Befriend Hunger, Liking vs Loving What You Do, Take The Next Step | FRLN116

Build a Better Relationship With Hunger, Work, and Purpose

I’m writing this week’s newsletter from Cincinnati, Ohio, where I’m at EconoMe for the first time.

It’s also my first time in Ohio.

And I’m having an absolute blast.

I’ve been meeting people all across the spectrum of financial independence:

People still on the path.
People who have already reached FI.
People who have been early retired for 12+ years.
And people wrestling with one of the biggest hidden challenges in this community:

Even when they have more than enough money to never work again… they still don’t know how to stop.

I’ve also had the chance to connect with fellow podcasters, creators, and friends in the space, which has been energizing in all the best ways.

And on top of that, I was featured for the second time on The Personal Finance Podcast with my friend Andrew — this time talking all about my fitness philosophy, how I got lean and jacked after carrying an extra 30 pounds of body fat, and how I think about longevity, healthspan, and lifespan.

That was a huge personal win for me.

Andrew’s show gets close to 700,000 downloads a month, and it feels incredibly meaningful to keep spreading the Fit Rich Life mission to a bigger audience.

So for this week’s tips, tools, and strategies…

Let’s dive in.

FIT — Befriend Your Hunger

On my way from Santa Cruz to Cincinnati, I had a short layover in Denver and grabbed a quick bite before my flight.

By the time I landed in Cincinnati a couple hours later, I thought about eating dinner at the airport… but realized I wasn’t actually that hungry.

So I skipped dinner.

I got to my hotel around 8:30 p.m., went to bed around 9:30, and ended up with roughly 5–6 hours between my last meal and sleep.

The result?

95% sleep efficiency.

That’s high for me.

Normally I’m around 85–90%, which is already solid. But this was on another level. I didn’t even wake up once in the middle of the night, which almost never happens.

And it reminded me of something I’ve been practicing for the last couple years:

Building a healthier, more empowering relationship with hunger.

After 10 years of religiously tracking food, I’ve spent the last two years eating much more intuitively.

One of the biggest mindset shifts has been this:

Hunger is not an emergency.

When I told my friend Sathish the next day that I had basically eaten lunch and then not eaten again until the following morning, he was surprised.

He said hunger makes him cranky, low-energy, and moody.

And I pushed back on that.

Because I think most people have been conditioned to interpret hunger as a problem that needs to be solved immediately.

But hunger can also be a signal that your body is doing exactly what it was designed to do.

When food isn’t immediately coming in, your body can tap into stored energy (aka body fat).

And mentally, hunger can create a sharper state of focus.

I think of it like this:

When I’m hungry, I’m moving into hunter-gatherer mode.

Not panic mode.
Not victim mode.
Not snack mode.

Hunter-gatherer mode.

More alert.
More focused.
More intentional.

And in today’s world — where food is available everywhere, all the time — I think a lot of people have lost touch with the fact that our bodies were built to handle periods of hunger.

Now, I’m not saying you should ignore your body or underfuel yourself.

There’s nuance here.

If I’m about to go lift weights and then play four hours of pickleball, I’m absolutely going to fuel up. I want energy. I want performance. I want to avoid bonking.

But if I’m traveling, resting, working, writing, or creating?

I often find that I can sit with hunger for a few hours and channel that energy into focus and creative work.

Instead of saying:

“I’m starving, I can’t function.”

I say:

“Hey hunger, what’s up? Let’s hang out for a bit.”

That shift alone is powerful.

Because the story you tell yourself matters.

If your story is, “When I’m hungry, I get weak and moody,” your body will often follow that script.

But if your story is, “When I’m hungry, I become more focused and tapped in,” that can become true too.

So this week’s fitness strategy is simple:

Make a conscious effort to build a more empowering relationship with hunger.

Not reckless.
Not extreme.
Just empowered.

Because hunger is not always a sign that something is wrong.

Sometimes it’s just a reminder that your body is stronger, smarter, and more capable than you think.

RICH — Liking vs Loving What You Do

A job you like can keep you from the work you love.

On the Uber ride from the Cincinnati airport to my hotel, I ended up talking with a couple who are financially independent.

The wife had retired in her early 40s… and then six months later, went back to work.

Not because she needed the money.

Because she “liked” the job. And didn't know what else to do.

And this is something I see all the time in the financial independence world:

People build enough wealth to make work optional… then keep working anyway.

Now, let me be clear:

I’m not against work.

I’m against unconscious work.

Especially when that work is taking up the time, energy, and attention you could be using to figure out what you actually love.

Because a job you like can be deceptively dangerous.

It’s not painful enough to force a change.
But it’s often not meaningful enough to be your highest calling.

It keeps you just busy enough.
Just comfortable enough.
Just tired enough.

And because of that, you never fully create the space to explore what you’re really here to do.

The question I asked her the next day was this:

“I know you like your job — but would you pay to do it?”

Her answer was an immediate, "No."

And I think that question is incredibly revealing.

Because there are some things in life you love so much that you would gladly spend money to do them.

For me, that’s writing, podcasting, and creating content.

When I started podcasting, I was spending my own money on hosting, software, gear, and production.

And I was happy to do it.

Because I loved it.

That’s a clue.

A big one.

And this connects perfectly to what Jordan Grumet teaches in The Purpose Code:

You don’t find purpose. You build and create it.

You do that by discovering your purpose anchors:

• Regret audit: What would you regret not doing if you died?

• Art of subtraction: What parts of your work would you still do after stripping away everything you don’t enjoy?

• Joys of childhood: What did you naturally love as a kid?

• Spaghetti method: Throw a bunch of things against the wall and see what sticks.

That framework is so good because it removes the fantasy that purpose is some magical hidden treasure you either stumble upon or miss forever.

It’s not.

Purpose is built through experimentation, reflection, and courage.

And that’s why staying in a job you merely like can become such a trap.

Because it delays the experimentation.

It delays the subtraction.

It delays the regret audit.

It delays the spaghetti throwing.

It delays the life that might light you up.

Now, if you’re not financially independent yet, this still applies.

You may need your job right now. That’s real.

But don’t wait until some perfect future date to start exploring what you love.

Use your evenings.
Use your mornings.
Use your weekends.

Back when I still had my 9-to-5, I used my 5 a.m. to 9 a.m. because I’m a morning person and that was when I had the most energy.

That’s where I explored writing.
That’s where I explored content.
That’s where I started building the life I now get to live.

And by the time I left my job, I already knew what I loved.

Also — what you love doesn’t have to become “work.”

It could be skiing.
Hiking.
Travel.
Parenting.
Art.
Community.
Adventure.
Play.

My friend Rusty has been retired for years and doesn’t have a blog, a brand, or a business. He spends his time skiing, hiking, raising his child, and living his life.

And when I talk to him, I can feel it:

He’s alive in it.

That’s the point.

So here’s the Rich takeaway:

If you would not pay to do it, it’s not your highest calling.

And if you haven’t found that thing yet, keep exploring.

Keep experimenting.

Keep paying attention to what energizes you.

Purpose is not always one thing for life.

Sometimes it lasts for a season.
Then that season ends.
And you go searching again.

That’s not failure.

That’s the human journey.

LIFE — Take The Next Step

This week’s Life lesson is deeply connected to the Money one.

Because once you start asking bigger questions about purpose, meaning, and calling… you’ll usually run into the same frustrating reality:

You rarely get the full plan.

You usually only get the next step.

And for high achievers — especially the kind of people reading this newsletter — that can feel deeply uncomfortable.

Because you want the whole roadmap.

You want certainty. You want the guaranteed path. You want step 1 through step 100.

You want to know where this is all going before you begin.

But life doesn’t usually work that way.

Especially when it comes to your deeper calling.

Instead, life tends to reveal things one step at a time.

You feel a nudge.
You take a step.
Then the next step appears.

And then the next one.

And sometimes you take a step and realize it was the wrong one.

That’s okay too.

Because even the “wrong” step gives you information.

It teaches you.
It refines you.
It redirects you.

But none of that happens without movement.

That’s where faith comes in.

Faith is not having the full blueprint.

Faith is trusting that if you keep taking the next right step, the path will continue to unfold.

Maybe your next step is signing up for a course.
Maybe it’s hiring a coach.
Maybe it’s going to a conference like EconoMe.
Maybe it’s blocking two hours a week to explore an interest that has nothing to do with your current job.
Maybe it’s simply admitting to yourself that the life you’ve built is no longer the life you want.

Whatever it is…

You probably already know the next step.

What you may not know is where it leads.

And that’s okay.

You don’t need the whole plan to begin.

You just need enough courage to take the next step.

And remember: Courage is not the absence of fear. It is choosing action while fear is still present.

ACTION — Become A Stronger You

Pick one and implement it this week:

• FIT — Build a more empowering relationship with hunger.​
Practice seeing hunger as a signal, not an emergency. You do not need to panic every time you feel hungry. When appropriate, experiment with sitting with hunger a little longer and notice whether it sharpens your focus, improves your awareness, or even supports better sleep.

• RICH — Stop letting a job you merely like delay the work you love.​
Ask yourself: Would I pay to do this? If the answer is no, it may not be your highest calling. Use Jordan Grumet’s Purpose Code framework to explore your purpose anchors: regret audit, art of subtraction, joys of childhood, and the spaghetti method.

• LIFE — Trust the next step before you can see the full staircase.​
You do not need the whole roadmap. You just need the courage to take the next right step. Faith is built by moving forward before everything is fully clear.

Momentum does not come from overthinking, waiting, or needing the perfect plan.

It comes from taking action — consistently.

Over time, those actions compound into something powerful:

A stronger body.
A richer and more intentional work-optional life.
A more meaningful life built around purpose, trust, and courage.

That’s the foundation of a Fit Rich Life.

To your health, wealth, and happiness,
— Justin David Carl

P.S. Here's my 2nd interview on The Personal Finance Podcast (Spotify, Apple, YouTube).