growing flowers now, and I think gardening is such a wonderful hobby and... But I grow these dahlias to give a, I try to do during dahlia season, a bouquet a day. I love giving flowers away, 'cause who doesn't love receiving flowers? It's like a joy to joy.

Adam Coelho 13:31

It

Liz Carroll 13:31

feels so rich and radiant to give someone a mason jar full of flowers.

Adam Coelho 13:36

Yeah, that's pretty nice. I like it.

Liz Carroll 13:37

Those are my unique ones. I have other clients that have defined theirs as, their walk on the beach. One of my clients a lovely woman, we've worked together for years, she really just knew when she walked into a certain house, it seemed like it was more than she would allow herself to spend on a home But she went in and she just went, "I feel so rich and radiant here because the beach is right out my door, and I can walk the beach every day, and that would feel amazing." So- There

Adam Coelho 14:10

you go. Yeah. That's, that's how I felt walking into this room that you can see behind me. Exactly. It was- Yeah was like, "This is it. This is great." And it was more than I was wanting to spend, but I also was delusional and had no concept- Exactly of what houses cost, 'cause I, it was cheaper than a one-bedroom in San Francisco, that's for sure. Yeah. But it was like, "This is it," and when we, tried to negotiate and we had to come up, 25K and meet them where they were, 'cause there was another offer, it was like, yeah, that was a no-brainer at that point, 'cause the house was perfect, and it's been wonderful,

Liz Carroll 14:42

and you tuned into that, what does feel rich and radiant, and you do such great work with envisioning, and one of the things that my clients we do is we not only do a value analysis, so that's one of the things that is available through the book also, is that there's a link in there that you can get a free value analysis, and I appreciate that anyone go to do that at berichandradiant.com. But I had this client who, we did her values. So we knew her top five values, and then we put the image with it. So for her image, she had hiked the Himalayas. And she knew that wherever she went, it was like, "Is this a Himalaya moment for me or not?" And then she could say, "Yes, I know that it is a Himalaya moment." And-

Adam Coelho 15:30

Cause she had that reference point

Liz Carroll 15:31

reference. And it was- Yeah aligned with those top five values for her, 'cause we put the image with it. My image of my values is a warm hug. I'm a yoga meditation teacher. If you've ever had a hug from a seasoned yoga meditation teacher, it's "Okay, that is so loving."

Adam Coelho 15:49

You gotta block off a half hour for that.

Liz Carroll 15:50

Yeah. So I'm like, okay, that warm hug is what I want women to feel when they come work with me. Yeah. And and the other thing is in my encore career, I can't work with a lot of women. I don't want to spend a lot of time one-on-one, so that's why the book was so helpful because s- then they're able to access the information. And one of my reviewers on Amazon said it felt like they had sat down and had a one-on-one session with me. that is what I really wanted people to feel is to, how do I access that kind of information and wisdom, someone who's been on that journey for 30 years? W- at a very low rate,

Adam Coelho 16:30

yeah, that's very accessible and scalable. Yeah, that's very cool. I love that. Question for you, personal question. You know I like to turn these conversations- Yeah into free coaching sessions for myself. But, you mentioned that your idea of a rich and radiant wealthy life is being able to have Grandma Thursdays- Yeah and to design your week and your schedule in a way that works for you. And so I'd love your advice for me because, give you a little context. So my vision has been to be an entrepreneur, build this business in my own time and my own way, connecting people with themselves, each other, and their biggest vision for their life, right? Those are the value system. But I've found that I'm burning myself out essentially trying to, build this business, and there's part of it that I was on Choose FI and I had a lot of opportunity coming in, and I want to do the group coaching program. But I just allowed it to take over my whole schedule, right? 'Cause I wanted to be available if people wanted to talk to me, so then I just had very nice people, randos from the internet- booking time on my calendar whenever they felt like it. And then I'm, like, having to schedule my whole, everything around these calls. And, most of the time I enjoy the calls, but, getting told no doesn't feel great. And over the whole week, it's like I don't have any time to do anything else, and then I'm like, s- staying up late to get the podcast out. how have you- evolved your business and you've been doing it longer than I have, how have you gotten to this point where you've intentionally designed the week in this way?

Liz Carroll 18:03

You are talking my... this is the one I love talking about, planning and scheduling. I love this. So-

Adam Coelho 18:08

I told you I'm not good at planning- I'm like, I am- or any of that.

Liz Carroll 18:11

I'll give you my answer of what it has evolved to, I really time block. I time block, and people only can book certain times on my schedule, and I have five available. I never have full five, but I only have five one-on-one new client sessions available time blocks in a week. So if they can't do that time-

Adam Coelho 18:33

New

Liz Carroll 18:34

clients

Adam Coelho 18:34

sales calls, essentially.

Liz Carroll 18:35

Actually no, like booking, 'cause my sales calls are usually, There's, I have a time block for those.

Adam Coelho 18:40

Okay.

Liz Carroll 18:40

But typically by the time someone comes to me through referral or my sales calls are very much, they're just booking, "When can we start working together?" I have very few that are-

Adam Coelho 18:51

How do I get to that? Yeah. 'Cause that

Liz Carroll 18:52

would be

Adam Coelho 18:52

nice.

Liz Carroll 18:53

You have a 25-year sales career first, remember?

Adam Coelho 18:56

I- Yeah have a 14-year sales career, and it turns out I'm not very good at it. Selling for Google's too easy.

Liz Carroll 19:02

Yeah. I'll tell you, I think. But so my sales calls that when people come to me after they've either seen my information or mostly referrals, it's just more of a logistics call for us to have. But I will say- Time blocking is exactly what I do, and that's what I'm saying is if I have a new client coming in, it's like which one of the open time sessions? I may only have two at that point.

Adam Coelho 19:28

And if- 'Cause you have some clients that you're currently working with currently

Liz Carroll 19:29

working with or whatever, and this is it. If you can either start or we'll wait until someone rolls out, 'cause it's a nine-week program. So that's how... I'm very... Even though I would love to work with everyone and more plus the other thing is the benefit of fire is this is a I'm doing it because I want to do it- I don't have a mortgage to pay. It's That's the other thing. I really am very strict with my schedule. So that's my answer to you. S-

Adam Coelho 19:58

so practically, when are these schedule? Like when are your sales calls? When are your client slots? We know grandma Thursdays is off limits. Like- Yeah, Fridays as well 'cause I'm trying to, I'm trying to do this, and I did, I constrained my schedule. I'm like, "All right. I'm only doing sales calls on Monday or Tuesday," or whatever it was, and then the next day I was like, "No, but no one's gonna book." And then it's like I don't need the money either, but I'm also like-

Liz Carroll 20:20

Okay

Adam Coelho 20:21

still acting desperate.

Liz Carroll 20:22

We gotta stop that, number one.

Adam Coelho 20:23

I know. We gotta stop that. It's not good. And- People feel it and they don't like it

Liz Carroll 20:26

and I wanted to... Some of your words, you were saying this, but. We gotta change that also. Oh, yeah. Drop

Adam Coelho 20:31

the

Liz Carroll 20:31

but.

Adam Coelho 20:32

We

Liz Carroll 20:32

talked about this last time. We've talked about the words

Adam Coelho 20:33

but- I haven't learned about, I haven't learned it. It's only been three years.

Liz Carroll 20:36

Okay. So we did not plan on this at all, and I wanna make sure that any of your listeners know this, but I'm gonna now show you, 'cause it sits here on my desk. you know I have a membership of women that have coached with me that stay with me for ongoing maintenance and accountability and- and just being someone to bounce ideas off of it. It's called Splendor Club. So this is where that sheet comes from. This sheet is called- Ooh Splendor Week. On the

Adam Coelho 21:02

week

Liz Carroll 21:03

And if you-

Adam Coelho 21:04

I like

Liz Carroll 21:04

it I know this is gonna be really hard to see

Adam Coelho 21:06

No, I can see it

Liz Carroll 21:07

But those so-

Adam Coelho 21:08

Subscribe on YouTube and you can see this too.

Liz Carroll 21:10

Yes. Thank you.

Adam Coelho 21:11

Oh, I see. Okay. Splendor Club. Yeah. That's a lot of Splendor Club. What's going on there?

Liz Carroll 21:15

I have one-on-ones with Splendor Club. Okay. So I block out five spots a week for Splendor Club, and then five spots a week for- Ah new clients

Adam Coelho 21:25

For new clients who are going through the nine weeks. Okay.

Liz Carroll 21:27

And then- I like it I block out three spots that you can see in there that say space for networking or outreach, or those are incoming calls also.

Adam Coelho 21:37

So- Can I see it one more time?

Liz Carroll 21:38

Yeah. Those are the little zig, the, these right here.

Adam Coelho 21:42

The lines?

Liz Carroll 21:43

Yeah.

Adam Coelho 21:43

Okay. Book club, coach one, coach two. Okay.

Liz Carroll 21:46

Yeah.

Adam Coelho 21:46

And then- how do we get this Splendor diagram?

Liz Carroll 21:49

I haven't ever made this available to anyone outside of Splendor Club, but I'm gonna send it to you. Thank you for sure- Please do send it to you. Because I will tell you, and you know where I'm, I made this from, I wanna give credit where credit is due. I read the book Free to Focus by Michael Hyatt. Yeah I read back in 2019 when I retired because I wanted to set up a rich and radiant life. And I use the word splendor because it feels ooh, that's a yummy word, splendor and anyway, so I created this for myself and then rolled it out to Splendor Club for my high-performing women that are in there. Very cool.

Adam Coelho 22:23

Very cool.

Liz Carroll 22:23

It's paper though. This is the thing. I like

Adam Coelho 22:25

it. I like it.

Liz Carroll 22:26

Most people want to use all digital, but I keep it right here always on my desk,

Adam Coelho 22:32

But the... And that's just your ideal week, right? That's... you're not filling that in with people, are you? That's just-

Liz Carroll 22:38

No, this is just I

Adam Coelho 22:39

know- It's just a reminder of the life- A reminder- that you wanna live of

Liz Carroll 22:42

the life I want. And so it has in here also, it's got- y- I go to mass so it's got that on there. It's got the-

Adam Coelho 22:51

Your yoga.

Liz Carroll 22:51

Yeah yoga and it's also got my Dan and I spend Fridays together. We have a day date, but because we have a robust real estate pro-

Adam Coelho 23:01

portfolio

Liz Carroll 23:01

investor business, e-portfolio Yeah we often do some real estate stuff on that day too,

Adam Coelho 23:06

okay.

Liz Carroll 23:07

Yeah.

Adam Coelho 23:07

And so you're- So- Is it, am I seeing you're working two and a half days a week or three days a week or?

Liz Carroll 23:12

If that, right? Because- Yeah, two days a- I don't come into the office until, to, except for today, But you can see that I time block an hour for creating a newsletter. And then I come into the office, typically around noon to five on three days. So that's what I do.

Adam Coelho 23:28

There you go. I love it. I need to create my splendor week because, yeah, right now I'm at the whim of the internet. And that's not the place I wanna be.

Liz Carroll 23:36

No, and the tools- I don't wanna be

Adam Coelho 23:37

stressing out. Yeah.

Liz Carroll 23:38

The tools are there, Adam. I mean- Yeah I use Calendly, and it's easy. It's just "This is the only times that it's available for-" Right.

Adam Coelho 23:46

the problem is I make those too available. Any time you want.

Liz Carroll 23:49

Does that feel rich and radiant? I'm just

Adam Coelho 23:51

curious. No, it feels, I don't know, Bad and not good.

Liz Carroll 23:54

Yeah. You know what it is, though? Is I wanna be deliberate. W- we talk about mindfulness, right? Yeah. mindfulness is awareness. And it's being deliberate rather than default. it's awareness over autopilot. There's those things that we see. The other thing is when you're in that not being deliberate, you're often stay in that survival mode. Y- you're just never enough. You're never d- doing enough. And then when you get the, identify the goal of what you want, I see women go into strive mode. They are just like, We gotta get this done," and they're just working so hard, and that's where the burnout comes in. And so they never shift out of that strive mode into thrive, which is- what I think rich and radiance is. Absolutely. Is where it's with ease and enjoyment. You still have goals. It's not like you d- let go of your ambition or anything like that. I certainly am still the same ambitious person I was before. My ambition has just changed. My ambition is that I want Thursday with my grandkids.

Adam Coelho 24:53

Yeah. Yeah, and that's really what I've been thinking about a lot with this. basically, I was, like, burning myself out before the trip, and then I was like, "You know what? On this trip I'm not thinking about this business at all." And that usually, that w- was a little bit hard, 'cause it's it's on my mind all the time. Yeah. And so I literally switched off my email. I d- took the calendar off my phone, and I didn't think about it at all. And as I'm coming back I'm just like, You know-" I feel like, do I... I felt like an imposter or like a hypocrite, that like I'm trying to help people, step into the next chapter of their life and envision a bigger vision for their life and all these things, and yet I'm struggling with designing and living the life that I say I want. But no, that's not true, right? I'm using mindfulness to have awareness of the fact that I'm out of balance, and I'm- taking steps to realign with the vision that I have. So that's absolutely what I'm teaching, that's what I'm doing and it feels good to do that. And so that's why I'm asking about the schedule 'cause like I've known that for, like a month or so that this doesn't make sense. That's why I changed it and then changed it back. But it's really about, being intentional and being aware of what I need to, live the life that I want. And part of this life is the business and helping people in this way. And the other part of it is being a good and present father, And when I'm stressing about work, I'm not doing that. And I've thought a bunch of times, like should I just take Thursdays off and hang out with my son who doesn't go to school on Thursdays? It's yes, I should. Obviously, I should. Of course. But like why am I not? I'm gonna send a bunch of emails or talk to randos from the internet that I could talk with on other days instead of hanging out with my four-year-old son who's never gonna be four again. So these are some of the- things going through my head.

Liz Carroll 26:44

Am, am I hearing you making a commitment to yourself?

Adam Coelho 26:46

Oh, I wouldn't go that far.

Liz Carroll 26:48

Yeah. I'm like, am I hearing that? That you're making a shift?

Adam Coelho 26:52

It takes me a long time to get there, but I'm getting there. And I'm realizing as I'm talking about it to you it's becoming more real for me I'm going to be redesigning. The splendor week. Yeah. I'm gonna design that, and I'm gonna stick to that because, my schedule is weird with the summer anyways because the kids are, they're in camp for three hours, like-

Liz Carroll 27:10

Yeah

Adam Coelho 27:11

like I have that opportunity, and why not? Well- this is- there's

Liz Carroll 27:14

some things that you may have uncovered for you to look at. And I know you use journaling but when you say, "My schedule is weird"- How do you feel when you say, "My schedule is weird"?

Adam Coelho 27:26

Unsettled.

Liz Carroll 27:26

Yeah. And when you show up unsettled, what happens?

Adam Coelho 27:30

Not much.

Liz Carroll 27:31

Yeah. This is exactly the thing. The other thing that you're talking about is randos from the internet. It's probably not a super welcoming energy. Yeah.

Adam Coelho 27:39

Yeah. That's fair.

Liz Carroll 27:41

And so we're like, "Okay, this is so wonderful," and I, because this is exactly what is going on. Does that make... It's like now you have that moment of awareness, and thank you for letting me ask you those questions on- Sure live podcast. I know you're always open to coaching, so I'm like, "Okay." Oh,

Adam Coelho 27:58

I am. Yeah. And I can't help but be real, right? And when I say randos from the internet, they're random people from the internet, and I love talking to them, right? Yeah. I just don't need to talk to them every day of the week. Yeah. That's the- No that's the realization. I had two conversation yesterday. I'm like so energized by it, 'cause it's people like us who are- Working they've beat the game. They are right on the cusp of the life that they want, and I get to help them- Oh see something differently. It's awesome. I love that. Super energizing.

Liz Carroll 28:23

So I get to help them. that feels different. When you sit into that awareness of what is the energy behind- The words.

Adam Coelho 28:31

Yeah. And the way I'm showing up, right? That's another realization. I'm just bringing it all out here for you. But I... Another realization is I f- feel like I'm constantly trying to fix things about myself- When I could just instead choose how I want to show up.

Liz Carroll 28:46

Okay. Whoa, breakthrough right here on the Mindful Fire podcast.

Adam Coelho 28:50

Hit that subscribe button.

Liz Carroll 28:51

Yeah, exactly. I'm like, honestly, Adam, that's This is so good- Yeah for other people to hear. One of the things that I think has been so valuable for me was seeing other people be coached also. Not only as the recipient, but-

Adam Coelho 29:04

as

Liz Carroll 29:05

the witness.

Adam Coelho 29:06

Yeah. That's why the group coaching model- It's so good I think, is so interesting. Yeah.

Liz Carroll 29:10

That's why I love Splendor Club, because of that. We're all in it together. The the other part, though, is like that building wealth without burnout, it really is about intention. It's about being deliberate. It's about being, showing up how you want to show up. Yeah and that is for me, I show up, and I've heard it, I've said it 100 times. Maybe 1,000. I love my schedule, but I created my schedule. Just I love my schedule today.

Adam Coelho 29:38

But it was a choice

Liz Carroll 29:39

It's a choice. It was deliberate.

Adam Coelho 29:41

Yeah.

Liz Carroll 29:41

It's intentional. Yeah every day, or at least on the Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday when I'm at my desk. Yeah when

Adam Coelho 29:46

you're working.

Liz Carroll 29:47

When I'm at my desk in the afternoons. The other times I'm out v- at the park or whatever.

Adam Coelho 29:51

Living, yeah.

Liz Carroll 29:52

Yeah and that is what fire gave me. Yeah to be a rich and radiant life.

Adam Coelho 29:57

Absolutely. I love it, and that, yeah, that is what we are helping people create and step into with the work that we do. And yeah it's hard to let go of the mindsets that have made us successful in corporate worlds, in careers, and things like that. I... this gotta do more, gotta go, like never enough, like that is the vibe that I had for a 14-year career where it was in a high pressure environment where, you wanted to and you were rewarded for hustling and striving constantly, and that is not the mode that I'm in now, and I'm having to remember and come back to the awareness that, oh, I don't have to be this way anymore. I can choose a different way, and it's not hypocritical to feel that. It's just a feeling. It's just awareness, and you can then take a... I can make a choice on I how I wanna show up next.

Liz Carroll 30:48

Absolutely. And for, you and I have talked about our corporate careers, and for any managers out there listening right now, I wanna just encourage people to create some white space on their calendar. You'll see that mine had white space. I think- that's where we need to have some time to be creative also. So- 'cause when we go from meetings to meetings... I have a client I was coaching yesterday. She's "I don't know if my manager sees every appointment on my calendar," there's such fear around- yeah schedules.

Adam Coelho 31:15

Oh, yeah. I was told in front of my whole team that I should make my calendar public so everyone can see what's on my thing because... I'm like, "What, you don't trust me?" What are you- Yeah. It was... Yeah, that was another fun moment with that person.

Liz Carroll 31:28

And you know that shoulding- Yeah in my book is shaming. So I don't wanna be shoulding on anyone else, and I don't want anyone shoulding on me.

Adam Coelho 31:36

That's right. Absolutely.

Liz Carroll 31:37

Yeah.

Adam Coelho 31:38

Absolutely. All right. Let's do a quick Mindful Fire final four. Sound good?

Liz Carroll 31:43

Yeah. Ready. Sounds good.

Adam Coelho 31:44

All right. The first question is all about envisioning. And so you have this amazing book, Rich and Radiant, Amazon bestseller. What is the vision for this book that you have for, say, the next three years, five years, that you want it to be, the impact you want it to make in the world?

Liz Carroll 32:01

The other thing I wanna give a little plug about this book, and the reason... it's called an airplane book. It's a book that you can slide into your bag and read cover to cover on an airplane, because my ladies that I coach, or any high-performing person, doesn't have a lot of time, right? So we wanna be able to get that content out. But I have created a, four workshops for from the content that I would love to be, sharing in corporate settings or employee resource groups or something that loops in a little adventure also. So as much as I love my current calendar and schedule, and I do, I wouldn't mind adding one or two adventures in the near future to where I'm delivering those one-on-one or in person. So I've been doing a lot of them online, and that's great, and it works really well with my current schedule. But I think that I'm a little ready to do some knee to knee stuff.

Adam Coelho 32:56

Absolutely,

Liz Carroll 32:56

yeah that in person, those workshops. Yeah.

Adam Coelho 32:59

It's fun.

Liz Carroll 32:59

And that way-

Adam Coelho 33:00

Yeah

Liz Carroll 33:00

we can see more people, too. The work can get rippled out further- with one-to-many,

Adam Coelho 33:05

I love it. If you're listening to this, then go get the book, and if you have a organization that you're a part of, bring Liz in to, to do one of these fun workshops for your employees. The second question, Liz, what piece of advice would you give to someone early on their path to financial independence?

Liz Carroll 33:20

First, the very first thing is we need to focus on the math of the moment. What is the math of the moment? And we're not judge, jury of looking at it from, sentencing. You're destined to be broke forever. It's like- this is the math of the moment, and where do we wanna go so that we can transition from that survival mode, if you're feeling like you're stuck or something i- into strive. Because we do have to set some destination and goals, and we gotta do some work to get there. This doesn't just- happen magically. It's not like we're manifesting without action. And then being able to shift into that thrive eventually. First focus on the math of the moment, and I think that's a really important way, 'cause we, you and I talk mindfulness, so it- it's the present. Where are we today, and do we have some cleanup of the past so that we can be present with our money today? Now, I live completely debt-free, and I have for years, even with our 40-some home real estate portfolio, because I wanna be present in the moment with my money. there's some mindset work that needs to be done to be able to get there. so that's the next thing, is that definitely someone starting on the fire journey, m- math of the moment.

Adam Coelho 34:36

unpack that for me. What does that look like?

Liz Carroll 34:38

It's your exact cashflow right now.

Adam Coelho 34:40

How much you're spending- What does it look like- how much you're earning how much you're earning,

Liz Carroll 34:42

how much-

Adam Coelho 34:43

What's your net worth

Liz Carroll 34:43

every- Yeah all of the math of the moment.

Adam Coelho 34:45

Got it.

Liz Carroll 34:46

Doesn't mean that's gonna stay there like that.

Adam Coelho 34:50

But you gotta know where you're starting from. You

Liz Carroll 34:51

gotta know where your start-

Adam Coelho 34:52

Yeah

Liz Carroll 34:52

point is. And so-

Adam Coelho 34:53

For me, that's awareness, right? Mindfulness- Yeah awareness of where you're at and what your financial situation looks like. I like that, math of the moment.

Liz Carroll 35:00

Yeah. so and then working on the mindset 'cause that's the magic, that's the secret sauce to building wealth faster.

Adam Coelho 35:08

Got it.

Liz Carroll 35:08

Yeah.

Adam Coelho 35:09

Cool. the third question is what piece of advice would you give to someone getting started with meditation and/or mindfulness?

Liz Carroll 35:15

my first gut reaction is also visceral. It's "Oh, God, why are you saying this?" But I would say get an app. And as much as I don't want you on your device it is what one of the things that helped me develop a very consistent practice. I started with Headspace back in the day. This was long time ago, but I use Mindvalley now. And I absolutely think it's one of the best things in my spending plan because it really does allow me to have a guided meditation. on a daily basis, and I use them for sleep a lot. However, if I were to look at what I want to say as a mindfulness teacher, is get outside. Use nature as your guide- for mindfulness. Go examine a leaf, honestly. Go look at a bug crawling. So that's, if you're just starting, that's- Often accessible

Adam Coelho 36:08

Yeah. Very good. Yeah, there's ton of great leaves out there, ton of great apps out there. Both are available. I'm a big fan of Insight Timer 'cause it's free- They have guided and they also have timer-based. I just basically set a timer for whatever period of time I'm gonna meditate, call it 20 minutes, and then I have a bell go off every minute just to remind me when my mind wanders, and so that's been really helpful as well. And of course, there are plenty of free meditations on the Mindful Fire podcast, and if you'd like to meditate in community, we have the Mindful Fire Legends community where we get together and support, encourage, and practice together on the path to financial independence. So you can join us there at mindfulfire.org/join. And so w- actually, I'm gonna do that in about eight minutes. All right. Liz, the last question is how can people connect with you online to learn more about your coaching and your wonderful book, Rich and Radiant? Where can they find you online?

Liz Carroll 37:04

They can find me at mindfulmoneycoaches.com and, or Instagram Mindful Money Coaches. The other thing is Rich and Radiant is available on Amazon, so it's very easy. You can also get a link to it from my website, but that's where the best place to find me, and of course LinkedIn. I'm a money coach on LinkedIn.

Adam Coelho 37:25

Very good. Thank you for being here, Liz. Always a pleasure to talk with you, and congrats on the book. I'm really pumped for you and excited to read it myself, and yeah, I'm glad that you were able to hear, here to share this wisdom with the audience. Thank you for being here.

Liz Carroll 37:40

Thank you for having me. I appreciate it.