I flew to Brazil to celebrate my mom's 80th birthday, and this episode is the story I came home with.

Years ago, standing in her kitchen while she washed dishes, I told her half-joking: "Mom, we're rich now — you don't have to worry anymore."

She shut off the faucet, turned to me, and said something I've never been able to unhear: "We might have some money now, but I don't have the health to enjoy it anymore."

That one line rearranged how I think about work, money, and time.

In this personal episode, I share my mom's journey — from a rough childhood and three years of schooling, to riding 3,000 miles in a truck to São Paulo chasing a better life, to the frugal, risk-averse, fiercely loving woman who gave up her own enjoyment so my sister and I could have ours.

I also get into how the book Die With Zero (which I've now read three times) landed on top of that kitchen conversation and pushed me to actually live the life I'm building — take the trip, skip the occasional workday, show up for the graduations and the weekend games, because those days don't come back.

If you're heads-down grinding and saving every dollar for a "someday" that may never arrive — this one's for you.

• Why Trading Secrets became No Strings Attached — and why the struggles of small business owners are basically a universal language
• My mom's story: broken home, third-grade education, street-smart brilliance, and a lifetime of labor-intensive work
• The kitchen conversation that dropped a bomb on my head
• What Die With Zero taught me about spending your time (and money) while you can still enjoy it
• The hard truth about tomorrow being a promise, not a guarantee

The blog post that inspired this episode

I wrote about my mom's 80th birthday before I recorded this. If the episode hits home, the written version goes even deeper:
👉 What No Inheritance Can Buy

Mentioned in this episode

• Die With Zero by Bill Perkins

• Blogs:
  
  📩 Keep It Simple — E-commerce
  📩 We Dress Naked Windows — Window Coverings
  📩 Trading Secrets — Trade
  📩 Stories in Motion — Business & Life

  
  📚 Book: Nobody Told Me That

  
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