#153 - Real Life Personal Growth And Finance Stories with P.T. Money
Every one of us has a Facebook face - right? It’s that face we put on for the Facebook watching world (at least we HOPE they are watching). Here's what it looks like: We have a great life, great relationships, new car, enviable vacation pictures - you know the drill. It’s the adult way of impressing our friends and family. But the problem is that it’s not entirely true. On this episode of The Retirement Answer Man, I’m talking with a friend of mine, P.T. Money about the real life personal growth stories we all have related to our finances. It’s seldom pretty. We all have fits and starts in the journey. P.T. has a new podcast featuring those stories and I want you to hear about it, on this episode.
None of us get our finances right in the beginning. It’s OK. It’s personal growth.
I remember when I started out as a young adult - at least I thought I was an adult. I was doing the things I wanted to do, thinking I knew everything I needed to know, doing what came naturally and easily. I made a LOT of mistakes, with money and with my relationships. But it was those mistakes that woke me up to the needs in my own life, to the areas of growth that I needed to take seriously in my own life. On this episode, I’m trying to point us toward the real life struggles we all face so we can understand that none of us is alone on the journey. We all make the bone-headed mistakes that grow us up over time.
Did you know what you wanted to do right out of high school? Me neither.
Very few of us do. But we have this crazy-headed notion that if we don’t know what we’re going to do for the rest of our lives by the time we are 18, something is wrong with us. And even worse, we think that once we are in that career or in a serious vocation, that’s it. We’re stuck there for life. My guest today is P.T. Money - he’s a guy who almost literally fell into being an accountant because it was the family trade, so to speak. But by the time he was 30 years old he discovered that it actually WASN’T what he was wired to do. You can hear his story, how he discovered the bad fit, and what he did to pivot away from accounting and build a happier and more profitable career, on this episode.
The growth curve exists all throughout life. Get used to it.
Early on in life, I believed that one day I’d arrive, I’d get to the place that my personal growth would taper off. But that’s not at ALL what’s happened. I turn 50 this next week and one of the many things I’ve learned in my time on the planet is that the growth curve never stops, no matter how old and experienced you become. So if that’s true, how can we maximize the learning curve to amplify personal growth and make the most of the years we have? That’s the topic of discussion on this episode, with my guest P.T. Money.
Building toward your retirement through a side-hustle is an incredible idea.
We’re all hoping for the best retirement possible. That includes plenty of money to know that we’ll be comfortable and secure for the years we have left after leaving our full-time employment or career. But I want to challenge you to think a bit bigger than that. What can you do to put together a side hustle based on an area of interest or passion, and use it to make a bigger difference in the world - both now and during your retirement? What would that look like? I bet you could make it happen. My guest P.T. Money and I talk about that possibility on this episode of The Retirement Answer Man.
OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN
[0:29] My introduction to this episode about life evolutions and personal growth.
[5:02] What happens with something (someone) who evolves.
HOT TOPIC SEGMENT
[6:18] Burnout is evolution gone wrong.
[9:00] How to pivot your work to serve you rather than the other way around.
PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT
[9:40] My guest, P.T. Money - and why I’ve invited him on the podcast.
[12:15] Why P.T. left the accounting practice.
[13:34] How P.T. defaulted into accounting and realized it wasn’t for him.
[14:59] Changing emphasis and career - and the financial growth ensued.
[20:03] What P.T. sees for himself in the next few years, and regarding retirement.
[23:10] How to find and work toward “your thing” to build a side hustle.
[27:00] P.T.’s goals for his podcast and the types of conversations he wants it to provide.
[30:02] How you can get in touch with P.T.
TODAY’S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT
[30:28] Your baby step for this week: Start your own “In Case of Emergency” plan.
THE HAPPY LAB SEGMENT
[33:25] Play this episode of the podcast at ¾ speed and let me know what you think! It’s a riot!
RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Roger’s YouTube Channel - Roger That
BOOK - Rock Retirement by Roger Whitney
3-video Series: 5 Minute Retirement Makeover
Roger’s Retirement Learning Center
The Retirement Answer Man Facebook Page