Read Time: 2 min

Hey Reader,

I've been having trouble sleeping for the past few weeks, and it's been really tough for me.

So I've been ordering Uber Eats and Door Dash more often than I'd like to admit.

Would I have saved money cooking? Sure. Would it have been healthier for me? Definitely.

But getting food delivered was something I needed to get through the past few weeks.

No one talks about the biggest risk to reaching financial freedom: the moment you stop enjoying your own life while you're chasing it.

When someone burns out trying to build wealth, the plan is as good as dead. Not because the plan doesn't work. Because it's no longer worth it.

I know this sounds strange coming from someone who talks about being financially responsible.

But I've talked to a lot of people who were doing everything right, good income, healthy savings, consistent investing.

Their real risk to reaching financial freedom was never the numbers. It was burning out.

My most important rule for your journey is simple: prioritize removing whatever makes the journey miserable.

• If a $7 bubble tea is the only thing that can cheer you up after a long week of work, buy it. I don't care how much you need to save. $7 is not worth you hating your life and week.
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• That summer trip to Vietnam with your friends, the one you're skipping because it'll set your investing back a few months? Go.
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• If you're grinding your side hustle every weekend and getting annoyed when your loved ones want to spend time with you? Take a break. Those are exactly the people you're trying to reach financial freedom for in the first place.

No version of financial freedom is worth losing the core memories that make life worth living.

Taking a slower path that you finish will always beat a faster path that burns you out and makes you quit halfway through.

Remember: the road is long and the load is heavy.

My advice: Set up a plan that actually works with your lifestyle and your goals. Then work backwards from there and be smart about optimizing everything else.

If taking a trip once a year keeps you sane enough to keep pushing, do it. If taking a month off from aggressively hustling is what stops you from breaking down, do it.

It's your life. It's your path. You make the rules, so don't make rules you'll hate, because if you give up, you're the only one who will have to answer for it.

Let's build,
Vincent