It’s been more than four years since I quit my job in search of greener pastures.
The greener pasture I was most in pursuit of is, of course, FIRE.
FIRE is so green because that pasture is filled with money.
Am I right?!
All kidding aside, quitting my job the day after my 32nd birthday was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made.
Sure, I’d have more money if I had stayed on at the dealership – a lot more money.
But since I view money as a resource that’s worth much, much less than my time is as a resource, it’s a no-brainer for me.
FIRE has been the greenest pasture I’ve ever had the pleasure of seeing with my own two eyes, which is why I try to inspire and provide tools for others to reach for their own version of FIRE. My most recent best-selling book on the subject, 5 Steps To Retire In 5 Years, is a great example of that.
Now that I’ve had more than four years to experience FIRE, I wanted to report back on something I recall a few people telling me when they had heard my plan to quit my job:
But you’ll be bored…
That’s right. Some people thought I’d be bored out of my mind once I quit my job.
It was as if without supervision from a boss, I’d be a directionless, depressed slug of a person without a reason to exist. There couldn’t possibly be anything to life other than a job, for I was put on this planet to clock in and follow the instructions of my superiors. Nothing was waiting for me out there. The grind was the end-all, be-all. Without wage slavery and a 9-5 slave mindset, you couldn’t possibly live a meaningful life.
That is, of course, an exaggeration. But it does speak to the heart of the matter: many people honestly believe that boredom awaits those that quit their jobs.
Well, I’m here to announce, more than four years into this thing, it’s not true.
The Status Quo Is Boring
First, let’s get something right out of the way.
The only thing that’s ever been boring to me was my job!
They say only boring people are bored. Maybe. Maybe not.
I’d like to think I’m a pretty interesting person, but I can say that my job was super boring.
I mean, we’re talking about doing the same repetitive tasks, over and over again, for decades of one’s life.
Isn’t that the very definition of boring?
The status quo – a job – is boring. That’s what’s boring to me.
To even think about being back at the dealership today, where I’d be dealing with the same issues and people that I was dealing with 5-10 years ago, is a total snoozefest to me. I have a hard time thinking of anything more boring than that.
Where’s the growth? The change? The new?
There’s an old saying in business that goes like this:
If you’re not growing, you’re dying.
Well, I’m not sure what better example of not growing there could be than a job, where it’s doing roughly the same set of tasks for years on end. This is probably why I felt like I was dying back then. It felt like a slow, painful death.
The Opposite Of Boring
FIRE, to me, is the opposite of boring.
It couldn’t be less boring.
FIRE opens up your entire world. Whereas a job limits, constrains, and insulates you, FIRE unleashes you and your inner potential. Your precious resources (like time and energy) no longer being sucked up by repetitive tasks allows you to more creatively and passionately allocate yourself.
There’s almost unlimited growth available to you in FIRE.
There’s financial growth (practically guaranteed by the inevitable nature of a compounding snowball), physical growth (like getting in the best shape of your life), mental growth (like learning about totally new and exciting concepts), etc.
Being the best version of yourself and living your best life requires the availability of all of your resources. Something as exhilarating as becoming your best self isn’t even close to boring.
Since I quit my job more than four years ago, I don’t think I’ve been bored even once. I couldn’t imagine being bored when there’s so much to take advantage of.
My life is now full of memories I wouldn’t otherwise have if I had been spending most of my waking hours over the past four or so years jobbing it up.
For example, I’ve been able to move abroad. This is a very un-boring thing that wouldn’t have been possible back when I had a job.
Now living in Thailand, I’m able to experience a totally different culture, lifestyle, and perspective. It’s been fantastic.
Structure
I’m not totally positive where this boredom line of thought comes from, but I think it’s partly out of innocent ignorance and partly out of the crab mentality.
There’s envy at play, so some people will naturally try to bring you down to their level. And citing “boredom” is a pretty easy card to pull, in a passive-aggressive way.
While the crab mentality is just an unfortunate part of how some people react to the good fortune of others, the ignorance aspect is, in my view, out of the false belief that no job equals no structure.
Since most people only know a job, and the structure it provides, it’s easy to assume that boredom awaits those that step outside that box.
Without some structure to the flow of our lives, we can become lost. And when people just ignorantly bring up boredom, I think it’s this that they might actually be thinking about. They think people going after FIRE are purposely aiming to lose the structure, and those still operating within heavily structured lives (structured by/around their jobs) believe this is a bad idea.
FIRE isn’t a one-size-fits-all idea, so your idea of FIRE will naturally vary a bit from mine.
However, almost everyone I’ve talked to that are successfully FIRE (which is, admittedly, a small pool of people) have structure in their lives. Actually, the most successful people (in all arenas of life) I’ve ever studied have very structured lives.
While I initially was excited to lose the routine, I realized later that the routine wasn’t bad at all. It’s just that having a routine that’s not suited for me was bad. Having someone else structure my life for me isn’t very nice. It’s like someone else telling you where you’ll live, who you’ll date, and what you’ll eat. It’s not nice. It’s like being in prison.
Indeed, I’ve pointed to my own ignorance on this subject, noting that I’ve come around to realizing that reprogramming my mind to enjoy a routine has helped me become happier and more successful. A routine is something I used to think was the enemy, when it was actually just the wrong routine that was the problem.
FIRE gives us the options to create a life that’s customized for us and by us, and that means we can live an authentic and content life.
Structure isn’t bad.
Bad structure is bad.
FIRE gives you the opportunity to restructure your life in a way that’s more suitable for your unique DNA.
Furthermore, that structure can be more appropriately right-sized.
My afternoons are heavily structured around my daily visits to the coffee shop, content production and consumption, and exercise.
However, my evenings are pretty open. I’m able to fully enjoy my evenings because I’m no longer recuperating from the overwhelming and incorrect structure that used to drain me for ~11 hours per day.
So it’s not only a more correct structure, but it also allows for the non-structured time to be more enjoyable.
Passions
Lastly, there seems to be some kind of belief that no job equals no passion.
It’s almost as if whatever job you’re doing is by default your passion, when that’s actually almost always not the case at all.
Most people don’t enjoy their jobs.
A job isn’t a passion; it’s a paycheck. There’s a big difference between a passion and a paycheck, just like there’s a big difference between a job and work.
Being FIRE allows you to work on your passions. It’s precisely the act of not allocating so many resources toward a non-passion that frees you up to finally get cracking on your true passions.
Indeed, I believe there’s a ton of value in discovering your passions way before you quit your job. And there are many methods to go about finding out exactly what your passions are.
Being FIRE (or at least partially so) means you can do meaningful and productive work that aligns your talents and interests with your time.
And these passions will often result in some kind of monetary benefit, keeping you busy in an enjoyable manner while also making money.
Furthermore, doing work rather than showing up to a job is arguably making the world a far better place in the end. It’s a huge win-win at both the personal level and societal level that shouldn’t be discounted.
Conclusion
Retire early? But you’ll be bored!
Maybe you’ve heard this from someone. Maybe you haven’t.
Either way, I hope this short piece gives you some insight into not only where this line of thought is coming from, but also how incorrect that thought process is.
Believe me. FIRE is anything but boring!
I’m living the most interesting, productive, and exciting life I’ve ever lived. And I’m a far, far better version of myself today than I was back when I was engrossed in the boring 9-5 (or 7-6, in my case).
I’d argue the world is a lot better off with Jason the engaged FIRE writer, investor, and philanthropist than it would be with Jason the bored service advisor.
What do you think? Has anyone told you that you’d be bored if you FIRE? Has FIRE been boring for you?
Thanks for reading.
Image courtesy of: saphatthachat at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
P.S. If you’re looking to become financially free, which could allow you to live a much more interesting life, check out some amazing resources that I personally used on my way to becoming financially free at 33!
Jason,
I could not agree more with this article. I have heard this from people before, when talking about FIRE stuff / plans (though usually it is people dismissing of the possibility), and I cannot help but wonder if they miss the point because of something like that crab mentality. Guess another old saying comes to mind, you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.
– Gremlin
DG,
Yeah, I heard this here and there back in the day. I don’t remember ever addressing it with a full article, so I thought it would be a great time to circle back to this now that I’ve had a pretty good opportunity to see what FIRE is all about.
I think it’s partly out of innocent ignorance (because FIRE is a concept that few people can wrap their brains around), and probably partly out of that crab mentality. Crabs don’t like other crabs getting out of the bucket. So they’ll say things – even seemingly innocent things – to keep you from escaping.
It’s odd to me only because I thought the job was so boring. Every day was more or less the same. Clock in, write repair orders, answer the phone, talk to techs. Same old, same old. Couldn’t get any worse than that. Haha!
Cheers.
I started keeping a list of “FIRE hobbies” about a year ago, logging the kinds of things I like to do and about how much time I would like to do them per week. These are things like “program video games – 1.5 hours a day, 3 days a week”, “read books – 1 hour a day, 6 days a week”, stuff like that.
I think I’m up to like 250 hours of things to do a week, which means even if I gave up sleeping I wouldn’t have time to do even 2/3 of the things I want to do. If I’m bored in FIRE it won’t be because I don’t have enough things to do and need a job to fill my time.
1mil,
I hear you there!
I’m in the same boat. Not only am I not bored, but I physically lack the time necessary to do all that I’d like to do. I guess there’s just so much to be excited about. Life is way too short to do/see it all. 🙂
Best regards.
I think the person bored in retirement was probably boring during their working life. If you are on this planet and can’t come up with a long list of things that interest you, and find that your only joy in life is based on a schedule, pace, compensation, deadlines and following orders, then you might as well work till you drop. If on the other hand you realize time is ticking, and to enjoy life, is to experience life, not just exist in it. I realize that to some living life on a beach drinking a pina colada is the perfect life, while to someone else going to their kid’s baseball game and pizza after is their ideal life. They are both great and I think there is something out there for everyone. I know one thing though, when I got together with co workers away from the office, the only thing that we ever talked about was the office, and the people who worked there. So even on our own time, work consumed us. I think the ideal time to retire is when you know you can financially and you can name at least a half dozen things that you would enjoy doing more than going to work.
Brian,
That’s so funny. I didn’t get together very often with co-workers, but I saw the same phenomenon play out when I did. Talking or thinking about the job when you’re away from the job is about the last thing on this planet I’d be interested in. But I guess that’s a good chunk of what a lot of people have going on in their lives. Take that away, and they’re left a little empty. To each their own, but I find that sad. As you note, this planet has so much to offer. I get so excited about the possibilities. I’m consumed with all that I’m into right now, but I’m just as excited about what I haven’t even discovered yet (but will surely consume me down the road).
Best wishes!
Hi Jason,
I hear you on this part. I agree with you that co-workers tend to talk about the job matter when they are together be it on a drink. It’s quite boring having said all these things. I guess that this is the sort of common topics in which they are talking about all this while. Perhaps the co-workers cannot be the best confidants on the exciting things in which one will embark in the RE journey.
WTK
I am elated that you wrote about this! It’s the #1 comment I hear and I feel like it is such an undermining of the hard work put into FI to achieve something many may only dream of at 65. I laugh to myself when I hear this though…as in “really, there is nothing else you can think to do with your time than….filling out forms, sitting in meetings, arguing over who should rightfully own what crap work of the day, budgets, convincing people to buy x instead of y, etc.” Yes, there are 15% of people who are engaged and/or enjoy their jobs—that is amazing, perhaps those people would be bored. I’m never bored on my own watch…but at work…it’s almost a constant struggle to rise above the boredom and do tasks I have completed a million times before. Honestly, I’m looking so forward to FI so I don’t have to cox myself out of boredom every day with little treat anymore;).
Nicki,
Thanks so much. Glad you enjoyed this one! 🙂
I’m here to report that you’re on the right track. Those who think you’ll be bored are probably just unimaginative, boring, think-inside-the-box people. There’s a whole world out there waiting for you. This lifestyle isn’t only not boring, there’s still not enough time to explore that big world of possibilities. That might be one of the biggest bummers: all the time still isn’t enough.
Best regards.
Almost six years in. Still not bored…
FV,
And I don’t suspect that’ll change. 🙂
Cheers!
Boring people will be bored. Simple as that.
There are tons of people who have no real ‘self’ or interests outside of the job they work and the distractions to keep them busy in the hours afterwards (namely TV and movies). I don’t know how many people I know, who are college educated, but haven’t read a book since they left nor do they have any sort of personal development goals. They simply stopped developing at age 22.
You can give some folks all the time and money in the world and they’ll do the same old stuff over and over again. They can’t move beyond their ingrained patterns.
However, most of the people who FIRE or are on that path, will always have some project or interest that keeps them going; even without the 9-5 structure. I never feel like I’m bored. Sure, I don’t ‘feel like’ doing things at times, but I know there’s always something to interest me or to spend time doing…because I love the fact that I exist. The world excites and interests me. The idea that I would have unlimited free time is awesome, not some sort of problem that would need to be solved.
AO,
Couldn’t agree more with you, especially on the personal development quip. That’s a shame that people look to the formal education system for development. For me, formal education is all about building a career and fitting into the rat race, but self-education is about building a life and becoming exponentially more knowledgeable, successful, wealthy, and autonomous. This is something I should perhaps write about in the future, as I certainly failed with one and did much better with the other.
Like I recently wrote about, FIRE isn’t for everyone. I think the majority of people out there would actually be in a world of trouble if they were suddenly free. They need the boss, the 9-5, the structure, the quotas, etc. It’s just how they’re built, for better or worse. Frankly, the world needs that. But for those who are fighting for FIRE and thinking these other people might be right about the boredom, I’m here to say that’s totally incorrect. 🙂
Thanks for adding that!
Best wishes.
Hi Jason,
I know the discussions regarding to be bored without a full-time-Job. I have only around 10 months experience with it now, but I can´t remember to be bored in this time. I had the luck to work on jobs I really liked most of the time, but I never had the feeling that my live is at the end when I don´t do the job any more. I have too many interests and my main problem is to cover everything I really want to do. This is simple not possible for me.
One of my passions is to go to the mountains, which are not far away from where I live. If you are doing this at the weekend with good weather, you see a ton of people on every well-known place and visiting These places at that time is not worthy any more. But if you do this from Monday till Friday ist real beautiful – a big advantage if time doesn´t matter.
One of my experience is, that I even got more ideas I want to invest time after getting FI. When you are working all day long you are simple to tired to think about complete other things. You don´t have the power and in your mind is to be fit for the first working day after a weekend. So you are living a much more passive life. On the other side you don´t have the social recognition, you don´t feel important and the people say, you have no function any more. I think, thats why some people are arguing that they will get bored when they don´t have to work. People which are unemployed have a very low status in Germany and I think its the same in US. Thats a fear and a lot of people don´t want to experience it. I had some similar discussions with people around me, but from my side I don´t care about this. I have the freedom to do whatever and whenever I want. And I have so many possibilities (this is the Jackpot of FI) I never had when I was working full time.
So I don´t want to have the old status anymore in the future. The new life is much more interesting, without any stress and I can do so many things that my life is much richer than before. If you are bored in your life its up to you to change it. You can be bored with everything, in your job, your familiy, overall life, whatever. But this is a personal problem and a sign, that you should try to change the things which are boring you. It has nothing to do if you have a job or so much money that you can choose your lifestyle. Boredom is only a lack of Imagination how to live your own life.
Regards Oliver
Oliver,
Definitely agree!
It comes back around to “only boring people are bored”. Likewise, one could come up with an analogy that sounds like this: “Only people who feel lost without the 9-5 (and a boss telling them what to do with their time) would be bored in FIRE.” Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who fall into that camp. I actually know of a reader who’s staying in CM right now, but he’s heading back to the US because he misses the job and all of that. So to each their own, but I guess I always found the “boring” quip to be fascinating because nothing could be more boring to me than the status quo for decades of one’s life.
Cheers!
Hi Jason,
Love the blog! You are my hero.
This really hits home with some of the close people I talk to. I recently became financially independent but I haven’t left my job yet. I’m thinking maybe next year. Truth is, my job is really simple and flexible. Some people I don’t like. The work is sometimes boring and sometimes interesting, but I get paid pretty well for the amount of work I do. So, they make it tough for me to want to leave!
Have you ever thought about creating video content on youtube? I would love to see more of that because you seem like an interesting guy.
Paul
Paul,
Thanks, man. Really kind of you. 🙂
Hey, if you don’t mind what you do, it’s all good. You might be in that small camp of people that are engaged or otherwise enjoy what they do. Not every job sucks, nor is having a job a “bad” thing. Only you can/will know what’s the right call in regard to how you allocate your time. It’s your most valuable resource, of course, so just be careful with that.
Videos are really neat. I must say, I love consuming video content. And it’s a lot of fun for me to have a conversation about things. I popped on a local guy’s podcast not too long ago (that should be live within the next month), but that process reminded me of exactly why I don’t do YouTube stuff. It’s a lot of work. And not the fun kind (at least for me). I think he spent, like, 20 minutes just setting up all of the video equipment. Writing is a passion of mine, and I guess I’m lucky that it’s so much easier (not to mention cheaper!) to write than to do video. The blogging/administration side of writing is very uninteresting, though, which is what led to me seeking out help a few years ago with DM. That would be even worse with video. If I had some kind of partner who enjoyed recording and all of that, video would be awesome to try out on the creator side. But I don’t (and probably never will) have something like that.
Best regards.
Hi Jason,
Hope you are doing fine! I follow you successful story since your beginnings, it’s great to see how fast you achieved such a great goal… but now I have a question that is not related to investing at all:
Next January I plan to stay in Chiang Mai for a couple of weeks to live like an ex-pat (who knows if one day I could be a retired guy living there off dividends in such place). Could you please give me your recommendations on which area should I book the apartment, considering we plan to stay relaxed, enjoy thai massage, go out for every meal and once in a while take some activities.
Your comments will be highly appreciated.
Thank you and regards from Spain
Carlos,
Chiang Mai isn’t such a super huge area that you’ll find it difficult to move around, almost regardless of where you stay. And it’s easy to just come in, check it out, then move somewhere else (if you see fit).
That said, I spend most of my time in the Nimman area. It’s very walkable, filled with amazing restaurants, cafes, and entertainment areas. It’s by far my favorite part of town.
Cheers!
Hi Jason,
Good topic I think people should find a few things to keep active in life after FI. A friend of mine says he likes to have 3 things for him 3 is good not to many to tie him down but just enough to keep as busy as he likes. I spent the first approx 2 years just finding my footing in my new life and as I get older those change. Some people enjoy their job or work or career. I did very much until literally one day I didnt and decided to move on. I think that having FI if you like your job or not gives you the ability to make the change if you want if not.
Just turned 57 this week so I am 14 years in FI and very happy 🙂
I did have an interesting moment this week when an acquaintance made a comment ” you cant be rich look at what you drive ! My car is way nicer ” …. ( I drive a 1989 Volvo 240, value squared LOL ), with out skipping a beat I replied ” The more I have the less I want “, (The more I have meaning money). That just came out of no were but I did think about it a bit and I truly feel that being happy with what I have is really all I need 🙂 I have no need to “prove” anything to anyone and my wife and I would much rather enjoy life than “stuff”.
BTW I read your other blog and the food looks YUMMMY 🙂 And I enjoy coffee ! and Cake ! Maybe one day I will fly over for dinner, iced coffee and cake LOL
Keep on enjoying 🙂
Bob
Bob,
Hey, I hear you. I don’t need to prove anything to anyone. If I felt like it was important to fit in and prove things, I’d still be back at my old job in America. Just honestly couldn’t care less what other people think about me.
Other people can keep their nice cars and big houses. I’ll take my ability to do what I want, when I want, where I want, with whom I want. That’s true luxury, in my opinion. 🙂
Cheers!