In our brand new interview series, we are interviewing various individuals from across the web. This interview series focuses on how they are living a better life. They can be living a better life by pursuing financial independence, minimalism, simplicity, and many more aspects. Are you interested in being interviewed? Continue reading!

Want to be interviewed?

If you want to be interviewed about how you are living a better life. Contact us at [email protected] and tell us why you’d be a great candidate!

Give us your best elevator speech!

Hello! My name is Erik and I run the blog, The Mastermind Within. I’m 26 and I love creating and building things while helping others. By day, I work at a regional bank, and by night, I have numerous side hustles.



In the next few years, I’m looking to continue to adjust my living habits and grow my wealth to become financially free at a young age. I’ve grown my income to 6 figures, but need to continue to save to make this happen.

How are you living a better life than you were last year? 5 years ago? 10?

Right now, I’m not afraid to take action on my wants and dreams. I’ve learned that whatever I want to do, I can do it. I can learn and I will succeed.



I’ve asked myself, what makes me happiest, and I’m trying to align my actions to do what makes me happiest.



I love helping people and building things. If I’m doing just this, I’m happy and will be fulfilling my life’s purpose.

What would you tell your younger self?

Take action and it’s okay if things are a little bit of a struggle at first. Taking action (and applying this to whatever), has always lead to lessons learned and new experiences.



With these new experiences came maturity and understanding.



Apply this to anything: school projects, dating, exercise, learning, etc.

I hesitated way too much at the beginning of my self-improvement journey. Just do it!

What made you want to change the way you were living?

Of course, for many young men, it starts with a girl. My 2nd year of college, I went through a tough break-up. It was tough because I was all up in my head over a girl who I thought was perfect for me. We had a nice 10-month relationship, but I grew complacent and needy.



After splitting up, I told myself I needed to get better. At first, I wanted to get my girlfriend back by becoming better, but over time, I found out that the gains I was making were pushing me in another direction, in terms of my wants and dreams.



Getting back into the gym, focusing on school, and working on my relationship and communication skills lead to great gains. Then as I got into the workforce, a lot of this work translated into a great job, higher pay, and more responsibility.

Does financial independence play a role? If so, how?

Money doesn’t really matter to me. I’ve made it a goal to increase my income and build wealth for my future family, but at the same time, it’s not about having a ton of money for the status or power.



I just want to live each day to the fullest and do what will bring joy and happiness to me and the people around me.



I guess that is what financial freedom is all about though 🙂 To be able to do what is important to you.

What advice do you have for others in living a better life?

Start with what you know: yourself. What makes you happiest? What do you most enjoy doing? Maybe you don’t know the answers yet, but take them inside for a few days and you’ll find the answers.

Off of these questions, you can start to construct what you want your better life to look like.



After answering the question, what makes you happiest, then ask and try to answer, how can I live a life where I’m spending more of my time doing what makes me happiest?



Over time then, you can start to take action and align your daily and weekly habits with going towards a life where you are doing more of what makes you happiest and less of what doesn’t matter.

What books/podcasts/blogs have you consumed that lead you to this point?

The first blog I loved was Financial Samurai. I read his blog back in 2012 and this started me on a journey of building wealth through real estate and learning more about personal finance and investing.

I love reading books, and some of my favorites include:

The Slight Edge By Jeff Olson

Originals by Adam Grant and Sheryl Sandberg

The Millionaire Real Estate Investor By Gary Keller

The Millionaire Fastlane By MJ DeMarco

What’s one area in your life you still struggle with?

Balance is an area I’m constantly working on these days. With a ton of different wants and goals (and limited time), balancing all of this while staying on track is a struggle, for sure.



I’m working on this currently by turning inward and trying to determine what exactly is important in this day, week, or month, and then focusing in on that.

If there’s something that I want to do, but I have prior responsibilities, I will add the next thing to the list, but try not to get distracted.

If you had to give just 1 tip that you’ve learned along your journey, what would it be and why?

Ideas are worthless without ACTION. What is your goal? What do you want to do with your life? How are you going to get there?



The answers to these questions are great to know (and are a fantastic first step), but stopping at the answers will not lead to success.



Also, with action, comes experience. By gaining experience, you’ll be able to achieve things much easier in the future. Yes, in the beginning, things will be a struggle, but over time, you can overcome those struggles and continue to grow towards your goals.



Where can readers get in touch with you?

You can read my content at The Mastermind Within. I post 3 times a week about self-improvement and how we can use that to accomplish your financial and personal goals.



If you enjoy podcasts, I’d appreciate you listen to my co-host, Steph, and I at Simple Minded Millennial! This is a show for millennials who are looking to become more successful through simplicity and mindfulness. Like dad jokes? You’ll love us.

Check out other interviews here!