On today’s episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I’m excited to introduce Scott Young!

I first heard about Scott when he decided to complete MIT's entire computer science curriculum in a year.

Scott has taken on a lot of these types of impressive learning projects and he just wrote a great book about it – Ultralearning.

As you know, I’m attempting to tackle a very intimidating project myself so what better way to kick off that effort than with my own 3-month ultralearning project!

In today’s interview, we dive into the details of ultralearning and we design a new ultralearning project from scratch.

Ultralearning projects seem perfect for anyone who is FI or hopes to achieve financial independence one day so hope you get as much out of this discussion as I did!

Highlights

• Why ultralearning can help you get to FI quicker (while making the journey more enjoyable)
• How Scott was able to complete MIT’s computer science curriculum in one year
• Why the first part of learning something new is the hardest and how to use ultralearning to get past that phase sooner
• How to learn new languages as quickly and efficiently as possible
• Details about my own ultralearning project and how Scott suggests I design it
• The imporantance of breaking big goals into concrete stages
• Why limiting scope is so important when diving into something new
• What is meta-feedback and why it’s important
• The power of direct practice and how to use drills to fix specific issues
• What to do when you hit a block or a plateau in your learning

I can’t believe it but it’s already been three years since I left my full-time job!

To commemorate this special anniversary and to recap the things I’ve learned during this last year of post-FI life (which happened to be the best one yet), I recorded a short podcast episode.

Personal-finance icon Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You to be Rich joins me for an episode of the Financial Independence Podcast!

Ramit first published his New York Times best-selling book, I Will Teach You to be Rich, back in 2009 during the depths of the financial crisis.

He just released the second version today so we discuss what’s changed in the last decade and also talk about FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) – a concept that’s taken the financial world by storm in recent years.

This is the first time Ramit has talked about FIRE so it was great getting his opinions on it, especially since he’s often thought of as being on the opposite end of the financial spectrum (my first podcast guest, Mr. Money Mustache, has even jokingly referred to him as his “arch-rival in personal finance”).

Ramit didn’t hold back (does he ever?) so hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!

Highlights

• What Ramit likes about FIRE (and what he doesn’t)
• When you should pay more instead of less
• How to cure yourself from extreme frugality
• Why you need to maximize for value instead of cost
• How to break out of the spreadsheet and start living life

On today’s episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I’m very excited to introduce author Cal Newport!

I’ve been a huge fan of Cal’s writing for many years so it was a treat to get to talk to him.

We explore many important issues related to early retirement that aren’t often talked about so if you’re thinking about retiring early (or if you already have and are struggling to build the life that you envisioned before leaving work), today’s episode is a must-listen!

Highlights:

• Why pursuing your passion is overrated
• How to love your job
• What is “Focused FIRE” and why it’s likely the best option
• How to get good at something valuable
• Why you should replace relaxation with difficult, meaningful activity
• The importance (and increasing rarity) of deep work
• Why skillful management of attention is the key to a good life
• How to perform a digital declutter
• The importance of high-quality leisure activities
• Why technology could be ruining your personal life and how to stop it