Maximum Enthusiasm Megan Hottman

Growing up, my parents always told me that if I couldn’t pay cash for something, I couldn’t afford it. With few exceptions, like my first few homes, that has been my life motto. Yes, I do use credit cards as a way of leveraging points, perks and privileges, but I pay my balances off each month. Also yes, I am one of those “weirdos” that MMM talks about: I am debt-free, very much on purpose, I don’t buy things I can’t afford, I don’t need the latest, newest, greatest stuff (ok, unless it’s a bike, then I do, and I splurge! )… I drive fewer miles than I ride on my bike each year, I live in towns where I can bike commute or walk to the places I need to frequent, and …one other money-saving life hack: I quit alcohol back in late 2017 and according to my “I’m done drinking app,” I’ve saved over $32k- enough to buy a car! Ok, I digress, this isn’t about me, it’s about my guest, but hopefully this preview gives you a small inkling as to why I was SO doggone excited to connect with this guest and to interview him!!
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I am so excited to bring MMM to your ears!! I've been a long-time fan and follower of MMM and have read his blog posts and newsletters time after time, always learning and always appreciating his approach to things. I really like how he breaks down the math on dollars and cents saved by doing things like riding a bike versus driving a car, how his family budgets their funds for groceries and living less-expensively so that they can live MORE expansively.
FIRE = Financial Independence Retire Early is a movement I've been studying, following, living myself personally and embodying for awhile now. Save more, spend less, live more of your life and spend less of it buying/storing/selling crap...

I learned even more about MMM and what drives him, as well as what he's into these days (like Peter Attia's book Outlive) and I'm so excited to share it with you here!

Please give his website a look: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/
Subscribe to his free boot camp and his newsletters, and follow him on IG as well. Be inspired to think outside the box and set down your consumerism mindset while ponding the possibilities of what else might be possible!

Here's just one of many great quotes from his blog:
"These days, it’s totally normal for even the most indebted people to go out to enjoy acres of Sushi and lakes of Sake on Friday nights, laughing and having a grand old time without the smallest thought about the deepening grave of debt they are digging. It doesn’t even strike them as a problem that they don’t own their own houses and even their cars are borrowed.

“This is socialization, it’s important!”, they rationalize. “And besides, sushi is extremely yummy!”

You too want to participate. You drive yourself to the restaurant in your own borrowed car and live “the good life”.

It can be pleasant to indulge in these things, and it sure is easy. But there’s another path available: the more difficult yet far better one.

Certain rare people live in the same society, and work the same jobs as the folks described above. But they’re a little bit better at math, and they can think a little bit further into the future. They see that money is useful for spending, but even more useful as a tool for earning more money.

So they train themselves to master finance, and hard work, and self discipline. And they figure out how to have just as much fun as the big spenders, while being sure to do it in a way that allows them to save at least 50-75% of their income."

Today’s guest is a new friend I met - no surprise- through bikes! I had the good fortune of parking next to Gavin at a mountain bike stage race back in March and thanks to the ‘gram & Strava, we connected and stayed in touch… Fast forward a few months and I noticed some content he was posting regarding a very difficult topic — femicide.

While we talk about the bike’s transformative role in Gavin’s life (since that is a through-line of most of my guests’ stories, and my lifelong love affair, after all), we pivot quite quickly to a far more serious topic that is really on Gavin’s heart right now to discuss and bring out into the light: Femicide.

"Femicide is generally understood to involve intentional murder of women because they are women, but broader definitions include any killings of women or girls." - W.H.O.

I admire Gavin for raising awareness of this topic both for me and for others in his social circles, and for being willing to have the hard conversations… after all, that is what allows things like femicide to not only exist but persist. Talking about it feels like a good first step for those of us just becoming aware of this global and catastrophic issue. We don’t need to be an “expert” in a topic to be able to bring it up and have candid talks about it. Arguably the worst thing we can do with topics like this is ignore them or brush them off as “inapplicable” to our lives.

Thanks, Gavin, for shining a light on a discussion we all need to be having. I hope this encourages you to do some research or to have some conversations with people in your life the way Gavin has with people in his life.
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Thank you thank you thank you to our newest sponsor, Gavin Payne, of Haven Properties— with his support, we’ve brought this podcast back to life! If you enjoyed this episode, please give his website or LinkedIn page a visit (and a like or follow!).

https://bhgrehaven.com/about-haven-properties
https://bhgrehaven.com/meet-the-broker
AND - His LINKED IN PAGE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gavin-payne-a8359a159/

And as always— a HUGE thanks to Stu and his team at RELISH STUDIO for editing and producing this podcast for me since we began back in 2018!

Please give THEM a visit online or a follow on LinkedIn and/or Instagram https://www.instagram.com/relishcolorado

Meet my amazing guest, DR POP WATTS!!!!! Aka— Jody M. Bartz (she/her), Ph.D., BICP L1, USAC L3

She’s a Cycling Enthusiast, Passionate Disability Advocate, Educator AND, Owner and Head Coach, Sonoran Endurance Sports Academy, www.sonoranendurance.com 

AND effective June 1, 2024---> Founder and Coordinator, GRO girl GRO!!!

PLEASE visit the website GroGirlGro.org and get involved- donate money, used cycling items, volunteer, register a young girl in your life for a session, etc etc. Give this woman a listen and just TRY not to be infected with her ENTHUSIASM!!!

Today's show is a bit different in format than past interviews -- here, I invited Andrew, my new partner-in-law at TCL, and also Bill Plock, owner of 303Endurance and host of the new cycling event, Colorado's Ride, to join me in more of a roundtable type discussion! !

Effective earlier this year, fellow lawyer and cyclist Andrew Phillips joined the team with me at TheCyclist-Lawyer.com. We introduce him and talk a little bit about how we teamed up and why it matters for the cyclists we help. It's exciting to have a teammate now after 13+ ish years of going it solo and it's really great to have his passion and energy on our team!

Be sure to check out Colorado's ride and register (join Andrew and me on the ride!) here: https://coloradosride.com/ they are almost full so hurry up and SIGN UP!

I also reference the new film I'm involved in called THE ENGINE INSIDE and I would LOVE it if you'd (1) watch the trailer and share it with everyone you know; (2) come join us at one of the premiere events and/or host one of your own in your town; and (3) once the film goes live on itunes in late July, please download and gift 1-2 NONcyclists in your life with the film as well. #engineinside

Website to view the trailer and check out the TOUR of shows: EngineInsideFilm.com

As always, a HUGE thanks to Stu at Relish Studio https://relishstudio.com/ for helping us edit and produce this show and this episode!

PS --we talk about when cyclists can ride 2-abreast in Colorado -- read here to learn more! https://303cycling.com/when-is-it-legal-to-ride-bikes-two-abreast/

“This experience taught me that I have value apart from my work — accepting my mistakes as learning experiences… I had this mindset that it was all or nothing, which was a driving factor to accomplish a lot of things, but the dark side was that I couldn’t accept mediocre as ok. But I’m human- and as a human I have the same limitations as everyone else who is a human. That means I need sleep and breaks. Taking time to relax, journal, slow down…. “

Friends… meet this powerhouse of drive, authenticity, and Vulnerability- this amazing woman, Danielle. Like me, Danielle is a lawyer and she’s also a partner of her law firm in WI. She’s a mom of 3, wife, friend, boss, mentor, leader, runner, and soooo much more.

I’ve been getting to know Danielle more and more in recent years and as we’ve peeled back the layers of life, I’ve loved watching her share her experience of dropping down into the darkness (the culmination of burnout, overwhelm, anxiety, and allll the things we throw at ourselves just to see how much we can stack on) and then pull herself back up into the light!!! As a leader in our field as well as a mom and leader in her communities and her circles, I feel her story is so powerful and LOVE that she’s willing to share it with us and with other women in law. I know you’ll find her as powerful, inspirational and incredible as I do! As they say, the hardest and bravest thing we can ever ask for, is help. “Help me.” And I’m so glad Danielle asked for help and now spreads the good word about helping ourselves by slowing down, feeling our human-ness, and cutting ourselves some slack.

From Danielle: "Here are some resources that helped me on my journey out of the darkness:

Undistracted by Bob Goff

The Enneagram Institute

The Road Back to You

Business Made Simple /Hero on a Mission book

Brene Brown - Values Test

Her contact information:

dschroder@hq-law.com

dmschroder@gmail.com

Bio: https://www.hq-law.com/attorneys/danielle-schroder/

Instagram: @wellnesswomenclub

@dmschroder

OK so... this guy and I - -we broke a doggone WORLD RECORD back in December 2019 - -we pedaled on our indoor spin bikes for 28 hours and broke the record for "longest static cycling class." It was an insane and amazing adventure and endeavor -and even though our record was recently broken (30 hours!) this event will always be one of my proudest achievements and most triumphant experiences as an adult.
Working on the event with Ryan in the months leading up to it and then working alongside him through those 28 hours - as well as being a fellow EO (Entrepreneur Org) member, I've gotten to know Ryan and his family these last four or five years and I just find his energy SO contagious. I always appreciate his outlook on things, his advice, his nuggets of wisdom... talking to him never fails to uplift me. SO of COURSE I wanted to share his uplifting spirit with YOU all! I really hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Here are some links to find more about Ryan:
https://ryanavery.com/ryan-averys-books/
Ryan Avery, The Keynote Speaker
Ryan Avery | Tel: +1-409-200-4774 | Ryan@RyanAvery.com
www.RyanAvery.com | PO BOX 1516 Englewood, CO 80150 USA

Join Ryan LIVE every Tuesday at 12:00pm ET for 15 minutes of motivation, inspiration and tangible takeaways thanks to Bellevue University! Register now (here: https://tuesdays.bellevue.edu/).

See also https://breakinghistory.tv/
Ryan mentions this book: Stretch

Books I mentioned in my intro:
4 Thousand Weeks
And (re being impeccable with your word):
The Fifth Agreement by Don Miguel Ruiz & Don Jose Ruiz