“Be like water..” but don’t be fireproof

One of my favorite quotes is one by Bruce Lee:

You must be shapeless, formless, like water. When you pour water in a cup, it becomes the cup. When you pour water in a bottle, it becomes the bottle. When you pour water in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Water can drip and it can crash. Be water my friend.” – Bruce Lee

To me, this quote embodies the principals of the FIRE movement. With that being said, let’s go back to the title of this post. I encourage you all to be like water, be willing to make changes for your future. Don’t be fireproof by dismissing this way of life by telling yourself, “There is no way I could do this.” You can. If you are willing to challenge yourself, you will. I hope you all will read these blog posts as a ridiculous narrative of the direction my own personal goals are taking me.

Let’s be willing to make changes in your current life to shape the future you. This can mean making sacrifices in our day to day lives. These can be simple changes such as using reusable cleaning products to replace wasteful ones, making the effort to do DIY projects, not getting that latte on the way to work, or something difficult like changing your shopping habits. For me personally, my shopping habits need to have an extreme overhaul. I enjoy the ease of being able to hop onto Amazon and buy whatever I like. Stopping at the local grocer to fulfill my craving for cookies and ice cream. That instant gratification is like a drug to me, always looking for my next fix in the form of buying everything in my wish list.

Make an effort not to shy away from this lifestyle change because they may push you out of your comfort zone. Making changes strengthen us, and teach us more about our strength and weaknesses. I have found one of the biggest challenges (which also seems to be a theme in starting the FIRE) is getting people to talk about their financial situations. We bury our paycheck stubs as if they are the biggest skeletons in our closets. It seems to be a taboo subject in which most of us were never taught. I am going to make a suggestion, find someone who can sit inside the financial confessional booth with. It is not as difficult as one might think like a can of Pringles, once you pop the top you can’t stop. As embarrassing as our financial lifestyles may be, putting them out on the table can be the push we need to make these important changes.

For me personally I found it difficult to talk about my financial issues. I still feel embarrassed for the way I waste money, the mistakes I have made in life that have put me behind in my own personal goals. I feel me being transparent is the best way to hold myself accountable for making more of these mistakes in the future. So I am challenging myself for the next 30 days to record every penny I spend, after this I will try to find alternative solutions to live leaner. I am hoping this will force me to make more responsible decisions, and avoid being wasteful with my own resources. I will post where I spent money and my reason behind my decision to do so, there will probably be a lot of entries that contain “because I needed cookies”.

“Be water my friend”