The Conscious Investor

Ep506 Break the Hamster Wheel & End Burnout

July 15, 2024 • Julie Holly

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Feeling trapped in the endless cycle of burnout? Imagine aligning your life with your true purpose instead of just chasing financial rewards. In this episode, I, Julie Holly, unravel the secrets to breaking free from the hamster wheel of life. We'll dissect how mindset, health, and wealth collectively contribute to genuine personal freedom. Learn how fear often dictates our career choices and perpetuates burnout, and discover three pivotal questions that can help you escape this vicious cycle once and for all. These questions will challenge the stories you've been telling yourself and guide you toward a more fulfilling, purpose-driven life.

Ever wondered if your purpose is more multifaceted than you think? This episode reveals how your core purpose can evolve and manifest in surprising ways throughout your life. Drawing on my own journey from education to coaching, I'll help you explore whether fear, insecurity, or the fear of people's opinions (FOPO) are holding you back. Addressing these critical questions can help you set healthy boundaries and avoid living under the weight of others' expectations. Tune in to unshackle yourself from unfulfilling patterns and embrace a life of true personal freedom.

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Episodes referenced in the introduction:



Speaker 1:

Hello, conscious Investor, and welcome back. I'm your host, julie Hawley. For over four years, I've paired my background in real estate, investing, education and coaching to create powerful content for you each week. This podcast is where we take a holistic approach to investing by focusing on three ingredients to a life of personal freedom health, mindset and wealth. We'll talk about everything from passive investing through syndication and how to use your retirement accounts to boost your investing, to mineral balancing and gut brain health, and into topics that cultivate your inner strength and resilience so you can thrive regardless of any of life's current events. And yes, those are all episodes currently available and linked in the show notes below. Join me each Monday for a mindset episode and later in the week for an interview with expert investors and health professionals, so that you can experience your greatest health, strongest mindset and build the wisest one.

Speaker 1:

Or. Welcome to the Conscious Investor Podcast. I am your host, julie Holly, and I am so happy to have you here on this gorgeous Monday. And, yes, I absolutely love Mondays. I love them because you and I get to get to hang out together. We get to digest some rich substance, the things that the topics that create meaning and richness in life. Remember, this is not a monologue, this is a dialogue and I know that because you reach out to me, you leave reviews, you share this with your friends and you reach out to me directly and let me know how these podcast episodes support you and I value that so much.

Speaker 1:

Remember that the conscious investor is not the Julie Holly show, specifically doesn't even have my name on the little emblem, you know, on the little artwork, because this is the conscious investor. This is so much bigger than Julie Holly. This is about us making a massive shift and difference in the world. You know, really a great life isn't dependent upon our net worth and that's one of the massive goals of this podcast. Yes, our financial freedom is so important, but we cannot subordinate the fullness and riches that we are. Our DNA pre-qualifies us for in this world to chase after money and wealth and financial freedom. Wow, that looks so different to so many people on so many different levels. Also, just wrap our heads around that, because your idea of financial freedom is going to be very different than a lot of other people's idea of what that looks like. So that actually leads, really segues in really well, and I wasn't intending to say all of that. It's just deep on my heart. To just remind you, conscious Investor, help spread this message so that we can help emancipate other people, so that they can live and experience the fullness of life that they were created for. Today we are talking about golly, the proverbial hamster wheel. Again, yes, can we just break the hamster wheel once and for all? Okay, we please say goodbye, farewell, good riddance, to burnout Golly.

Speaker 1:

I know that some people have a hard time with Mondays. It's like, oh, I got to go back to work, I don't want to. Sunday nights for a lot of people are difficult. Anxiety creeps in, overwhelm creeps in. I got to save this job because I'll have better health benefits, I have retirement benefits, I'm so well compensated, this job is so easy and I'm so well compensated. It just doesn't even make sense to leave this.

Speaker 1:

Conscious investor. We tell ourselves so many different stories but instead of living life in our purpose, we find ourselves just running ourselves ragged, chasing after dollars and what those dollars will produce in our lives. And yeah, sometimes, sometimes we change jobs, sometimes we might even shift careers because we think that's the solution. So we're on one hamster wheel and we're running on that hamster wheel and we're getting exhausted and we're like, oh, this is too much, we're burnt out and we blame it on external circumstances. Couldn't go back to a previous episode on circumstances, right. So we blame our circumstances for our burnout instead of looking inward. It's really easy to blame the easy top level targets it's my boss, it's the people I'm working with, it's the industry, it's fill in the blank, and we stay on that hamster wheel. We get burnt out. We decided to shift jobs, okay, great. So we go from this hamster wheel over to another hamster wheel and we hop on that one and we start running and for the really like the interim, it's okay, okay, I'm like, oh, wow, okay, new scenery. As we shifted, we maybe weren't quite so sweaty because we got to slow down a little bit, enjoy a little bit of life. Then the pace picks back up and we find ourselves in the exact same position all over again.

Speaker 1:

So here are three questions yes, my favorite number. Here are three questions that we need to be asking ourselves deliberately and carefully If we want to get off the hamster wheel and we want to actually break it so that there is no hamster wheel to ever hop back on. Here are the top three questions, and I'm just going to let you know in advance they might get uncomfortable. So buckle on up, conscious, ambassador, cause here we go. Am I allowing fear to determine my path? Oh man, I just want you to contemplate that for a moment.

Speaker 1:

Let's pick it apart a little bit. Yeah, you know, the economy it's really. Nobody's really knows where the economy is going. This isn't the right time for me to step into my purpose, because I mean, the economy could fall apart and if that doesn't work out now, I'm going to have a really hard time getting a job. And now we're living in a van down by the river. Hard time getting a job, and now we're living in a van down by the river.

Speaker 1:

So it's a story that we tell ourselves. We tell ourselves the story that, you know, if we just stay here a little bit longer, we're going to be fully vested. And when we're fully vested, you know, in that 18 to 24 month horizon, when we're fully vested, then it's going to be totally worth it and then we can start living into our purpose. We're afraid. We're afraid that if we don't do these things, we're afraid that the economy is going to fall apart. We're afraid that we need more time in order to create this cushion for ourselves, we're afraid and we look to our pasts. Well, I don't know the last time I stepped out and tried to live into my purpose, it really didn't work out well and I got myself into such a jam and I ran up some debt and it was so bad for like the next three years. It was horrible and I never want to experience that again.

Speaker 1:

So we subordinate our purpose to fear. We will always be on the hamster wheel If we are on the hamster wheel with fear. Fear is a hamster wheel in and of itself. We'll talk about that in a whole other podcast episode.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so we have to just determine if fear is what is guiding and directing our paths. If it is, we need to silence it. We have to say hey, fear, uh no, you don't get to make the decisions in my life. One way we do this is when our conviction is greater than our fears. When our conviction is high, it quiets all the noise in the peanut gallery Fear, doubt, insecurity, all of it gets far more quiet when we are deeply tied to our conviction. Second question we need to ask ourselves am I inviting insecurity to have a solo performance, fighting insecurity to have a solo performance. Okay, just the way I picture this conscious investor is that I actually picture a concert taking place and then someone has like a lead solo, and most of the time we are literally inviting the insecurity in our life to hold the mic and to just dominate the stage.

Speaker 1:

Insecurity keeps us and prevents us from being able to take the massive leaps of living into our purpose. Insecurity keeps us shackled to the proverbial hamster wheel. Here's a spoiler you will always have insecurity. I'm around a lot of very highly successful people and when you get to know them, you know they have the exact same insecurities as people that the world would say well, they're not as successful. And remember, the world is going to put success on the metrics of are you an influencer or what's your net worth Like, it's a very superficial, limited scale at all. So if we're looking at that, every single person has insecurity. I've never met somebody that's like I don't even care about anyone or anything. I mean, we can say that and to some extent it's true, but there are areas in our life where there is always a tenderness of insecurity. That's part of being human. You will never have it go away. However, when your conviction is greater than insecurity is going to quiet. Insecurity is going to go back into the chorus. Okay, conviction needs to have the solo, needs to have the mic on stage of your life and we need to be deeply connected to our purpose in order to have that conviction. Now I'm going to do a little tangent and I didn't have this, I didn't write anything down in my notes about this, but I'm going to do that conviction. Now I'm going to do a little tangent and I didn't have this, I didn't write anything down in my notes about this, but I'm going to do this anyway. And that is that.

Speaker 1:

A lot of times people say well, how do I even find my purpose? I don't know what my purpose is. I just want you to know your purpose is multifaceted, it's not singular, it's not just this is the one and only thing that you are going to do in your entire life, one and only thing that you are going to do in your entire life. Purpose is something that is harvested and discovered over a lifetime. So a lot of times we feel stalled out because we're like I don't even know what my purpose is. I guess I have to figure that out before I figure the rest of life out, but finding and discovering our purpose is actually a process of life. Finding and discovering our purpose is something that is going to change throughout our lifetime because we are changing Now our purpose.

Speaker 1:

I have a through line in my life. I love encouraging people, I love educating people and supporting people. That is a through line from like start, the earliest memories I have, to present day, and and I believe that that's part of how my DNA is and like what God, how God created me, how that presents itself in different avenues in life has shifted over the years. I've used that purpose in a variety of ways, from public school education to starting prayer groups, to starting a homeschool co-op, to, you know, having a podcast and educating people on syndication, to private coaching. So there are all these different ways that that one purpose encouraging, serving and supporting people has played out over my entire lifetime.

Speaker 1:

So I'm sharing that to hopefully encourage you that your purpose is not singular. Your purpose is something that is going to iterate throughout your lifetime and I think that God created us in that way because it really keeps it interesting and God is not dull at all as I'm looking at my windows to the mountains and to the weather outside and hearing my animals on our little hobby farm. As I'm experiencing all of this, there is never a dull moment. God did not create this world and this space to just be stagnant and boring and dull, and he surely didn't create you and I to have to go through life in a mundane way. This is what you're going to do your entire life this one thing Now. Are there instances of that? Sure, but I think if we look at Mother Teresa's life even and her service and I can think of other people where we'd say Teresa's life even and her service, and I can think of other people where we'd say, oh well, that's what they did. They actually iterated on that in different ways and capacities. So I want you to consider that when you're thinking about your purpose.

Speaker 1:

So we've had two questions so far right We've had am I allowing fear to determine my path? Am I inviting insecurity to have a solo performance? And our third question is am I allowing FOPO to chart the course of my life? I guarantee at least one of these questions is going to be a zinger for you, if you're willing to sit with it, okay. And the reality is is that most of us are allowing fear of people's opinions. Again, thank you Michael Gervais. I absolutely love his work on FOPO. But most of us are living subordinating our lives and we're staying on that hamster wheel because we're trying to please the people around us. You know, I really want to go and start that company and I can see and I have a vision for it. I believe it'd be successful. But that makes my spouse really uncomfortable and my spouse really needs security and my spouse really wants to know that the savings is going to be there and we're going to be solvent. And so I can't FOPO.

Speaker 1:

Even in our personal, deeply regarded relationships there are people that don't do things. Well, my family doesn't do that. Well, maybe you're the outlier. Like, just because your family doesn't do that doesn't mean you don't do that, I know. But I love my family and I don't want, like my siblings and my parents and my cousins, to like look at me, you know me and question me and they're just going to think I'm weird. So does our conviction outweigh other people's opinions? Because, guess what? We will feel burnt out and exhausted when we are living our life in service of other people's obligations for us. We will burn out. Just remember, I've said this so many times on the show but we are the star role of our life. We are supporting cast members in other people's lives. Sometimes we're just extras in people's lives and that's the reality. But we cannot live our lives trying to play the role for someone else in their life, to make them happy.

Speaker 1:

You have to say what is the purpose that the sovereign God created me for? Let me live into that. Everything else is going to work out, but I have to live into the fullness of who I am created to be and with this we have to set healthy boundaries for ourselves. We just have to be real and we have to say am I subordinating to fear? And when we start to notice that fear creep in, that's when we do have to do a conviction check. What am I current? What am I currently doing? Am I, you know, following the path that I believe I'm supposed to be on? Because when we start to divert from that, we start to get earned out.

Speaker 1:

We want to set those boundaries and just go back to these type of questions and you might have others that we should add to this list of questions, and I would love to hear them. Conscious investor. Shoot me an email, julie, at juliehollycom, and let me know what those questions are. But we want to go back to these. Your additional questions is what I was trying to say. But we want to go back to these. Your additional questions is what I was trying to say. But we want to come back to these questions on a regular basis, especially if we start to feel like, oh whoa, I'm getting burnt out. I feel like I'm on that hamster wheel, because a hamster wheel shouldn't even exist. You heard me right. The hamster wheel should just be absolutely gone out of our life.

Speaker 1:

One of the best ways to support ourselves in not ever getting onto any hamster wheel ever is to fill your mind with quality thoughts, high quality thoughts, and that's why I've been putting quotes. I have a whole list of quotes from books that I've read, quotes that I love, and I send them out in a text message and, if you're interested, you can also just have these texts. I think there's a cadence and a rhythm to them. It might start out more frequent and then it tapers off to every couple of days. I don't want to bog you down too much, however, just text quotes, literally the word quotes Q-U-O-T-E-S to my number 208-944-1836. So again, you're going to text quotes to 208-944-1836. And this is going to help you get control of your headspace by adding those quality quotes to your day and you probably will end up wanting to pick up those books and at that point I should probably send you the best books reading list. But we'll leave it there for now.

Speaker 1:

Conscious investor, you don't have to be on a hamster wheel. You don't have to subordinate your life to fear. You don't have to subordinate your life to insecurity and you don't have to subordinate your life to fear. You don't have to subordinate your life to insecurity and you don't have to subordinate your life and your purpose to other people's opinions about what your life should be. You have a responsibility and an obligation to the DNA you were gifted with to actually learn, to develop your skills, talents and abilities so that you can use them in an effective way in this world. You will feel fulfilled. You will feel satisfied, regardless of your net worth. You are going to feel all of those feelings and I absolutely love that. Net worth is not tied and correlated to our feelings of fulfillment and satisfaction in life. So lean into that. Regardless of your net worth, you are a success.

Speaker 1:

I appreciate you, conscious Investor. Let me know what you think of this podcast episode. Head on over to Apple Podcasts, please. It would mean absolutely the world to me. It makes such a difference for the show and the quality. The guests that want to come onto the show. They look at the activity of you, conscious Investor. When guests, potential guests see that people you know you leave regular reviews they're like dang, you have a great audience. I wanna be there, I wanna serve your audience, so please go ahead. Apple Podcasts is the place to leave reviews. You have to be on the main show page. Then you're going to scroll down where it says reviews, ratings and reviews, and look a little bit lower. In little purple letters, teeny tiny, it'll say write a review. Take a moment, take 30 seconds. It would absolutely mean the world to me. I appreciate you, conscious investor, and I look forward to hearing from you until next time. Cheers to your health, your mindset, thank you. © transcript Emily Beynon.

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Julie Holly

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