I lost track of time when chatting to Fabienne and Benoît (from the Novo-Monde blog) about their journey of entrepreneurship and backpacking around the world (for 1h47 haha!)
The transcription of the article was pretty long. So, I thought it was better to separate my thoughts in this dedicated article.
Red wine, yes, but above all the mirror effect!
I laughed a lot at their mention of red wine, which helps to resolve all of their problems. It’s clear that alcohol reduces the obstacles in your brain, and enables you to be creative.
But red wine alone wouldn’t be as effective.
I get the impression that what helps them to find a solution to a significant problem is the fact that there are two of them around the bottle of red. With the well-known mirror effect, like when you go to a therapist or coach, and you talk about your problem.
The person opposite reshapes it.
This makes you become more aware of it, and helps you to better understand your own thoughts and emotions…
…and often to find your own solutions.
Because if Fabienne or Benoît were alone in such a situation, he/she would end up stuck in “daydream” mode. With or without alcohol :)
So wine, yes, but with someone else (a person in whom you have 100% confidence), it’s even better!
Life phases (and transitions)
When we were talking about the psychological threshold between nomadic life and sedentary life, Fabienne responded by saying that it had been done gradually. And not out of the blue.
That immediately made me think of a problem, in my very Cartesian brain (haha!), where I too often see the life of financial independence as moving from one life to the next overnight.
You’re working on a Tuesday. And then boom, on Wednesday you’re FIRE! 💥
Although, since I’ve been getting closer and closer to financial independence in the last 2-3 years, I’ve realized like Fabienne mentioned that it happens gradually.
And I think it’s really important to see it as a transition from one life phase to another, which takes time. Otherwise, it can be very destabilizing psychologically.
That brings to mind a book that a reader recommended to me many years ago: “Transitions” by William Bridges.
This book made me realize at the time how past rituals (like from the time of Yakari etc.) were important.
We need rituals. Previously, there were rituals for each transition through an important point in life. Adolescence, reaching adulthood, etc.
But now, we no longer have these milestones which can seem to us to just belong in folklore…
However, that really helped to apprehend such changes, like the transition from nomadic life to sedentary life, or from employee to FIRE.
One of the ways of managing such transitions (when you’re right in the middle of it) is to write your autobiography, in order to verbalize where you’re coming from, and in order to better see where you’re going. And that’s sort of what Fabienne and Benoît are doing when they do their annual review. As I think that helps them a lot more than a simple annual recap.
This also makes me realize that my own reviews (in the form of “blog anniversary” articles) help me just as much. Interesting :)
I’m mentioning all this to tell you that if you’re in a period of significant change (marriage, divorce, change of job — and whether it’s positive or negative, it’s still a change of life phase), then I strongly recommend this book to guide you.
And it’s not an esoteric book, pitched at a high level or whatever, it’s actually very rational ;)
I want to give it all up haha!
You feel like giving up… get to work!
Fabienne got me with this Paulo Coelho quote:
If you think adventure is dangerous, try routine. It is lethal.
I’d already read it when I was younger, but now, a few years away from my FI date, it just makes me want to pull the plug. NOW :)
Find your why
I felt that Fabienne and Benoît were truly fulfilled. Really satisfied.
That then reminded me how much the higher you go up Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, the more it’s important to know your “why”. Because otherwise, nothing makes sense anymore.
Earn money? Why when you don’t need it to live anymore.
Have free time? You have ALL the free time in the world, but to do what, you ask yourself…
I’m talking about this here as it’s the same for a plan to become financially independent. You need to know your why for two reasons:
- It’s a strong “why” that will enable you to keep going when your morale dips over a journey of 10 to 17 years to achieve FIRE
- And it’s a strong “why” that will enable you to be as fulfilled and full of satisfaction as Benoît and Fabienne clearly are
Because no, having a pile of cash (as big as it may be) doesn’t increase your baseline happiness.
I’m living proof of this. For example, I get a good hit of dopamine for 30-45 minutes when CHF 10'000 arrives in my account via my stock market investments. And when a reader tells me that my blog changed her life, this same dopamine easily makes me feel good and full of satisfaction for a day.
All this means: define your why, and the rest will follow! (tip to help you: Ikigai)
South America on my list
Ah, traveling…
I love big open spaces. Scandinavia, Canada, Siberia, all these names transport me just by writing them.
And I admit that when I think of big open spaces, South America doesn’t spring to mind.
But when Benoît responded without a second thought at the end of the interview by saying: “South America without hesitation, for its big open spaces!” — well, that immediately set me thinking.
I did a search on Google Images straight away, and now South America is on my list of the next trips to do :)
Do you want to adopt their lifestyle?
Whether it’s to become a nomad (digital or not ^^) during a round-the-world trip, or live in a coliving space, the only thing that differentiates you from them right now is simple…
Taking action.
As I often talk about on this blog, it’s clear that the idea of giving up your job and heading off for a year can be terrifying or too big a step. But you don’t need to go in so strong.
You can already read their blog to inspire you, then plan a trip of one week more than your usual two weeks’ vacation, and to a place that you don’t know at all.
This principle of gradual exposure to a new experience is what works best for daring to take the plunge into any adventure that scares you: from the stock market to living in a coliving space;)
And talking of coliving space, if you dream of setting one up, the first good step could be to simply reserve a few weeks of remote working at Alpiness Coliving, it seems like the owners are cool ;)
The most important thing being: stop daydreaming, and take action, now.
The places mentioned by Fabienne and Benoît
I wanted to share here a few photos of the places mentioned by our two fellow travelers, around their new paradise of Les Haudères in Switzerland:
Loop hike at Grande Dixence: the Prafleuri hut
All the photos are credited to Novo-monde.com (Fabienne and Benoît):
All the details for this hike to the Prafleuri hut are in this Novo-Monde article.
Hike to the Aiguilles Rouges hut and sunrise on the summit of Mont de l’Etoile
Again, thanks to Benoît and Fabienne for these extraordinary photos:
And all the details about this hike are in this Novo-Monde article.
Unicorn trainer <3
Fabienne made me laugh out loud when she mentioned being a unicorn trainer.
I’ve already talked to our children about believing in their dreams, and not letting themselves become discouraged by people who just project their own fears onto you.
But this new angle of a unicorn trainer is so fun that I shared it with our MP children and they loved it haha!
In Fabienne’s words:
The important thing is to try and not be afraid to take risks. In fact, as long as you’re doing something and you continue to learn, it’s never the end of the world.
When they’re older, I’ll tell them how I also believed in my dreams. And yet, in 2013, when I was explaining my financial independence plan to an acquaintance, this person tried to discourage me by saying that she’d already tried it and hadn’t even lasted three months… but in my case, I’ll have made it and would be living proof for my children ;)
Fabienne and Benoît are financially independent
After having edited the video and put together this article, I came to the realization that Fabienne and Benoît are in fact financially independent.
They’re living their dreams while receiving passive income from the blog and coliving space. Well yes, it’s not passive like a loafer would imagine on a beach with nothing to do but laze around for hours on end… on the contrary, it’s even more positive passive, with diverse and varied activities which fill them with satisfaction, joy, and appreciation.
Genuinely, bravo to you two!
And you?
What did you take away from this interview with Fabienne and Benoît from Novo-Monde / Alpiness Coliving?
