FIRE is amazing.
I absolutely cherish being able to live life on my terms, blissfully free of a job, boss, quotas, and drama.
But as great as it is, I think it’s only been so successful for me (thus far) because I knew something before I quit my job way back in 2014.
And I think it’s imperative that other FIRE fighters and early retirees also know this before they quit their jobs in favor of FIRE and all it offers.
If you don’t know this first, you’re going to have a hard time with your post-job life in FIRE.
In fact, I’d go so far as to say you will probably end up unhappy and depressed if you don’t have this pretty well figured out beforehand. I’ve personally talked to people who figured out the money, but didn’t figure this out, and they felt totally empty and lost.
So let’s get to figuring it out.
Know Yourself
What you must know before you quit your job is… you.
You have to figure yourself out.
You must know who you are.
Trust me. Just knowing money won’t cut it. Your money won’t figure you out for you. Your money won’t jump out of your account, grab your hand, and make a life for you.
You should have a good idea of what you want to do, why you want to do it, where you want to do it, when you want to do it, and who you want to do it with.
This is invaluable information.
You should know your passions and interests. You should have a general sense of your purpose in life. You should know what makes you happy. You should know what you’re good at. And you should even know what you totally suck at (so you can avoid those things).
Sounds easy, right?
Well, it’s actually not.
That’s because we’re typically too busy with our jobs, daily responsibilities, and everything life throws our way to figure ourselves and our lives out.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve asked coaching clients what they want to do after they FIRE, only to get a blank stare.
Isn’t it enough to save and invest?
Not even close.
People have no idea who they really are, what they really want, and what they really enjoy.
And if you’re expecting FIRE to magically build a life for you, as if it will materialize out of thin air, you’re going to be sadly mistaken.
I’ve discussed at length how important it is to be true to yourself. We must live authentic lives in order to be content and happy.
But it’s nigh impossible to live in a genuine way if you don’t know what genuine really is. You can’t be true to yourself if you don’t know who you are. You can’t aim for a target if you’re not sure of what the target is.
How can you be you if you don’t know you?
Running Toward, Not Running From
FIRE should be chased with an exhaustive enthusiasm.
But simply running away from your job, without running toward something bigger and better, is a massive mistake.
It’s not enough to be financially independent and able to quit your job. Retiring early will not suffice.
If you’re suddenly able to quit your job tomorrow, what will you do with your time?
This is a very serious question that you must tackle and figure out way before FIRE is achieved.
It was my initial goal to quit my job. I only wanted to be able to retire by 40. It was pretty straightforward.
But I was only running away from my job.
I hated my job. The job was like being in jail or something.
Quitting my job, for me, was analogous to escaping prison.
I could only see these walls around me, preventing my freedom. I was told when to wake up, where to go, what tasks to perform, when to eat, when to go to bed, etc. It sucked.
And so all I could think of was how to escape prison.
That led to devising a well-crafted plan to escape. I was very confident it would work.
I would sketch out details when my boss (the warden) wasn’t looking. I would take the money he gave me after completed tasks (I can’t remember if it was stamping license plates or not), and I’d add that to my pot of money that I’d use to fund my escape plan. I’d use every day at prison as fuel for my FIRE, motivating me to dig my tunnel out of that place.
Things were working. I could tell that, even after just a few years into it, my “life sentence” was going to be cut very short.
Yay!
Whoops.
What in the world am I going to do once I escape prison? What’s my life “on the outside” gonna look like? What will I do all day?
Fortunately, I realized pretty quickly that I wouldn’t be very happy if I quit my job without a substantial and thought-out life to run toward.
Without a meaningful life that drove me forward and gave me purpose, I’d shrivel up and be depressed.
And so I spent time before I quit my job structuring things in a way that would allow me to somewhat seamlessly slip into using up more resources in running toward something, once I was done expending resources running away from something else.
Of course, I didn’t figure it all out on Day 1.
There’s been a learning curve, experimentation, and life changes. This is, in my view, something to embrace and take advantage of.
But the life I ran toward is one where I would spend a lot more time writing, staying physically active, learning all kinds of new and interesting things, and inspiring people all over the world to running toward their own dreams.
It’s shifted a bit here and there, especially in terms of where I’m doing it from, but it’s by and large what I started to manufacture all those years ago.
It’s a life that’s been customized for and by me.
However, I was only able to customize it because I knew myself to a great degree.
I had a fairly good idea of what to look for. I knew what would more or less make me happy.
Life is like a castle. But I can’t build a life if I don’t know what bricks to look for.
I like showing up to the gym six days per week. I like being at the coffee shop for hours, every day. I enjoy writing, reading, consuming and producing content.
But someone else might use their FIRE to run toward a life full of woodworking, or becoming a chef, or fixing up and reselling old Vespas.
Whatever. The choices are practically infinite in number.
Most importantly, they’re your choices to make.
You need to take the time necessary to figure this out. And then you need to start putting the foundation in place before you quit your job so that you have something to energetically run toward once you’re no longer wasting resources running away from something else.
More Than Money
We must know that it’s not enough to be financially independent.
The money is only part of the puzzle. It’s perhaps the easiest part.
We must know ourselves just as much as we know our money.
We must be more than our money.
However, that doesn’t mean the money isn’t extremely important. I’m not saying that.
It’s obviously critical that we have enough money to FIRE. Otherwise, it’s all for naught. You can’t be FIRE without the passive income necessary to cover your bills. That’s pretty straightforward stuff.
But I like to think of my money in a very abstract way that stretches beyond its conventional limits.
And I discussed that in a recent post on thinking about what you might do with unlimited money, which this article builds on.
This way of creative thinking is, in my view, the crux of the matter.
Once you’re free to live without a job, you’re basically free of limits at all. It’s almost like you’re operating with unlimited money, for all intents and purposes as they relate to what most of us would do with our money and time.
This allows you to be more than your money. And it allows your money to be more than money.
So discard whatever norms you’re adhering to. Let go of your fears. Unleash yourself. See the limitless opportunities to run toward.
And then run.
Conclusion
As I stated at the outset, FIRE is amazing. It truly is.
But if you’re only concentrating on the financial aspects of FIRE, by running away from your job, you’re likely going to find yourself very disappointed with what awaits you.
Because what awaits you is nothing at all, if you’re not actually running toward something.
So get to know yourself. Don’t be afraid to have a conversation with yourself. Take a long look in the mirror and figure yourself out.
Keep in mind, too, that you will (and should) change as time marches on.
The 25-year-old version of you isn’t the same as the 10-year-old version of you. And the 50-year-old version of you won’t be the same as the 30-year-old version of you.
Don’t be afraid of these changes. Embrace them. Run toward them.
What do you think? Do you think it’s important to know yourself before you quit your job? How well do you know yourself? Have you figured that person out?
Thanks for reading.
Image courtesy of: pixtawan at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
P.S. If you’re ready to become FIRE and run toward something, check out some phenomenal resources that helped me reach financial freedom at just 33 years old!
I agree with your last thoughts about having something to run to, but realizing that things change as you mature. We all have our idea of utopia and hope to get there, but life gets in the way sometimes, so best to have a life plan than is flexible to withstand the headwinds of job loss, divorce, personal circumstances beyond your control, and still come out of it aiming for that target you hope to reach. It is not always easy, as you know from your Dividend Mantra days, but sometimes you have to take a hard look at yourself in the mirror, and decide to live by the motto ” Never let a challenge stop a dream” I have literally done that, and honestly wish I had done that earlier in life, but as I said, life gets in the way. No regrets.
Brian,
Yeah, I definitely agree. Not only should you have a flexible life plan, but you yourself should be flexible. You should be willing to scrap the plan if/when it doesn’t work any longer. You should be able to adapt and embrace change. Something I noted in the article is that we change as we grow. It’s okay if what drove you when you were 25 doesn’t drive you at 45. That’s part of growing as a human being. Adapt and go after new ideas and goals when it makes sense.
The worst thing you can do, though, is to think that everything just automatically works itself out because you were able to save and invest enough to live without a job. That’s the beginning, not the end.
Best regards!
I somewhat agree. That’s the ideal case. You should know yourself and have something to run to. It’s not just about escaping the prison.
However, I also think it is okay to not have a foolproof plan figured out before retiring early. That’s the luxury of FIRE. You have more time to figure it out. When I was working full-time, I just didn’t have the bandwidth. Life was too busy. My vague plan was to become a SAHD/blogger. Luckily it worked out very well for me and I love it. If it didn’t work, I would have find something else to do.
I think it’s okay to figure it out as you go. We just need to know that money isn’t everything and we should focus on finding a happy life. Thanks!
Joe,
I hear ya. I think you also had a busy life already installed beforehand with the family and all of that. So that was going to keep you pretty busy no matter what. The SAHD/blogger combo is a pretty full plate right out of the gate. I stay busy enough with just the writing. I couldn’t imagine the SAHD stuff, too. Haha! 🙂
This article was partly inspired by a reader I met here in Chiang Mai not too long ago. He figured out the money (which honestly isn’t hard), but he didn’t really have anything else figured out. He was totally lost over here. I felt bad for the guy. Told him to get his old job back and move back to the US, which he did. It appeared to me that he was just so hyperfocused on the money aspects of FIRE, it never seemed to occur to him that he had to figure out what in the world he was going to do every day. When I asked him about passions and things he enjoyed, it was just a blank stare. He couldn’t come up with anything, partly because he never addressed it. His life/identity was his job, the stuff, the high income, the saving/investing, and the watching of the money pile up. He used the word “spreadsheet” more in a few short conversations than I have in my entire life.
This is something I’ve noticed some of my coaching clients struggling with, too. Money’s pretty universal. But figuring out passions and what drives you is far more personal. This FIRE stuff is still relatively new. The whole movement started, like, a decade ago. Not many people chase after it, let alone achieve it. So there’s a bit of a learning curve there for the post-FIRE life.
Thanks for dropping by!
Best wishes.
Hi Jason,
Agreed and I personally believe it’s because in life for good or bad we’re accustomed to finding role models who we look up to or replicating someone’s lifestyle we aspire to. Copying others seems to be a way of life in most cultures, this is how advertising thrives in the modern world.
In FIRE there just aren’t too many role models out there to give inspiration on what is possible so we have to figure it out as we go along and define our own new life path in this segment. (Or we can follow the exploits of Jason Fieber of course…)
Like you say, this is all new ground-breaking stuff and we are only just figuring it out ourselves.
Regards,
DN
DN,
Good points there. I certainly have aspired to live my life in a way that’s similar in some aspects to role models in my life (Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Chuck Feeney, etc.). And I feel great about being able to inspire others, especially when you saw this groundswell of interest in following my path toward FIRE. The upstart of blogs similar to my own (usually called “Dividend Somethingorother”) followed, which I’m really proud of.
But there isn’t really much of a model or a mold in the post-FIRE space to fashion one’s own life after, especially if you didn’t have a super high income during your career or a ton of assets to fall back on in FIRE. That’s actually what inspired me to start this blog in the first place. Just like I started DM back when there wasn’t anything quite like it (I was writing what I wanted to read), I figured this was a totally new trail to blaze. I’m doing it my way (obviously including living abroad permanently), but I think it’s still important to be highly aware of what aspects of someone else’s life won’t work for you. The poor reader who came over to CM at least in part because I was here had to figure that out the hard way. And this is why I don’t live in Omaha. 🙂
It’s exciting to walk this path and share these concepts. They’re quite new. It’s a bit of a revolution we’re going through here. And if I can continue inspiring a few people out there with my take on this post-FIRE thing, I’m blessed!
Cheers.
Well said. “Know yourself.” Not sure if you read this article:
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/suze-orman-missed-the-point-of-retirement-and-thats-why-she-went-back-to-work-2018-10-23?siteid=yhoof2&yptr=yahoo
and the concept of “retiring forward and retiring backward.” What is your identity? A good question to answer when pursuing F.I.R.E.
DH,
I didn’t read the article. I don’t really bother with noise, naysayers, or the back-and-forth stuff. Doesn’t add any value to my life. I saw the headline. Wasn’t interesting to me.
That said, you’re absolutely right. You have to know what you’re doing it for. If it’s just to quit your job, you’re going to be super disappointed. Wherever you go, there you are. And if you don’t have much going on beyond just the desire to run away from something, you’re not going to find anything waiting for you.
Cheers!
Hi Jason,
in Germany you can live from the social warfare if you just want to run away from your job. OK, you don´t have a lot of money, but you can live your life. A lot of people who are living like this are not very happy, because nothing is happening. So they are sitting in front of the TV, drinking some beer or whatever they might do. Normally they should be happy not to work hard for their money. On the other side it is quite difficult in some areas in Germany not to have a job.
So on this you can spare to get FIRE, if this is your only goal not to work. On the other side I think you have to be very active to get into the position to be FIRE one day. And you need to find better activities than going to work every day. For me this is easy and I don´t miss the 5 days workjob. But I know a lot of other people which don´t want to quit it for different reasons.
I think most of the people need other people to tell them what they have to do. On the other side, if you are very busy every day with work/family you don´t think too much what other passions you have. So you won´t find many people which have the target to get FIRE. I only know one other person who did this successfully and wanted to do this. His brother had the target and they discussed it very early. So he bought several flats, some together with his brother and others on his own. He is now two years FIRE. But he had the same problem when he started: What will I do? One thing was, that he didn´t like working in the company he worked for and his boss was really amazed, that he is just quitting without any reason. The boss did not understand it and it was an unbelievable scenario for him to quit just a so well paid work.
I have now nearly one year experience with FIRE. But I still work in small projects in the IT area, not for the money, only for the interest. OK, I get money for it but that´s not the interesting part. What I can see is a reduction of the projects over the year. In the summer I didn´t do anything in this area simple I wanted to enjoy the summer. I miss really nothing, improve my Spain and I´m reading and studiing things I´m interested in. I think with the time you change a lot, when you are FIRE with the increasing experience. But you must work on yourself to find your interests. Even if I like IT much, there are so many other interesting things as well in the world. You must be open to find them and to do complete different things as well. The advantage with FIRE is to have the time and the money to find them, to get much more open and not be so focussed on one item. But you must learn this and this takes it time.
I don´t think to get FIRE is the easiest part. You have to work hard for this, even if you earn more then average. But the other part to get happy with FIRE is totally different. The money part is mechanical: Earn enough money and invest it. The second is your mindset: Be open to find the things you are really interested in. Some people have more problems with the money and others with the mindset. And there are a lot of people which are not able to achieve solutions in one of both parts or even both of them. A few will get FIRE, but no advantage out of it like your reader who went back to the US. But I think this is the better part instead of having no chance to be successful on the money. He can be happy in his job, but on the other side he never has any problems with money in the future. Thats a better position then 95% of the people in the world have.
Regards Oliver
Oliver,
Yeah, I agree with you. It’s a process. You learn about yourself, expand your interests/perspective, and grow. In my opinion, that’s a lot of what’s so fun about FIRE. But most people don’t like change. They fear change. It’s human nature. And so that’s a big part of why FIRE can be frightening for a lot of people. The status quo might actually not be making them happy or fulfilling them, but at least it’s not scary. People are funny.
I’m glad it’s working out so well for you. I truly love it, but I embrace change. Otherwise, I wouldn’t be living halfway around the world and doing what I’m doing. If it’s just about quitting your job and living cheap, like you note, there’s easier ways to go about it then FIRE. FIRE should be the start, not the end. There’s no finish line with a big applause there.
Best regards.
Hi Jason great article, I retired at 43 back in 2004. No real plan on what I would do except move to Fla. I spent the better part of two years “figuring” things out, time goes fast and it moves on with or with out us. I try not to look back but that was really wasted time. Now I’m 57 and slowing a bit but still looking at the future. I got back into investing again and having great fun with it ( Thanks to being inspired by your FIRE fund ).
Restoring old Vespa scooters would be great fun 🙂 I’m not sure what I will do as time marches on but I think of it often now as I’m getting older.
Bob,
Moving to Florida for a fresh start is always a nice idea. That reminds me of someone I know… 🙂
Nothing wrong with taking a little time off as a sabbatical to just decompress and unwind a bit. But I don’t think you’d want to be too liberal with that kind of idea, because the time (as you note and experienced) can fly by very quickly. And since we’re doing this because we value our time so highly, it’s not wise to waste a large chunk of it. You don’t necessarily have to come out of the gate flying, but you want to have a general idea of where you’re pointing your compass. Something to run toward is wonderful.
Best wishes!
So good, so well written, and definitely aligns with my mindset. I am pretty sure I’ve seen that name somewhere, but i think this is my first time actually stopping by the blog. Loved reading this, and really connected with the message.
Really looking forward to reading more.Cheers man!
HLT,
Thank you very much. Appreciate the kind words. Glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
I have about 40 completed drafts in the hopper, so much more to come. And there are a few hundred articles in the archives, too.
Cheers!
Jason,
I totally agree with your conclusion. I think you do have to know or plan on what you think life should be like before you reach there. Nevertheless once you reach there FIRE afords you time to adjust to thinks you would like to do and accomplish.
Cheers
Dividend Pursuit
DP,
Definitely a good idea to have things figured out before you get there, which allows you to hit the ground running. Ran into a reader here in CM who didn’t do that. He felt lost on the other side. Eventually went back to his job.
Cheers!
It’s too bad that your reader decided to go back to work. But then again, that’s the beauty of FIRE … it gives him the option of retiring, or going back to work, or doing what ever he wishes. I don’t think it’s that bad that he didn’t figure out his post-FIRE plans. In my opinion, the hardest part is getting to FI. You also hinted that he has a high paying career and he’s tied to that identity. I can relate to him. I feel like it’s much harder EARNING MORE than it is to SAVE MORE. Saving just requires cutting back, and it’s a competition against your own desires. However, EARNING a high salary requires competing with others to get into an elite school, followed by an elite job, followed by working long hours and doing truly difficult tasks. When you’ve achieved so much to get to that kind of position, it’s hard to give it up. Just my 2 cents playing devil’s advocate.
PK,
Absolutely. FIRE is all about options, even if one of those options is to go back to the job. In his case, he finds value in accumulating money and assets. I’m not sure it made him happy – he indicated a few times that he chased after FIRE to get out of that rat race – but it’s up to him to find whatever that is.
What I’m really saying here is, it’s just as important to work on yourself as it is your money, portfolio, and spreadsheets. If your focus is overwhelmingly on the money, I’m pretty confident you’ll end up disappointed when you get to the other side. You’re still you wherever you go. And if you don’t know who that person is, more time on your hands will only make that painfully obvious.
Best wishes!