Beyond The Curtain

Beyond The Curtain

My first CampFI was unbelievable. I remember looking around upon arrival and seeing all these internet famous faces and being paralyzed. So many impressive people all standing right in front of me. This amazement continued through to FinCon, and a few other social meetups. Over the last year my podcast has given me an excuse to interact with financial bloggers and podcasters alike. I have gotten to know some more intimately, and even would say that I have gained a few friends. I have learned quite a bit about our community. It has given me a chance to look beyond the curtain and see a snapshot of who we as content creators really are.

This community is as authentic and impressive as it looks from the outside, but it also isn’t as picturesque as it sometimes appears to be.

I think this is very important to recognize.

The Veneer of Perfection

If you read enough personal finance blogs or listen to enough podcasts, it is easy to feel bad about yourself. Content producers have a way of being so confident about making the right financial moves. We preach in a clear voice about speculation, real estate investing, and a slew of other issues. Even when we talk about mistakes, it is done in a positive and uplifting way.

Beyond the curtain, I have found that content producers are just as imperfect as the rest of us. We struggle with difficult decisions, and cannot always boil everything down to math. We are thinking, emotional beings who carry all the human foibles that mankind was created with.

It is impossible to always fail forward. We sometimes lack confidence even when the answer seems straightforward. Anxiety and fear don’t just jump right past us.

We are imperfect. Human. Even if this doesn’t always play well when written on our blogs.

The Promise of Financial Independence

Beyond the curtain, financial independence isn’t as rosy as everyone writes about. There is significant anxiety and depression in this community (as in every community). Having enough money solves only one main problem.

Lack of funds.

It does not create meaning and purpose. Financial solvency does not make one a better person nor make stronger bonds with neighbors. It does not quel financial worries nor extinguish the drive to continue making money. Life with boat loads of money is only nominally better than life with just adequate amounts of money.

We all have demons, although by reading our blogs, you may think we are living the good life. Most likely we still struggle with all the same issues that we did before we got into this exclusive club. Minus the loathsome dependence on the W2 job.

Believe it or not, having control over our work environment only solves a small subset of our life issues.

Not false, Optimistic

I don’t think we are being false. I don’t think we are selling a sack of goods that we don’t believe in. The business of creating content is about pushing the most optimistic view. We write about the best part of ourselves, in the best light, to hopefully be helpful. There is no big consolidated conspiracy to hoodwink the community.

We are good people. Hoping to change lives. Hoping to bring clarity.

Why It Matters?

For all of those non content producers out there, stop beating yourselves up. No matter how confident our voices, we shake and tremble before big decisions too.

Don’t mistake our airbrushed photos for reality. They are close to reality. They are the best parts of reality.

But this is a product. A carefully honed product to make a point. Don’t let the pretty picture distract you from the grit of the message.

You can do this too. You don’t have to be perfect.