I’m following up on my article “Financial Independence. I’m Retiring From Corporate Life At 46“.
Since I announced my project, many of you have been asking me the fateful question.
“So what’s life like as a young retiree after 10 days”.
I have put together 4 initial impressions that characterize this first period.
Photo by averie woodard on Unsplash
Financial independence. A sense of freedom.
I am slowly starting to feel a sense of freedom.
I used to have a schedule where everything was timed, and now I have a blank page.
No more need to prepare for the next appointment, to swallow my meal in fourth gear while reading a report, to set a 15 minutes alarm for my next break; I regained control of my time.
I still had a few recurring appointments in my calendar, like a sign of my past, I took pleasure in erasing them.
I take back control of my time.
More Time. The pleasure of saying Yes.
The constraints of my old job often pushed me to say No. To celebrate this first week of new life, I said Yes more often.
- Visit my parents 1000 km away by car in the middle of the week. Yes
- Drop by a friend on the way to an impromptu dinner. Yes
- Take a detour, go to a concert with friends before coming back. Yes
- Help a friend brainstorm for 2 hours on a new business idea. Yes.
- Help my sister put together a plan of action to land her dream job. Yes
Not having time constraints makes it easier for me to say Yes to things that can help and make me happy at the same time.
Impose constraints on myself.
“Nearly everything in life is unfavorable once it grows to a certain size.It is entirely possible to have too many clients, too much work, too much fame, too much free time, and so on.Pay attention to when the thing you’re chasing exceeds its usefulness.”
— James Clear
Anything in excess can become harmful—even the good things. I’ve been thinking about this concept and it applies perfectly to my new situation.
Having too much time, misusing it can become harmful.
So I have to be careful to do things that are meaningful to me.
Learning, reading, writing, doing sports are subjects that interest me. It’s on this that I will impose my constraints.
Writing every day, doing sports X times a week…
But let’s not rush things. I’m in the first months where my plan is to allow myself to do nothing and take care of my family.
Exchanges with friends.
Being at the beginning of the adventure, I have many friends, acquaintances more or less close who contact me.
We recall old memories. They are curious to know what I am going to do.
Most of them don’t even consider the option of stopping working. It’s not in their frame of reference.
“You’re not going to waste your talent.” “Take a job in the corporate,” “you can get a great job”…
These exchanges nourish me and also help me to apprehend the difficulties of this new life.
And that’s it for this first week…
See you soon..
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