How to Tilt the Balance of Life in Your Favor

Good morning and Happy Friday!

Welcome to another edition of The Matt Viera Newsletter.

The newsletter with the goal to inspire you to live the life you actually want to live.

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Before I get into it, I just read a quote from a newsletter I subscribe to that really resonated with me:

Take from it what you will.

Last week I discussed how the amount of time I'm afforded away from my job (~3 months) is why I lasted as long as I have in my current job (12 years).

It's all about having a decent work-life balance.

And the ability to take mini-retirements (which you can read more of here and here).

That extended time away from my job allows me to look forward to experiences that truly matter to me and help tilt the balance of life in my favor.

For the record, I'm not a stranger to the 60-80 hour work week (I did spend 6 months in Haiti without a day off which puts to shame any work week I've ever experienced as a practicing attorney).

However, at this stage in the game, I will turn down (almost) any position that limits my time away from my job.

Why?

It's simple.

I have to work a 9-5 job.

I have no choice.

I am not financially independent (yet).

But if I have to work a 9-5 job, I want as much time away from the job as I can possibly get.

Remember, time is your most precious resource.

Once it's gone… it's gone.

There is no amount of money on the planet that can buy you one second of time.

However, with your PTO (paid time off), you can find an experience that will help tilt the balance of life in your favor.

Let me explain:

Towards the end of my 5th year in my current job in 2016, I was a bit disgruntled (9-5 jobs may do that to you).

At that time, I decided the best thing for me was to rent a car (I didn't have a car at the time) and drive to Montana.

Alone.

I didn't have a plan, a route, or an idea of what to expect.

I loaded up the podcasts, packed some clothes and my laptop, picked up the rental car, and started driving west.

It took me 3 days to reach Montana.

It was one of the best experiences of my life.

That road trip became the one experience that helps tilt the balance of life in my favor (every year).

How?

Why?

Have you ever driven across the country?

Alone?

You start driving (from NYC) and don't stop until you've crossed the Mississippi or you’re west of Chicago.

Then you check for the best route through the Heartland states because you still have more driving.

Now here's what I want to emphasize and why I'm all about cross-country road trips (and why it’s the one experience for me):

A long-distance road trip is one thing, e.g., NYC to Florida.

A cross-country road trip that involves driving border-to-border through South Dakota or border-to-border through Wyoming is something else.

The South Dakota landscape, like Wyoming: breathtaking.

It's like being on another planet.

It's unlike anything you've ever seen (trust me, I’ve lived on 4 continents).

The first time I drove through Wyoming, I drove from the Wyoming-Montana border to the Wyoming-Colorado border on Interstate 25, a major highway.

I didn't see another human being for about 3 hours.

Like watching a sunset in Africa, you haven't truly lived until you've driven border-to-border through South Dakota.

Or Wyoming.

I've done both.

Multiple times.

And I fiend for the time when I can do it again.

What's the point of all this?

The point of all this is to emphasize: you must find that one experience that will tilt the balance of life in your favor.

The one experience that will give you something to look forward to and helps you get out of bed in the morning when life gets a little too challenging.

Life is challenging enough as it is.

And going to a job day-in and day-out, 5 days per week (for presumably decades), is not the life you actually want to live.

I don't know.

Maybe it is.

I know it's not for me.

Not after I watched a sunset in Africa.

Not after I’ve driven across South Dakota and Wyoming.

As much of an advocate as I am for the cross-country road trip, I understand that with limited PTO, jumping into your car, and driving cross-country, one way for 3 days may be a bit ambitious.

If so, find the one experience you can do in the amount of time you are afforded away from your job.

I'd be remiss if I didn't emphasize your one experience is for you and you alone.

Next week, I'll give you 3 reasons why.

Interesting reads:

A NYC-Miami Move Can Save You Up to $200K

Recent homebuyers are regretting their purchases

Europe’s ‘crazy’ tourism summer has already started. And it’s going to get much worse

Thanks for reading!

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