Description

“What are my values and what are my goals? Am I moving myself in that direction. If I'm not moving myself in that direction, what am I doing?” - Nicholas Whitaker

Welcome to the Mindful FIRE Podcast, where we explore living mindfully on the path to financial independence and beyond. I’m your host Adam Coelho and I’m glad you’re here. 

Today we talk to my friend, Nicholas Whitaker. Nicholas has an incredible story of going from living in poverty, with housing insecurity and just scraping by, to changing his mindset and his entire life to ultimately be working at Google for the last 10 years. 

For the past decade, Nicholas has leveraged the scale and resources of Google to support the journalism industry through high impact educational products, programs, and strategic partnerships, reaching more than half a million journalists worldwide.

Throughout his time at Google, Nicholas has also managed stress and anxiety through an active mindfulness practice, extensive study of emotional intelligence, resilience, and the impact of technology on well being as well as regular therapy. 

He spends a portion of his time facilitating mental health talks, meditations, host experts in the industry to talk about mindfulness and resilience, and facilitate team development experiences to help teams and colleagues manage stress, cultivate trust and psychological safety, and learn more mindful ways to communicate. I'm also coaching a limited number of clients outside of Google.

In this episode Nicholas and I dive into:

• Nick’s philosophy on life: Figure out how I can have the most impact on the world around me, in a positive way.  How can I do that in a sustainable way. Is there some reality where I could be doing that full time? 
• Why he’s inspired by the quote “Chance favors the prepared mind”
• What is neuroplasticity and

Join the Mindful FIRE Legends community at MindfulFIRE.org/join.

PS: Introducing the… 🔥 FIRE Starter Group Coaching Program

You did the “money” part. You saved, invested, and built real options. But if you’re being honest… FU money alone isn’t enough—and you might still feel stuck in “one more year syndrome,” unclear on what you actually want next.

In 10 weeks or less, we’ll help you get clear on what you want—and start living it now—using envisioning, mindfulness, and practical mini-experiments (not endless overthinking).

Interested? Let’s chat: https://mindfulfire.org/chat

🔥 WHO I’m creating this for

This is for you if you’re at or near FI (Coast FI or full FIRE) and:

• You feel stuck after “doing everything right,” but you’re not sure what you’re optimizing for anymore.
• You’re caught between freedom and overwhelm (“I could do anything… so I do nothing”).
• You want clarity and momentum—but you don’t want someone to tell you what to do.

🔥 WHAT we’ll do together (over 10 weeks)

In a small group (mastermind-style), you’ll:

• Get clear on what you actually want (beyond expectations, comparison, and “shoulds”).
• Create a big, meaningful vision for your next chapter—one that fits who you are now.
• Learn the brain science behind envisioning (why it works, and how to use it).
• Turn yo...