Ferate's 5: Happy Birthday, 4000 Weeks, & Die With Zero. (010)

Let’s Go!!! So Pumped You Are Here!

First, it’s Ferate like karate with an F or kinda like, Ferrari.

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What up what up what up! Hope everyone is having a great week! This week was my birthday turned the big old 32 years old on Tuesday, July 18th. Solid mid-summer day as well as Nelson Mandella day! Got lucky with Richard Branson, Vin Diesel, and Minnesota Twins legend Torii Hunter sharing birthdays as well.

Birthdays always bring up some great emotions and an opportunity to reflect. It challenges me to reflect on what I have done, where I am, and where I am going. Also more about who I want to be than simply just what I want to do.

You get those ups of “I have time/young” and the downs of “Oh shit I am getting old and am I running out of time?”. The key for me is to use that energy from both of those to actually take ACTION. Like yo dude, do something about it. Have hard conversations with myself and others. You would think that action would be obvious because that is what would help the most. I’ve been there though when you are in it, you trick yourself into “thinking” more about it to solve your problems.

So as I write this I am 32 years old and carving out my own path to 33 (few days in), the decade of excellence to 40, and beyond has had me focused on these concepts of living a fulfilling life.

Below are 5 things that I can’t stop thinking about. Even if it isn’t your birthday these could change your life.

1. 1669 Weeks - Bryant Ferate

Our average life comes out to roughly 4000 weeks which is an insane number if you think about it. It doesn’t sound like a ton but also puts it more into perspective than years. 4000 weeks whew… makes ya kinda sit with it when I first learned about this. Since then I read Oliver Burkeman’s book and my best friend Mike got me a calendar with 4000 weeks on it. Kinda scary to look at sometimes but it does the job. Reminds you that death is something we all share and 4000 weeks is if everything goes great. So, ya gotta do your thing man. You gotta be you.

32 years old - 1669 weeks

2. Tim Urban - Wait But Why

You may have heard me talk about this before but putting things in the number of experiences snaps you into clarity. It is a practice that was shared by Tim a few years ago and made popular by many people on podcasts recently. Or at least I have noticed… maybe it is just me.

Sahil Bloom has recently shared his version of this, which is an excellent read. Basically instead of looking at things in years we look at the number of times you actually do the thing.

For example, you only see your family for Christmas and your parents are about 65 years old. So really you have about 15 times left with them….

See your college buddies every 3 years for a golf tourney? Perfect case scenario you have 16 to 17 of those left. Being 32 gives me 7 more summers… freaking 7 summers before your boy breaks the 40 mark. sheesh… Let’s Go!

My best friend Mike Rich, author of the newsletter Ghost Business, gave me a 4000-week blank calendar that I fill out weekly. Yes, I stare at it most mornings when I wake up. It’s basically a blank version of what is below. Tim Urban shares this from his blog Wait But Why, which I highly recommend.

3. Die With Zero by Bill Perkins.

Recently listened to Bill Perkins on the Modern Wisdom Podcast with Chris Williamson. After listening to the pod I instantly ordered the book because I had to learn more. I am about halfway through the book and listened to the pod twice.

Bill Perkins shares some heavy-hitting concepts on the importance of money being a tool and our life being the sum of our experiences. Society trains us to constantly collect, gather, and accumulate money as a source of safety or accomplishment. Yes, we need money to be secure, well-fed, and have shelter but Bill provides insight about people overdoing it on delaying gratification. Collect, collect, collect, delay, delay, delay and…. you’re 70 years old.

He shared the story of a man being saved from drowning. This guy got rescued but it didn’t necessarily save his life because he will die one day, what they did do was give him the gift of more time. Time to have more fulfilling experiences.

Another lesson was life is like Tetris. The score or quality of a fulfilling life is by putting things in the right order. Certain experiences in the specific seasons of our life. Think absolutely raging your face off and partying with the boys doesn’t play well in your 40s or 50s, or when you have a family and hiking Kilimanjaro in your 70s doesn’t fit too well either. Quit your job, backpack Europe, and sleep in hostels do that in your early 20s. That doesn’t mean you can’t do them but there are times when you can maximize the experience and it aligns with your health/wealth/freedom.

Memory dividend was one of my favorite concepts. We not only gain something from the experience itself but having experiences early and often gives us the opportunity to tell those stories in the future. Joking around the boys, reminiscing with family, or telling an interesting story about an experience gives you a return long after the experience. You get a return of a memory dividend by getting to relive those moments.

4. Decade of Excellence.

It is a term or name that I came up with from my coach Dave Houglum. It helps me describe how I can make the most of the next 8 years before I am 40. Personally feel like a lot of LIFE is on the horizon which is awesome. There also is a lot of figuring out through taking action, not just thinking. Let me repeat that not thinking about things, acting on things. (that was for me more so than you to read twice).

What do I want to experience in my 30s? With those experiences, how do I want to grow as a human being? With those experiences and growth, where do I see myself contributing?

Honestly need to sit down and write this out more specifically AND have it in view. Constant reminders of “yo dude this is what you said you wanted, are you on track?”

My actions, choices, and experiences will define my decade of excellence. Cheers to 416 more weeks. Shiiiiiiit… that doesn’t feel like very many when you think training blocks for student-athletes are 16 weeks.

5. Sahil Bloom Retirement Reel.

This reel I saw recently from Deep Dive with Ali Abdaal podcast with Sahil Bloom reiterated ideas from Bill Perkins’s conversation and book. When we retire our perception is that we will do x, y, and z where what we actually do is something very different. Sahil shared…

• Wall Street Journal found that when retired people spend an average of 4.5 hrs of time watching TV

• We all do so much work today for the want of being on a beach in a paradise with a drink in your hand when your retire.

• What we think we will do in decades is very different than what we do. Vital to be present and not trade today for a better

PS: if you have defined your “enough” hit me up. EMAIL ME. Super curious about this.

Think the biggest thing in bringing awareness to all of these weeks, moments, experiences, and decisions is that it all circles back to action. Action action action. To be straight up with you writing this and thinking about this often the butterflies don’t just all of sudden go away. You just start getting more excited about taking action. Becoming who you want to be is up to us.

Action is the only antidote.

So which one hit you the most 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5? Email me back your favorite and least favorites. And if this week’s newsletter hit, it would mean a lot if you could share it with someone who means a lot to you. Count that as your birthday gift to me.

Best Day of the Year Until Tomorrow,

Ferate