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Welcome to the Buddhist Boot Camp Podcast. Our intention is to awaken, enlighten, enrich,

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and inspire a simple and uncomplicated life. 

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Discover the benefits of mindful living with your host, Timber Hawkeye.

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People often ask me how I've managed to get by while only making as little as seven 

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to ten thousand dollars a year for more than a decade? In fact, just the other day someone

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asked me what I spent my money on? And I instinctively said "Dude, I don't spend money,

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"I invest it." And only then did I realize how that simple switch in perspective 

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has significantly and directly impacted my lifestyle so deeply. When we start looking at

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our expenses as us making investments rather than spending money, we introduce

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a deep breath between our impulse to buy something and actually buying it. When we 

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take that deep breath between our impulse to buy something and actually buying it,

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it gives us time to calculate whether something is worth its price or if we're simply

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throwing money at a problem, so to speak, like laziness, for example. Take what's called

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a Convenience Fee, like when you buy theater tickets online instead of at the theater.

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This so-called Convenience Fee counts on you taking what initially appears to be 

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an easy way out, but it buries you deeper into debt if you're already in it. Not so 

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convenient after all, is it? There's actually an old saying that when you spend money 

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you don't have, you're stealing from yourself. But when you see it as an investment, 

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you can actually pay it with joy. Like when I pay my electric bill every month, I do it 

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with a huge smile on my face, because I never wanna take for granted the fact that I can 

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use that electricity to access the internet and share the message that has enriched my life 

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so much with people all over the world. All thanks to electricity and Wi-Fi... it's magic,

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 and I don't mind paying for it at all. It's an investment in the well-being of many.

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I used to manage an online art gallery, and I quickly realized it wasn't up to the artist

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to determine the value of a painting. Its value was determined by how much people were

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willing to pay for it. We are the ones who give things their value. I couldn't imagine paying

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someone to cut my hair, for example, when I could do it myself for free. But someone else 

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spends my monthly food budget on hair products, and there isn't a single rule 

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that applies to everyone. We each decide the value of something and how much we think

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it's worth, and there's no right or wrong answer. To find your answer, simply ask 

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 yourself if you're spending money or if you're investing it? Are you comfortable

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 with your answer? We all make our own choices, and we all pay our own prices.

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And this isn't only true for money, I also do this with time, which, to me, at least,

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is actually more valuable than money. Am I spending time, or am I investing it?

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And when you think about getting a return on investment, it's important to look at the

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ripple effect of those investments: time and money, to ensure the greatest benefit 

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to the causes closest and dearest to you. Be it an investment in friendships or local farmers.

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Again, we each choose what to do with our time and money.

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Do you have spending habits or investment habits? Your discipline conveys

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your priorities. As a result of thinking this way, I've realized that less clutter means 

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more space. Less attachment, more freedom. Less work, more life, and so on. 

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I'm not bragging. Trust me, there is nothing glamorous about living well below 

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the poverty line. But I also don't think of it as a sacrifice, I see it as an exchange,

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I guess I don't aspire for glamour. In fact, I regularly go kayaking around the marina 

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and a friend asked me if it's really hard to live the simple life when I'm surrounded 

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by other people's expensive homes, yachts, and jets skis? And I think it's actually easier 

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because when I see those mansions, sports cars, and Apple watches, I see a 40 to 70-hour

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work week, stress, ulcers, headaches, and I want none of it. Kinda  like my friend Dwayne

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says that drunk people made him stop drinking, and church people made him stop

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going to church, I guess rich people made me stop chasing money. Again I don't recommend 

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you live on the streets like I used to in order to appreciate how far you can stretch a dollar,

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only that you acknowledge how far a single dollar can go. So when my dad wanted to see 

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what my life was like, after years of hearing me talk about being a minimalist

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and simplifying my life, I told him that to truly understand it, he would have to come live 

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with me for a month. So, he did. He is very much the materialistic consumer,

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so when he first walked into my little place, he said, "Oh my God, you don't have anything!"

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But after living with me for a month, preparing my meals with me, 

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going for long walks every day, reading, writing, meeting with people one-on-one, 

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and truly tasting the simplicity of my life, he looked me in the eyes before boarding

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 his flight back home and said, "There is nothing missing from your life." It brought 

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tears to my eyes because he actually got it. Both of his statements were true: I don't have

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anything in the materialistic sense, yet there is nothing missing from my life.

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Working part-time so I can live full-time is probably one of the best decisions 

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I've ever made. I don't feel like I've sacrificed a life of luxury, I simply exchange material

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goods and the illusion of abundance for actual, true, bliss. That's why I still 

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don't charge for any of my speaking engagements, and I don't ask all of you

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supporters on Patreon to fork over a hundred dollars a month. I truly believe that if enough

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patrons offer just a dollar a month, it would cover all the cost of the podcast hosting 

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on multiple platforms, pay for the printing and shipping of free books to prisons

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and schools around the country, and help me continue spreading this message, which has 

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enriched my own life so profoundly, I believe many others can benefit from hearing

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 it as well. All thanks to you INVESTING, not spending, just a dollar a month.

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How cool is that?! I bet you can even do it with a smile.

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 Timber Hawkeye is the bestselling author of Faithfully Religionless

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and Buddhist Boot Camp.

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For additional information, please visit BuddhistBootCamp.com, 

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where you can order autographed books to support the Prison Library Project,

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watch Timber's inspiring TED Talk, and join our monthly mailing list.

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We hope you have enjoyed this episode 

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and invite you to subscribe for more thought-provoking discussions.

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Thank you for being a Soldier of Peace in the Army of Love. 🙏