Doing Hard Things: What One Reporter Learned From Taking On Ironman and Interviewing The FIRE Community With Kathleen Elkins

The Break - with Michael Gardon

#486: How do you get yourself to do hard things that you don’t have to do? We all want to make big changes, but we often falter with the execution piece. Whether that’s changing careers, losing weight or or completing our first triathlon. I think this is the central problem everyone who’s ever attempted to start a side hustle faces. You want to do something new, but you don’t HAVE to.

My friend Kathleen Elkins know a little bit about this problem. Kathleen’s job as a correspondent at Insider, covering investing and the path to financial freedom is to get the stories behind every day people who gain financial independence. And to get to that point, you gotta do some hard things whether that’s buckling down on debt, starting a side income stream or investing in real estate without knowing anything about it.

Also, Kathleen recently completed her first Ironman triathlon with a friend. Completing an Ironman is a master experience in getting yourself to do really hard things. Since I love Ironman, I wanted to have Kathleen on to detail her experience and what she’s learned about herself and about the habits of everyday people who put themselves through the race to financial independence. I hope you enjoy this masterclass on embracing the process with the one and only Kathleen Elkins.

She started her career as an editorial intern at Business Insider in 2015, covered personal finance at CNBC Make It for four years, and returned to Insider in 2021.

She graduated from Williams College in 2014 and currently resides in Los Angeles.