FRLN109: Train Your Inner World, Develop Your Abundance, Build Keystone Life Habits
This week’s newsletter is inspired by my conversation with Rusty on Fit Rich Life Podcast Episode 99.
Rusty is a former Big Law attorney who retired at 36 after reaching financial independence. But that headline misses the deeper story.
What stood out most in our conversation wasn’t a tactic or a clever strategy.
It was a philosophy:
Build a life that supports your nervous system, your values, and your long‑term energy — and let the results compound.
Let’s break that down across the three pillars of a Fit Rich Life.
FIT — Train the Inner World, Not Just the Body
Most people treat fitness like a purely physical problem.
Lift more. Run faster. Get leaner.
Rusty challenged that entire framework.
In our conversation, he shared that one of the biggest upgrades to his physical health came from investing deeply in his mental, emotional, and social well-being.
At his lowest point in Big Law, Rusty was seriously dysregulated.
“My body was basically screaming at me that the path I was on wasn’t sustainable.”
That line stopped me cold.
Because here’s what most people miss:
Your body is downstream from your nervous system.
When stress is chronic… When emotions are suppressed… When relationships feel unsafe or draining…
Your body keeps the score.
Rusty talked openly about how somatic therapy changed his relationship with fitness entirely.
“Instead of living in my head and pushing everything down, I learned how to actually feel what was happening in my body.”
That shift mattered more than any training plan.
Once he stopped overriding his body and started listening to it:
Energy returned
Recovery improved
Movement felt lighter
His baseline health stabilized
This is a radically different definition of fitness.
Fitness isn’t just strength. It’s regulation.
A few key takeaways I loved:
Emotional regulation is part of training
Safe, nourishing relationships improve physical health
Therapy & coaching aren’t weaknesses — they’re performance tools
Your media diet (books, podcasts, social) shapes your nervous system
Train your inner world with the same tenacity you train your body.
RICH — Develop Your Abundance
Rusty’s money philosophy is quietly radical.
Instead of obsessing over optimization, hacks, or fear-based control, he emphasized two traits that don’t show up in spreadsheets:
Generosity and gratitude.
At first glance, that might sound soft.
It’s not.
“From a purely self-interested perspective, generosity is good business.”
Here’s why.
Generosity builds social capital. Gratitude dissolves scarcity.
Together, they create what I think of as an abundance loop.
You stop clenching. You stop hoarding. You stop making decisions from fear.
And when that happens, opportunity flows.
This hit close to home for me.
I grew up around money stress. Scarcity wasn’t just financial — it was emotional.
And what I’ve learned (the hard way) is this:
You can earn more money and still feel unsafe. You can hit your number and still feel anxious.
Rusty understands that wealth is psychological before it’s numerical.
“If you don’t fix the mindset and habits underneath, more money doesn’t solve the problem.”
That’s the real work.
Because without the right mindset:
You’ll either spend it all (or lose it all)
Or never feel free enough to actually enjoy it
Generosity and gratitude rewire your relationship with money.
They move you from scarcity to sufficiency. From control to trust.
And paradoxically — that’s where wealth compounds fastest.
LIFE — Build Keystone Life Habits
Rusty isn’t interested in life hacks.
He’s interested in keystone habits — the small, foundational behaviors that quietly empower everything else.
These aren’t productivity tricks.
They’re practices that give you more agency, more energy, and more confidence in how you move through the world.
Rusty shared three keystone habits that consistently support a Fit Rich Life:
1. Human-Powered Movement
Walking. Biking. Physical play. Moving your body because you’re human — not because a device told you to.
“Some of my best thinking happens when I’m just moving through the world.”
This kind of movement does more than burn calories.
It regulates your nervous system. It improves mood. It creates mental spaciousness.
When you move under your own power, you remember that your body is an ally — not a problem to solve.
2. Reading
Reading is one of the highest‑leverage habits there is.
Not just for information — but for orientation.
“Reading gave me language for experiences I didn’t know how to name yet.”
Books help you:
Borrow wisdom from those ahead of you
Normalize what you’re going through
Expand what you believe is possible
Reading quietly upgrades how you think — and how you choose.
3. Cooking
Cooking is deeply underrated as a life skill.
It’s not about being gourmet.
It’s about nourishment, rhythm, and self‑trust.
Preparing food for yourself is a form of care.
It reinforces the belief: I take care of myself.
I want to add two more keystone habits that I consistently see empowering people who are thriving:
4. Writing
Even if it’s just journaling.
Writing helps you process and metabolize your life.
Viktor Frankl (author of "Man's Search For Meaning") described this as logotherapy — using meaning and expression as a form of healing.
Writing turns emotional noise into clarity.
It helps you make sense of your inner world — instead of being run by it.
5. Speaking / Communication
Clear communication is power.
With your partner. With your family. With your community.
As well as with your work colleagues & within your career.
Writing sharpens thought. Speaking amplifies it.
When you can clearly express what you think, feel, and want — you move through life with far more confidence and agency.
These keystone habits don’t just improve your life.
They empower it.
ACTION — Upgrade + Why This Podcast is Worth It
Pick one or two:
Fitness: Invest in one inner‑world practice like journaling, better content diet, therapy, or coaching.
Money: Perform one generous act. Dont make it hard.
Life: Start building a new keystone life habit from above.
Then listen to the full conversation with Rusty so you can learn:
How he went from suicidal ideation in Big Law to retiring at 36
How regulating your nervous system unlocks better decisions
Why financial independence is about options, not escape
Why therapy was the highest ROI investment of his life
The Buy-Borrow-Die strategy of the Ultra Wealthy
And a whole lot more
Listen here:
🎧 Spotify | 🍎 Apple | ▶️ YouTube | 🌐 Web
To your health, wealth, and happiness,
— Justin David Carl