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Welcome to reThinkable — my weekly newsletter where I share actionable tips, strategies, and resources to build a wealthy healthy life.

Here’s what we’re covering today:

• 🫤 I got really jealous

• 🤔 The problem with financial jealousy

• ⭐ How to overcome these feelings

🫤 I got really jealous

I used to feel extremely jealous of people who had money.

Once in college, I overheard a group of students planning a Spring Break trip to a private beach house…. in the Bahamas. 

And as someone who grew up without money, I was shocked and extremely jealous because at that point, I was buying clothes on clearance.

Since then, I've done pretty well for myself (financially speaking), especially considering I grew up relatively poor.

But even then, I can’t help but still feel a bit jealous of others from time to time.

In today’s newsletter, I want to talk about why feeling financially jealous is harmful and 3 of my favorite ways to get over it.

PS: So… that HUGE thing I’ve been working on? Well, it’s 97.4% done! Expect to hear about it in the coming days :). It’s a complete game-changer.

🤔 The problem with financial jealousy

Studies show that 3 in 5 Americans have felt financial jealousy or money envy at some point in their lives.

Although you might think financial jealousy is harmless, it can actually become detrimental and end up costing you a lot in the long run.

Financial jealousy often stems from the belief that opportunities are limited:

• You believe that because someone gained an opportunity you haven’t yet, it completely disappears.

• You believe someone else’s success robs you of your potential and that there are only a few opportunities left for you.

The problem is, you end up spending all your energy focusing on what you don’t have — you become blinded to your own skills, progress, and achievements.

For instance, when I was younger, this belief only motivated me to figure out how to get what someone else already had. 

But when I started doing that, I wasn’t playing to win anymore; I was playing not to lose.

If we break down what “financial jealousy” actually is, it’s essentially seeing someone with something we want, which creates a gap between where we currently are and where we want to be. 

The key to overcoming financial jealousy is focusing on how we react to this gap, both emotionally and through our actions.

⭐ How to overcome these feelings

Here are 3 helpful strategies to overcome these jealous feelings:

Define Your Number

Figure out how much money you actually want because without a clear goal, you won’t know where you’re going or how you’re getting there.

I discovered my goal by calculating my FIRE Number (Financial Independence Retire Early). My FIRE Number is the amount of money I need to invest so that I never have to worry about money again, as I can withdraw from this amount to cover my expenses for the rest of my life.

So for me, as long as I’m getting closer to my goal — my FIRE Number, everything else is just extra noise.

You can find your FIRE number with my free FIRE Calculator. This took me a long time to build so please treat it with love ❤️.

What’s The Bigger Mission?

The next strategy sounds a bit “woo” but it makes a big difference. 

It involves asking yourself some deep questions that require you to reflect on your life.

• “Why do you care about becoming wealthy?”

• “Why do you want to become rich?”

• “Why are you doing what you’re doing?”

At the surface, your answers might just be: I want a nicer car, a bigger house, or to fly first class. 

But try to go deeper than that.

After reflecting on my own life, I came up with 2 things:

1. I want to build wealth so I can give myself and my family a better life—one where they don’t need to struggle or go through anymore hardships

2. I want to build wealth because it gives me the freedom to accomplish my bigger mission, which is to help close the wealth gap. (Fun fact: That’s why I started making content—to help people build wealthy, healthy lives.)

Knowing your bigger mission helps a lot. For example, whenever I feel financially jealous, I remind myself that my mission isn't to become infinitely wealthy; my mission is to do my part to help close the wealth gap through financial education.

Where Are You Now?

But the strategy that helped me the most was understanding this fact: there will always be someone wealthier than you.

And that’s okay.

Once you grasp that, it becomes easier to choose to compare yourself to your past self rather than to other people.

So, ask yourself: “Where was I a few years ago?”

For me, I was commuting 2 hours a day to get to the office and working 70-hour weeks. I was miserable. But today, thanks to some smart financial strategies, I’m able to work on my bigger mission.

Sure, I don’t have 7 mansions or a private jet. But I am in a much better place than I was a few years ago, and that makes me happy.

🔎 reThink More

• Here’s how many people maxed out their credit cards (hint: it’s a new record)

• Apparently the economy has never seen anything like this

• Bad news… someone is starting to buy up houses again

❤️ Community Space

Last week, I wrote about So apparently we’re all wrong… 69% of you got the right answer to the question, “Which of these is considered emotional spending?”

The answer: Purchasing a ridiculously expensive designer jacket after getting a promotion at work.

Here are 3 of my favorite responses from y’all:

• “I emotionally celebrate everything by saying, “Let’s eat out today to celebrate!” I’m a positive person so I find something to celebrate every single day. Eating out is EXPENSIVE lol.”

• “I treat myself way too often, no special occasion required. Especially when I'm bored it's sad .. ”

• “I’ve actually purchased a robot vacuum during a moment of anger, while vacuuming. I was so tired of vacuuming daily, and decided to “just do it already!” And purchased a budget robot vacuum. Which has changed my life! 😁”

Answer the bonus question in the quiz below for a chance to be featured in our next newsletter 😀.

📝 reThinkable Quiz

P.S. Here’s a good TikTok video