Overview of ChooseFI Episode 607: “Other Mountains I Want to Climb” with Diania Merriam
In this wide-ranging conversation, Brad Barrett talks with Diania Merriam, founder of the Economy Conference, about how financial independence changes your relationship with money, time, ambition, and identity. The episode moves beyond traditional FI ideas and explores a more nuanced question: what does a well-lived life actually look like once money is no longer the only goal? Diania argues that the real win is not endless growth, but building a life with a calm nervous system, meaningful relationships, intentional spending, and space for “other mountains” like health, creativity, and community.
Key Themes and Main Takeaways
FI is a tool, not the destination
- Financial independence can create options, space, and freedom, but it should not become a rigid identity or moral system.
- Diania emphasizes that reaching a FI number is less important than what FI enables:
- more intentional days
- better health
- stronger relationships
- room for creative pursuits
- less stress and reactivity
Redefining success
- Diania challenges the default business metric of “bigger is better.”
- For her, success looks more like:
- a calm nervous system
- a sustainable “hobby business” that funds life without consuming it
- a business that supports her life rather than dominates it
- Brad echoes this by questioning revenue, headcount, and scale as shallow markers if they come at the cost of profit, time, or well-being.
“Enough” is a powerful concept
- A recurring idea in the episode is enoughness:
- enough money
- enough success
- enough friends
- enough work
- Both hosts argue that once enough is reached, continuing to chase more can become vanity, not meaning.
Money, Spending, and the Skill of Spending
Spending is a learned skill
- Early FI requires intense frugality and strong habits.
- Later in the journey, the challenge becomes learning how to spend money intentionally to improve life.
- Brad gives the example of grocery delivery as a time-saving tradeoff that is emotionally hard for frugal people, even when it makes sense.
Diania’s spending mindset has changed dramatically
- She says her current spending would have horrified her 6–7 years ago.
- Her fixed expenses remain low, but discretionary spending has grown in areas like:
- health
- travel
- generosity
- relationships
- Her bigger point: money creates options, and refusing to use those options can be a waste of privilege.
Wasting money vs. wasting time
- Diania’s risk tolerance has shifted:
- she is now more afraid of wasting time than wasting money
- money can be replaced; time cannot
- She frames this as a major psychological shift in later-stage FI.
Important quote-like ideas from the episode
- “Success with money is that I don’t think about it anymore.”
- “The less materialistic I am, the more idealistic I get to be.”
- “I’m willing to be more wasteful with money than with time.”
Lifestyle Design, Time, and the “Tuesday Project”
A good life is built on ordinary days
- Diania introduces the idea of the “Tuesday project”:
- what does an ideal normal day look like?
- not the vacation version of life, but the everyday version
- Her ideal Tuesday includes:
- waking without an alarm
- walking outside
- green space and trees
- no car dependency
- working out
- seeing friends
- reading, thinking, and being outside for hours
Structure still matters after FI
- Even without a job, Diania says she still thrives on:
- routine
- constraints
- intentional planning
- She now follows a “one meeting a day” philosophy to prevent overcommitment.
- Her morning rhythm includes:
- cuddling with her dog
- coffee
- qigong/mobility work
- planning the day on a Post-it
- walking at sunrise
- gym time in the afternoon
Time freedom creates new possibilities
- Because she is no longer locked into a corporate schedule, Diania can pursue other goals:
- helping her husband with stand-up comedy
- writing a book
- marriage retreats
- other business ideas
- The message: FI should create room for other mountains to climb.
Health, Accountability, and Environment
Health is the new frontier for ambition
- Diania has redirected her type-A energy toward health and fitness.
- She’s in a structured fitness challenge that includes:
- 5 workouts per week
- 70,000 steps per week
- protein targets
- data tracking
- accountability and public progress updates
- There are financial penalties for missing goals, but she says the real motivation is identity change and visible progress.
Community and environment matter more than willpower
- She stresses that environment beats willpower.
- Being around driven people in a supportive group helps normalize healthy behavior.
- The same concept applies to finances:
- who you spend time with shapes your norms
- “keeping up with the Joneses” is easier when you change who the Joneses are
Public accountability can be powerful
- Diania says she often performs better when she has to be seen following through.
- She used the same tactic during the Camino by posting daily updates online.
- For her, sharing progress publicly creates meaningful pressure to stay committed.
Mental Models: Uncertainty, Revision, and Identity
Don’t confuse results with decisions
- Brad brings up the idea of resulting: judging a decision only by the outcome.
- The episode strongly reinforces that:
- good decisions can lead to bad outcomes
- bad decisions can lead to good outcomes
- the goal is to make the best decision with the information available
Be willing to update your beliefs
- A major theme is the value of changing your mind when new information arrives.
- Diania describes how her views on:
- business growth
- spending
- FI
- material possessions have all evolved over time.
Intentionality over rigidity
- Early in her FI journey, she says she was more rigid and morally attached to frugality.
- Now she sees more nuance:
- people have different preferences
- what is “optimal” financially is not always optimal for life
- goals should be held lightly and treated as experiments
Notable Practical Examples
The car purchase
- Diania spent about $29,000 on a car after overthinking it for a long time.
- She had been driving a much older Mazda 3, but practical concerns pushed her toward a new vehicle:
- safety and family needs
- a large dog
- better timing control over a major purchase
- She says the emotional relief of simply making the decision was worth it.
Lifestyle changes that now feel normal
- Grocery delivery
- Spending more on health and travel
- Paying for experiences and convenience that save time and mental energy
Final Takeaways
- FI is most valuable when it helps you build a life that feels intentional, expansive, and aligned.
- Growth is not always the answer; sometimes sustainability is.
- Spending, like saving, is a skill — and it evolves with your stage of life.
- The “point” of FI may be to create enough freedom to ask deeper questions:
- Who am I?
- What do I value?
- What kind of Tuesday do I want?
- What other mountains do I want to climb?
Resources Mentioned
- Economy Conference —
economyconference.com - ChooseFI community and login:
choosefi.com/login