PRST (per-soot)

Posted on Jun 22, 2022Read on Mirror.xyz

Somewhere between Jay Shetty and Ramit Sethi

Jay Shetty is a former monk who left the monk path and took what he learned to inspire others to practice mindfulness, find purpose and meaning in their lives, and develop a Monk Mindset. His book, Think Like A Monk, was instrumental in me pursuing to build PRST into a bigger brand and strengthened my understanding of mindfulness, the practice of meditation, and pushed me further a long my spiritual journey.

Ramit Sethi has been helping individuals understand and manage their personal finances since 2004. His book, I Will Teach You To Be Rich, is one of the few personal finance books I recommend and regularly give out. Ramit has become a financial advisor to the masses and has impacted the lives of many families because he has a realistic approach to viewing money and managing finances. As a financial advisor, I consider Ramit an ally in that he’s been able to help countless families create a financial game plan and build good money habits.

I don’t know Jay or Ramit personally (hopefully one day I’ll have a chance to talk with each--maybe even have them on the podcast) but from following them and reading their work, I can tell we’d get along and have similar mindsets that includes amongst others:

  • a belief in abundance

  • optimism

  • the importance of confidence and believing in yourself

  • the power of the mind and practicing mindfulness

  • and most importantly, a genuine desire to help others find freedom and create fulfilled lives

For the most part, I don’t see a lot of crossover between Jay and Ramit, meaning Jay’s not spending a lot of his time talking about personal finance--from time to time he’ll have a guest on his podcast who might talk about money or business but for the most part Jay is spending his time helping individuals with mindfulness and building their Monk Mindset.

At the same time, Ramit is not spending a lot of his time talking about mindfulness, the connection between our spiritual and financial health, or how to align your finances with your purpose. In full disclosure, I spend more time reading and watching Jay because his expertise is where I am still learning and growing--Ramit and I are in the same field, so I have less to learn from his content, although I do still regularly read and follow him, so there is a chance that I have shortchanged Ramit and all of the aspects he covers in finance.

There’s A Gap

I know from 18 years of experience there is a strong connection between money and our values. Traditional financial planning has always focused on the dollars and cents and skipped over the emotional side of money. Thankfully, this is changing but there is still a long way to go. I moved away from allowing textbooks and spreadsheets to dictate my clients financial plans years ago.

While the spreadsheets are still important, they only play a small part in the way I believe financial planning should be done. A large part of what makes a financial plan successful is finding how to align the dollars with the values--often times the spreadsheet answer doesn’t line up with what the client values, so the plan needs to get creative and deviate from what the textbooks suggest.

“Personal finance is more personal than finance.”

-Tim Maurer

I have the experience and expertise to help individuals much like Ramit has been doing for nearly the same time I have been.

I can’t fall back on a spiritual background like Jay--I’m not a former monk and I really just began my journey to get to know myself on a deeper level in the last couple of years, but I’ve sped down the rabbit hole and can help others begin their own journey to really discover who they are, what they want out of life, and identify what they are currently doing that is not in line with their purpose, passions, and ideal life. My experience, which also includes the conversations with clients over the years, is not as exciting as Jay’s but it’s allowed me to find a way to connect finance and mindfulness.

PRST was transformed from just some hats and sweatshirts into the brand currently being built to make an impact because of my passion to help others find their passion and make it a bigger part of their lives.

I recently found this old visualization I created before PRST was even an idea in my notebook. I called it "Write Your Own Story”, which is ultimately what I hope to help people do through PRST.

The conversations and content on PRST centered around mindfulness, mindset, and the control we have over our lives will hopefully help the PRST community find their passions.

But just finding passion isn’t enough.

I know how following my passions has changed my life for the better and I want more people to have the same opportunity. I also know following a passion can be scary financially and require planning--the financial aspect of life often keeps people from actually pursuing their passions.

And this is the gap I’ll fill.

PRST will allow me to help people find their passions, incorporate it in their lives to see where it takes them, and build their financial life to support their passions at the level that makes the most sense--not every passion needs to become someone’s career..but it can.

So as I continue to create and talk about PRST, I’ll be working to position myself somewhere between Jay Shetty and Ramit Sethi. The day the three of us sit on a stage together or chop it up on a podcast will be mind blowing.

Keep Pursuing,

JC