EP 089: Building a Life You Don’t Want to Retire From

Have you heard of the FIRE movement?

At one point in my life, I was obsessed with it.

If you don’t know, FIRE = Financial Independence Retire Early

The concept behind it works like this:

In your 20s and early 30s, you work hard, live frugally and invest all you can.

You do this for about 5-7 years. 

Build a big enough nest egg to retire in your 30s instead of your 60s.

Which is an incredibly cool concept! 

Go hard early and then never have to work again! 

Imagine never having to work again in your early 30s!

The choices you could make if you didn’t need money?

You could spend more time with loved ones.
Travel the world.

Maybe write that book you had always thought about writing?
Or, take up some ridiculous hobby.

For me, the attraction was being able to have more time to raise my future son.
(This was before my son Jack was born)

My Dad worked a lot.
Always providing for the family.

I had always wished for more time with him.

This was an opportunity to do things differently for my own kids.

Anyhow,

I bought into the idea of becoming FIRE and adopted the lifestyle.

Initially, it was fun.

Putting a focus on increasing income from business.

Finding creative ways to save money.

Buying things in bulk and being strategic in how we used credit cards.

You would be surprised how much you can save when you get creative.

But…

Living this “fire” lifestyle also comes with something you don’t enjoy.

Working more hours and missing out on life experiences

Doing work you don’t like just for $$$

Missing out on holidays or having nice things.

It’s a game of extreme delayed gratification.

You would often hear me say things like:

“This is the sacrifice you need to make to have time for your son.”

“It will be worth it when you are retired in your 30’s”

However… over time…

As that initial excitement for FIRE faded.

Things started to become a GRIND.
It wears you down.

Especially when you see others around you enjoying while you are suffering.

Now to be fair, the FIRE process was working.

You could see my net worth going up every month.

But, I hated my business and life overall.

Continually dreaming about getting to burn my business to the ground once I hit FIRE.

If you have ever run your business in a similar way, maybe you have felt the same.
Work hard and suffer now for the reward of “someday”

Anyhow, 

It turns out it’s common for people who adopt the FIRE lifestyle to feel this way.

There are many Facebook support groups focused on supporting people in the pursuit of FIRE.

One evening I was scrolling through one of the FIRE groups.

There was a question posted

“What do you plan to do once you hit fire?”

My knee-jerk reaction was:

Spend time raising my future kids, of course!

Then… 

Maybe sit on a beach for a bit and spend some time with loved ones.

The question got my mind spinning a little more.

“What else would you do?”

Then it hit me…

“Start a new business.”

One that’s enjoyable to run instead of this hell.

Working with great people, doing something enjoyable and interesting!

I have a love for business. 
Just not the business I’m currently running.

My mind kept spinning…

Hrmm…

Why would you build a business to burn it to the ground and then start another business?

Why not just build one business?

It will be far more efficient overall, and you won’t hate your life today.

You could have this today?
What’s stopping you?

A mind explosion was going off in my head. 🤯

You can have a life you love and keep progressing towards financial independence. 

So I did! 

Letting go of clients, I didn’t want to work with
Stopping projects we were doing just for the $$
No more grinding for massive hours every day.

Within a month, life had completely changed.
The business was so much more enjoyable, and life with it. 

What’s crazy is I ended up hitting FIRE a few years later.
There was no need to grind it out in a business you hate.

It’s possible to make plenty of money in a business you enjoy! 

The years of grinding it out seem like a mistake in hindsight.

Would have been nice to have worked that out earlier 😬

Anyhow, 

In this week’s podcast episode, we go deeper into the concept of:
“Building a life you don’t want to retire from.”

Tune in now!

DISCLAIMER:
All information we share is NOT financial or investment advice and is purely intended for entertainment and educational purposes only. Always seek professional advice before acting on any financial decision.