I’m turning 40 this year.  I’m not sure if it’s this stage in my life or something that feels symbolic about the idea of 40, but lately I’ve been trying a lot of new things.  I’m realizing I just won’t know what I like and what will make me happy until I give something a try.  I guess you could say that I’m in an optimization stage.  I am testing and learning to see what works and what doesn’t. 

This desire to try new thing is likely accelerated by the fact that I’m seeing more and more people around me living their dreams and trying new things.  Some are succeeding and some are failing, but all appear to be learning along the way.  I’m watching it happen around me, and I’m realizing that in many ways life is passing me by.  I’ve gotten caught up in always being the responsible one, doing what I thought I was supposed to do, how I was supposed to do it.  I am watching my kids grow up way too quickly while I am off working way too much.  I am overly conservative and safe in my approaches to things.  I am losing my energy and discipline because I am tired, when I need to be finding my energy to propel me forward. Taking on new challenges and projects has been my way to reclaim my positive energy and creativity.

Here are some of the new things I am trying lately:

• This website, Mostly Minimal Life. I’ve been thinking about some version of this website for 10+ years ever since I read Leo Babuta’s ZenHabits  I’vespent a lot of time thinking of ideas and less time doing them because I’m busy with other things.  I’m proud of myself for finally doing this and taking the steps to make it happen.
  • Learnings: I’m enjoying it, but I don’t have as much time as I’d like to write.  Or said another way, I am finding it hard to prioritize the time. 
• I started a podcast! In January of 2020 I launched a podcast called friends on FIRE with my buddy Mike.  We are focused on getting friends to talk about money, and we host a weekly podcast on FIRE (financial independence retire early) and personal finance topics.
  • Learnings: I am loving it, but I also don’t have enough time to dedicate to it.  We have committed to launch a new episode weekly andthe social media, marketing, and promotions to grow our followingtake a lot more time than I have or than I appreciated.   Luckily, we’re initially focused on putting out a sincere and quality product, and we hope the rest will sort itself out over time. 
• Managing a rental property. My husband I own a rental property, but it’s been fairly hands-off with the same tenant in it for 8+ years and managed by a property management company.  I’ve always had an interest in real estate and have considered house flipping (back when it first went mainstream) and am intrigued by the idea of owning rental properties for passive income.  I also love doing DIY projects and am quite handy (thanks dad!).  We recently decided to ditch our property management company, find our own tenant, write our own lease, and manage this property ourselves.
  • Learnings: I am enjoying the process so far!  Most elements so far have been easier than I expected, and so far, so good.  We may be in the honeymoon period on this one, but we’ll see. 
• Doing my own taxes. I’ve been using an accountant for 5+ years, for a multitude of reasons.  My friends on FIRE co-host challenged me to consider doing my own taxes in a recent episode on taxes.
  • Learnings: We did it.  And by we I mean mostly my husband, but he did it.  I helped.  I provided my paperwork, answered some questions, and morale support.  We
• Assistant coaching one of my kid’s soccer teams. I just recently agreed to assistant coach my daughter’s soccer team with a good friend of mine.  The head coach is pretty legit, so she doesn’t really need me and the bar is set low for me.  This made it easy to commit to, as it was low pressure.  I played soccer when I was in high school, but I was never really that good.  I’m really good compared to 8-year olds though, so if nothing else this will be a good confidence boost for me.
  • Learnings: Jury is still out on this one, as the season just started, it rained a lot and things were cancelled, and then the coronavirus hit and the seasons is cancelled until further notice.  I did assistant coach in one game and one practice, and both were fun!  I was definitely more engaged and focused on the kids than I would have been if I didn’t have a formal role to help. 
• Cleaning the gutters and blowing the leaves off my roof. All of the above items were much larger in scope, so I thought I’d throw in a simpler one.  Some would say this is just stupid, but I sometimes like to remind myself I am capable of doing just about anything myself.  Someday when I retire, and have more time than money, I will do tons of things myself that I now pay someone else to do.  So, I climbed up on a ladder with a pair of gloves and a blower, and I cleaned off my roof and gutters.
  • Learnings: I can do it, but is it worth the risk of me falling off the roof?  Jury is still out if I will keep doing this myself vs. hire someone. 

Here’s what I am learning along the way, and advice for others who want to try more things:

• Trying things is a good thing. There’s really no downside to trying new things.  Well, except one…
• Don’t try too many new things all at once. Practice moderation and patience.  Just like any good testing strategy, you shouldn’t try too many new things at once or your data is no good.  For example, in January 2020 I was launching/trying too many new things at once and it became overwhelming.  Aside from burning myself out, it was hard to ascertain what I was enjoying vs not because I was so overcommitted.  I’ve realized I need to be more patient, and pace myself. 
• Pay close attention along the way. Pay attention to what you enjoy versus don’t.  More specifically, pay attention to what depletes your energy vs. gives you energy.  It may be that you enjoy parts of activities, but not all of them.  For example, I enjoy writing, but I am not enjoying the social media aspect of things as much.  That might just be a sign that I am getting old though!
• Take notes in order to remember what you’re enjoying along the way vs. not. Consider keeping notes in something like a “good time journal – activity log.”  This is a concept from the book Designing Your Life, which I highly recommend. 
• Do more of what you like, and less of what you don’t.
• Keep repeating this process and trying new things.

Okay, so what are you going to go out there and try?

PS – Written while listening to No One Else Can Wear Your Crown by Oh Wonder. 

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