I Have a Private Confession to Make

Good morning!

I hope this finds you well.

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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I have a private confession to make.

I am an addict.

What is my addiction?

I am embarrassed to admit my addiction is watching reality TV.

I watch hours of reality TV on a near daily basis.

Before the pandemic lockdown, I was Mr. Anti-Reality TV.

I absolutely and vehemently refused to watch any reality TV.

But while on lockdown and dealing with the stress of living in a world in the throes of a pandemic, I discovered Survivor.

Then, after I binge-watched every episode of Survivor (starting from Season 12), I discovered The Amazing Race.

I binge-watched every episode of The Amazing Race from Season 1 (except the most recently released season—for some reason, I’m saving that season).

So, what did I discover after binge-watching Survivor and The Amazing Race?

A reality TV show called The Challenge.

I can’t sit down to watch only one episode.

I end up watching 4 - 5 episodes.

At one point, I regularly alternated between episodes of Survivor, The Challenge, and Deal or No Deal Island.

I even encourage friends and colleagues to check out one or more of these shows.

The truth is, I don’t believe there is anything inherently wrong with watching TV shows (reality or otherwise) or movies.

I watch both whenever possible, and I’ve binge-watched my fair share of TV.

I even have a Saturday movie night ritual I’ve practiced for years—I roast chicken wings and tater tots to enjoy while watching a movie (the longer the movie, the better).

But, when I find myself fiending (for lack of a better word) an episode of The Challenge, I know I have a problem.

The problem is I’d rather watch reality TV (hours of reality TV) than do things I need to do, I want to do, or pursue my hobbies.

For example, I have three email inboxes flooded with emails I want to read, learn from, and sort through to achieve “inbox zero.”

If I focused more on that endeavor than watching reality TV, I would have achieved “inbox zero” months ago.

It’s a problem I must address and one I am confident I will overcome.

I’m not saying I will quit watching reality TV shows altogether because I do enjoy them (maybe a little too much).

Still, I need to be more mindful of how much of a problem reality TV is for me and what it is taking away from me and my life.

I am currently on summer vacation through the start of September.

I do have a lot of time on my hands.

More than enough to accomplish several of my personal goals

As I write this, I am enjoying a cup of coffee out in the woods in my camper, two hours from New York City, listening to the sounds of nature.

While I can certainly watch some reality TV by streaming episodes through my phone, I don’t feel compelled to do so.

And, I have several goals I’d like to accomplish this week while camping.

The most important: not to watch a single episode of any reality TV show.

It’s a start.

If I can go seven days without watching reality TV, then I’ll shoot for 30 days.

What’s the point of all this?

The point of all this is to remind you that whatever obstacle you’re facing that may be inhibiting you from accomplishing your goals, take a step back.

Explore your options, analyze the data, develop a new plan of attack, and then move forward by ruthlessly executing your new plan of attack.

Remember: if you can’t manage your time effectively when you have less than you want, you won’t manage your time effectively when you have more than you need.

I’d also like to share a quick update:

One of my goals for this summer is to improve my writing game.

In last week’s article, I mentioned how challenging it is to write and publish a weekly newsletter.

The goal is to write a draft of a newsletter article each day through September 1.

The reason I want to do this is:

• Continue to improve my writing skills

• To ultimately improve the quality of this newsletter

• Build a library of content I can use for future newsletter articles

As such, I will repurpose and republish articles I’ve published in the past for the next few weeks.

This will introduce some of my previously published content for new newsletter subscribers.

I’ve published newsletter articles for close to two years now (you may have missed one or more).

As always, if you have a question or if there’s a topic you’d like me to discuss, please feel free to email me.

I reply to every email.

Before you go, subscribe to my free 5-day email education course: “A Beginner’s Guide to Mini-Retirements.”

You’ll receive an email daily to take you from idea to living out your mini-retirement.

You can subscribe here: miniretirementguide.com

What caught my attention:

“The difference between successful people and really successful people is that really successful people say 'no' to almost everything.”

—Warren Buffett

You can find the collection of financial tools & resources that helped me grow from a 6-figure debt to a 6-figure net worth by clicking here.

Thanks for reading!

Please feel free to reply to this email with suggestions, questions, or comments.

I read every email.

If you have a question about personal finance, travel, or mini-retirements, email me and ask and I’ll discuss the answer in a future article.

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