One of the most popular talking points that sucked me into the financial independence (FI) movement in late 2017 was the idea of getting off the hamster wheel. “Get out of the rat race!” But for whatever reason, my brain didn’t hesitate to make the illogical jump from “working all day every day” to “never working again”—at no point in my deep dive did I stop to ask whether or not my goal was extreme, or if there was a less extreme middle ground.

It sounded appealing as I traipsed back and forth between work and home every day in the dark that winter, spending all my time inside a building with fluorescent lights.

After only a year of experiencing this phase of life full-time, I began to feel symptoms of (what I learned later was) burnout. According to WebMD, burnout is the (medical!) condition in which, after extended periods of feeling “swamped,” you’re unable to escape feelings of general overwhelm.

The hamster wheel (or rather, escaping the hamster wheel) was excellent motivation to build wealth, yes, but was not an immediate solution to the problem of feeling burned out.

As writer Kayti Christian points out, it’s pretty challenging to get off the hamster wheel when the hamster wheel pays your bills.

Keep reading to learn how I shifted my mindset away from burnout and toward building my “money moat” instead. No pithy “self-care advice” necessary.

This episode was inspired by a Medium article about a woman’s nine side hustles that replaced her full-time income. After reading it, I couldn’t help but think: “I know our generation loves the glamorized solopreneur thing, but at what point is it easier to just…have a full-time job?”

I wanted to explore the obsession with the side hustle, the (unfair) demonization of the 9–5, and—importantly—how to expend energy more efficiently for a higher ROI within your traditional career path for those of us who don’t want to become ~online entrepreneurs~.

Cinneah of Flynanced joins us for this episode to regale us with her career journey ($40,000 to $200,000+ in just five years!), and has a ton of actionable advice to share for scaling your full-time income and breaking into highly paid technical fields without going back to school.

Listen now. (Spotify listener? Here you go.)

P.S. This interview was a blast. Cinneah is amazing. Watch it here.

• Trick Mirror: Reflections on Self-Delusion by Jia Tolentino. Technically, I’m rereading this—but that should tell you how good it is. A collection of essays that’ll blow your mind.
• This work on salary transparency from Morning Brew's Sidekick. I just interviewed Jason Tartick for next week’s episode of The Money with Katie Show all about this topic; consider this analysis your pregame.
• Under the Banner of Heaven on Hulu. This limited series made me feel lots of things; primarily, a lifetime devotion to the Andrew Garfield stan club.

Private real estate investing isn’t just for the people who enjoy getting calls about broken toilets at 2am. Funnily enough, my Fundrise holdings are the only part of my portfolio that isn’t down right now. Morning Brew partnered with Fundrise to help you learn more.*

^{*This is sponsored advertising content.}

All the things that were in and out of my control, both good and bad—privileges and all!

Revealing how much you’ve saved feels boastful and, simultaneously, vulnerable—I can’t tell you how many times I’ve wavered between, “This is a huge milestone and you’re proof that ‘slow and steady’ works!” and “What if this isn’t that big a deal and you look stupid?”

Luckily, I don’t care much about looking stupid anymore—not if it’ll help someone.

In this post, I:

• Highlight my advantages with flagrant transparency
• Note things that disadvantaged me
• Explain the tactics I’ve used and the main drivers of growth

Everyone knows the frustration of clicking on an article like this one and reading, three paragraphs in, that the writer inherited $50,000 when their grandma died. (Luckily, my grandma is very much alive, and I inherited nothing but work ethic and IBS from my parents, so no worries there.)

Keep reading.