FRLN94: Deload to Reload, Define Your Freedom Number, Choose Your Game to Win

I’ve been stacking pickleball hours and recording a couple of deep-dive podcasts this week — lots of output, lots of fun.

But before I head back out to the courts for the day…

Here’s what we’ll cover:

• Why an intentional de-load can make you stronger than grinding.

• The money epiphany that turned “I want more” into work-optional clarity.

• How to play the games you actually want to win in life (and what “winning” really means).

Let’s get started…

FIT — How Pulling Back Can Push You Forward

This week, I noticed something subtle: my tank wasn’t empty, but it wasn’t full either.

On normal weeks, I’ll lift 4–6 days and still have plenty left in the tank for pickleball.

But this week? It felt like crushing a full strength training session would drain all my juice for the courts. Probably due to an increased creative load from recording multiple podcasts in a single week. And it was obvious: my overall system needed a breather.

A few years ago, I would’ve forced it. Lift heavy and hit the court “even if you don’t feel like it.” But then I’d wonder why I got sick, tweaked something, or felt fried.

Experience has taught me differently:

This week I shifted to mini lifts… short, crisp strength sessions to keep the pattern alive without taxing recovery. I funneled extra energy into what’s lighting me up right now — pickleball — so my joy could work its magic. And I treated the entire week like an intentional de-load, not a total lifestyle derailment.

Here’s the truth most of us learn the hard way:

Training is the stressor. Rest is the adaptation.

Your creative output, sleep, stress, and training don’t live in separate silos — they all draw from the same battery. Pushing max effort on all fronts at once is how you drain it. Rotating the emphasis is how you hold progress over decades instead of weeks.

Try this:

• If your body whispers “ease up,” keep daily movement, but make your workouts lighter for 5-7 days.

• Keep protein high, walk more, sleep earlier, and let your desire to train hard rebuild naturally.

• When you return to full sessions, you’ll find a gear you couldn’t access before by forcing it.

Counterintuitive move, superior results.

RICH — From “More Money” to Work-Optional Clarity

For years, my money goal was always… more.

Nicer car, nicer house, nicer stuff. But my actual progress felt like I was just spinning my wheels and staying in place.

Then I discovered Financial Independence and everything changed. I didn’t actually want “endless money.” I wanted the freedom to work on what I love, with whom I love, on the timeline I choose.

Once I ran the numbers, the target shifted from some mythical $20M to a clear, doable number. For me, that was in the ~$1.5M range for work-optional living (your number will differ based on lifestyle, withdrawal rate, and other factors).

But, suddenly I had:

• A “Why” — Buy back my time and choice.

• A “What” — My specific, do-able portfolio target.

• A “How” — Automate investments, curb lifestyle creep, attract more money.

Two things happened immediately:

1. My behavior aligned. When your target is real, your spending and investing fall in line. You stop “out-earning” bad habits and start out-smarting them with systems.

2. The feeling I thought money would give me — calm, purpose, agency — started showing up before I hit the number, because my daily actions matched my desired identity.

If you’re stuck in the “more” fog, swipe this process:

The Work-Optional Drill

1. Define how much you actually need to be work-optional (hint: see the link below to calculate your freedom number).

2. Define the feeling you think money will buy: freedom, creativity, spaciousness, security, contribution.

3. Imagine yourself doing the tasks you need to do to hit your goal.

4. Practice feeling those feelings now, while performing the ordinary, mundane tasks that will get you where you want to go.

That’s how you become the kind of person who can attract and hold the money goals you set for yourself in the first place.

LIFE — What Game Are You Actually Playing?

When I left my 9–5, an old program was still running in the background: “Be a top earner. Hit $400k–$600k+ again. Faster, faster, faster.”

Then I paused and asked: Is that the game I even want to play anymore?

When I got honest with myself, the answer was not “highest income.”

I’m already financially free.

My true game is a richer life: deep relationships, a thriving local community, meaningful creative work, and play that keeps me feeling alive.

In Santa Cruz, two choices changed everything:

• I invested hard in community — more time with great humans, more collaboration, more “let’s build something cool together.”

• I gave myself permission to play pickleball a lot (like, a lot a lot). Joy isn’t a distraction; it’s a driver. My health, creativity, and relationships are all better for it.

Here’s your invitation:

Name Your Game → Define the Win

• If your current game is status or max income, cool — just own it.

• If your real game is quality of life, then optimize your calendar for relationships, health, creative output, contribution, and play.

• Write a one-sentence win condition you can actually feel day-to-day. Example: “I win when my calendar reflects the people I love, the work that lights me up, and the play that keeps me vibrant.”

When you clarify the game and the win, decision-making gets easy.

The wrong opportunities start to fall away while the right ones grow and compound into high-leverage investments.

ACTION — 3 Moves in 3 Minutes

Pick one and do it now:

• FIT: De-load your overbooked schedule. 3–7 days of shorter/lighter training. Keep steps high, protein high, and sleep earlier.

• RICH: Write down your work-optional freedom number and the next tiny step (e.g., “Automate $X/week into a broad index fund”).

• LIFE: Define your ideal win conditions for the next 90 days and drop one recurring calendar block that matches it (friend time, creative project, or play).

Small, intentional moves. Big compounding returns.

To your health, wealth, and happiness,

— Justin David Carl

P.S. If you don’t know your work-optional freedom number, ​click here​ and go to page 15 of my money guide to get started now. And if you never want to miss another issue of The Fit Rich Life Newsletter, sign up here.