Yes!
You’re FIRE.
Hard to believe you made it, but you’re here.
Now what?
An innocent enough question to ask, with very big implications about the rest of your life.
See, everyone likes to figure out their money. But they often don’t take the time to figure out their life.
It’s important to figure out both, because I can tell you there’s no FIRE “finish line” to cross with some kind of coronation awaiting you.
FIRE is wonderful. But it’s just the start in many ways.
It’s simply part of the journey of life. It allows you the options to flexibly customize your life. This freedom is amazing when held in the right hands.
Well, I believe those “right hands” are aware of and take advantage of the “three P’s” of FIRE.
Way back in 2013, I wrote about the three P’s of achieving FIRE.
If you can master patience, persistence, and perseverance, you’ll do well. I’m not talking about just FIRE, either; these qualities will help you across every aspect of your entire life.
But actually enjoying FIRE, once you’re there, requires a different set of P’s.
These are the three P’s of actually enjoying and making the most of it once you achieve it.
Passions
I have a very strong conviction about this.
You MUST have passions in your life to enjoy FIRE.
These passions should consume you and your time, energy, focus, and creativity.
If you don’t have real passions, I’m afraid you almost certainly will not enjoy FIRE at all. In all of my time writing about this and meeting people in and around the FIRE circle, I’ve yet to meet anyone who’s successfully FIRE without passions.
The best thing about this is, passions can and often will be monetized. This is why I believe the math behind early retirement is mostly moot. Those who focus on the pedantic elements of personal finance are totally missing this.
Now, passions could be many things.
Family. Exercise. Travel. Art. Cooking. Reading. Writing. Volunteering. Fishing.
I could go on and on.
Unfortunately, I would say many people don’t have real passions. This is why I don’t believe everyone is cut out for FIRE.
Most people are probably better off with a job of some sort because they’re better off when tasks are assigned to them to keep them and their bodies/minds busy. That’s just how it is, I’m afraid.
However, some people don’t have passions because they’re too busy with their jobs. So it’s a bit of a catch-22. They don’t have time to figure out who they really are because they’re too busy at work; they’re too busy at work to have the time to figure out who they really are.
I was aware of this issue before I quit my job, which is why I started to foster my passions way before FIRE. I tried to figure out a life because I realized that figuring out the money was more or less an inevitability.
Look, I don’t deserve a round of applause because I was able to save and invest money in a land of abundance. It’s a pretty basic thing that should be the norm. I simply had to stop making dumb choices with my money.
Money’s this repetitive thing that ends up working for you so you don’t have to work for it. That leaves you to your own devices. So you better make sure you have some devices.
I can tell you that I count investing, writing, reading, exercise, and learning as some of my core passions in my life. I’m 100% enthusiastic about each and everyone of them. I attack them all with a ferociousness that only a true passion calls for.
Don’t know what your passions are?
Read this.
Productivity
This goes hand in hand with passions.
One of the major reasons we continue to survive and thrive as a species is individual productivity.
You must continue to be a productive member of your species.
This is lost on a lot of people. And when they lose it, they feel lost.
Without some kind of productivity in your life, I’ll just about guarantee you that you will feel lost.
You simply cannot leisurely bum around all day. Productivity must remain a very large part of your day-to-day life.
Look, leisure is great. It’s awesome. Don’t get me wrong here.
But it’s only awesome when it’s tied to productivity. Work and leisure complement and add value to each other. You cannot have and/or enjoy one without the other.
I look forward to waking up (late) in the morning. I spring out of bed because I’m so excited about my productive afternoons that consist of, for example, writing inspirational content and hitting the gym.
There’s measurable productivity with both of these passions. The articles wouldn’t exist if I didn’t write them, for instance. And my muscles wouldn’t exist if I didn’t build them.
I’m producing something of value with every word I type. All of this is reaching and impacting people all over the world. Remaining a productive member of my species, even in a very small way, keeps me happy. It makes my life feel more worthwhile.
Progress
This adds on to the other two P’s.
Once you have your productive passions in place, you must also continue to rack up progress with all of them.
Moving forward makes life far more rewarding and livable. If you’re standing in one place, you’ll likely become depressed.
Just imagine being the same person at 50 that you were at 20. No growth. No progress. You’d surely feel like your life was wasted.
If you’re the kind of driven person who’s setting out to achieve FIRE, you absolutely will not feel complacent with FIRE in and of itself. That need to progress and achieve audacious goals is what will require you to continue to progress as a human being across all aspects of your life.
Progress equals happiness. There are levels of making it in life and whatever you think ‘making it’ is, when you get there, you’ll see there’s another level. That never ends, because if you stop growing, you’re going to be unhappy. When you achieve a goal, it feels good for — how long? You know, a week? A month? Six months? A year? And then it doesn’t feel so good. I don’t care what it is you’ve achieved, and the reason is because life is not about achieving the goals, life is about who you become in pursuit of those goals.
Progress is the “crown jewel” to the three P’s, in my opinion. It’s arguably the most important one of all.
You have to figure out and cultivate your passions. Then you have to remain productive in all of those endeavors. Finally, you have to progress and continue to “level up” as a human being.
It’d be like playing a video game and remaining on Level 1 forever. How boring. Or, leveling up to Level 60 and then going back to playing in an area of the game that was reserved for Level 1 skills. It’s too easy. You have to continue progressing and moving forward to keep life interesting. I talked a little bit about this in my podcast interview with Brett Dev a while back.
The reason I’m not still writing articles like “What Is A Dividend Payout Ratio?” is, I’ve progressed as a writer and investor. Analyzing businesses and learning something new, then sharing that via my writing, keeps me progressing forward with those particular passions.
Conclusion
FIRE is wonderful. It truly is.
But part of its wonderful nature is the way in which it can allow you to unlock all of your potential and “level up”.
It allows you the cumulative resources to live your best life.
Living that best life, and enjoying FIRE in the process, means you will need to understand and take advantage of the three P’s of FIRE.
If you’re able to cultivate passions, remain a productive member of the species, and continue to progress forward, I can almost promise you that you’ll absolutely love FIRE. At the very least, you’ll be setting yourself up for very favorable conditions to succeed and live a very happy life.
I can tell you, personally, FIRE has been all that and a bag of chips.
I’m living my dream life these days!
But that wouldn’t be the case if I didn’t constantly remain productive with my passions and progress forward as a human being.
What do you think? Are these three P’s critical to success with FIRE and life itself?
Thanks for reading.
Image courtesy of: bigjom at FreeDigitalPhotos.net.
P.S. If you’re ready to achieve FIRE and make the most of it with the “three P’s”, check out some amazing resources I personally used on my way to becoming financially free at 33!
Hi Jason,
yes, I confirm that these points are very important. Even for people which are not FIRE, but you need in this situation much more power to live your passions.
When I look at my situation I don´t divide the time in leisure or work time anymore. I have a lot of passions and handling with my passions is leisure for me. I don´t have to look, if this will pay me like in the past. Its just depends on my interest to do it and get experience with it. Learning for example a foreign language is not a must, I can do it on my timeline and whenever I would like to do it and when I have fun with it. Without pressure I even get more successful with doing my passion. So I´m very thankful to be FIRE, because I gained a lot of quality of live. But if I don´t have an idea what to do with myself I think FIRE would be very disadvantogous, because I realize that I am a human without any live in me.
I assume there are so many people outside don´t have any interests are seeking for such situations to work 60 hours/week, buy big houses and do all the stuff with a lot of „responsibility“ to fill the time. This works till you are 50/60, the kids are out of the house and may be you have paid your house and sitting in this much too big house with a wife you don´t really know and no idea to proceed. I know some of these people and their main task is to search for a new sense in their lives. Some couples get divorced, others are still sitting in the giant house till they are old and have no use of all the place they live at. But the only interesting what happens is the dinner or the kids are visiting them at the weekend. Thats real and normal live for a lot of people. OK, this sounds quite negative, but its very real in our society. On the other side FIRE would not help them as well, only the task to achive it. But they will have no use for it.
I think this is a very useful article for people who wants to get FIRE and even for people who are FIRE. There are a lot of people writing how to invest, how to reach FIRE and so on. This is for sure important for beginners, but evryone who is on the way to get FIRE should look how to handle FIRE.
Thanks Oliver
Oliver,
“There are a lot of people writing how to invest, how to reach FIRE and so on. This is for sure important for beginners, but evryone who is on the way to get FIRE should look how to handle FIRE.”
That’s exactly it. I spent years writing about the “what” and the “how”. But the “why” is really far more important. Too many people in this FIRE space are guilty of harping on the same money stuff over and over again. Money is important. Don’t get me wrong. That’s why I continue to address investing and elements of my personal finances. I enjoy writing about all of that. But money is a relatively small piece of the pie in terms of your day-to-day life. The financial parts of FIRE get blown way out of proportion. Maybe that’s because it’s easier to focus on money than it is to confront questions about your identity and purpose.
Accumulating some money in a place like America (or even Germany) isn’t that monumental of a task or achievement. But figuring out who you really are, and slowly becoming and improving on that person, is much more important, difficult, and rewarding. I think the concepts I discussed here are vital toward that end.
Best regards!
Hi Jason, a couple comments: First, I literally used the analogy of leveling up (we’re playing World of Warcraft again after a few-year hiatus) two days ago to make us feel a little more optimistic about the accumulation phase we are now entering [finally, hooray!!!!]. (Are computer games considered a passion? 😉 ) We’re finishing off the last of the debts, except mortgage, and are now saving 30%+ per month, soon to hopefully be 50% in the next few months. I’ve read that the accumulation phase can feel like a drudge after some time when the excitement wears off and you’re going “Are we THERE yet?!”. Since we’re leveling in game, I tried to make the connection to our real-life investments and it does make it a bit more exciting. Maybe for each level of the “grind”, we get to go out to a nice meal or something to celebrate the “ding” [leveled up!]. I think perhaps I should create a physical something to put in our office or on our fridge WoW-themed to keep the analogy fresh. 😀
As for passions, I’ve been cultivating mine since last year, starting slowly but surely, because I’ve also read that people aim for FIRE for FIRE’s sake but when they get there, they don’t know what to do, get very unhappy, and go back to work feeling like a failure. They had no clue about what they’d *do* once they’d get there and sit around bored..I cannot imagine this problem for myself. As busy as I felt with work(s), I felt it was much more of a priority to figure out what I’d potentially be doing with the time off, so I started meditating, reading more spiritual/consciousness books, playing games I used to enjoy for LEISURE (and not feel guilty about it, which is difficult and I’m still working on). I also felt that I needed to develop a skill that could benefit the world (again, like in WoW..gotta level up those crafting skills!!) so in November I dusted off my sewing machine and have been learning to quilt, of all things. I made a really, really cool looking [wall-hanging/bed coverlet/unsure what we’ll do with it] and I have about 50+ ideas I want to try out, so my plate is full there. I think I’m doing rather well and I’m struggling to figure out how to make time for my jobs! Well, tomorrow is my last day for my part-time one..hah. 😀 I also work with a retired guy at my part-time job and he’s always wondering how he ever had time to work 80 hours a week because he’s so busy in retirement (he’s 79 now!). I think once I get going on the quilting, I may be able to donate them to shelters? I don’t know what I’d do with the finished products yet.
Thanks!
Jamie,
Great job over there. Sounds like you guys are crushing it! 🙂
Yeah, I totally hear you on the “how can you be bored?” thing. I never understood it, either. But that’s only because I started to develop a cadre of passions long before FIRE. I felt these things tugging on me and pulling me forward, yet I just didn’t have enough time to dedicate to all of them. However, a lot of people fail to develop their interests. Thus, I can see how those people would, unfortunately, be “bored” in FIRE. I can’t even tell you how many emails I’ve received over the years from people suffering from “one more year syndrome” simply because (although they had plenty of money) they truly didn’t know what else to do with their lives. It’s an issue that I believe can be avoided if you’re thoughtful about it ahead of time. That money won’t jump out of your brokerage account, grab you by the hand, and build a life for you.
Thanks for adding that!
Best wishes.
hi Jason
this was a good and I thought a powerful article. I think its true on the 3 P’s, Power, Productivity, and Progress.
I celebrated my 25th wedding anniversary yesterday. I have to say I think the 3 P’s are important in a relationship.
Cheers
Michael,
Yeah, absolutely. Many, many important things in life. Many important aspects that we should all be aware of.
This is really just pointing out that, despite what so many people seem to think, FIRE is a lot more than just figuring out money. If you spend all of your energy on saving and investing, you’ll probably be disappointed to find that there’s nothing really there for you (unless you take care of what I’m talking about above).
Thanks for dropping by!
Cheers.
There is good value in this article- it makes sense to be productive in your passions and measure your progress accordingly. We have one life to live and leisure without the balance of work and productivity becomes old quickly. The key is to build a new routine in ER- having a full time job forced a routine and time commitment but once you are charting your own course one needs to be far more mindful.
Although I’d also argue that having a good foundation – good diet, sleeping habits, regular exercise, avoiding addictions will give you the framework you need to put the rest of the puzzle together far easier.
-Mike
Mike,
I’m right there with you on the habits/routine. I’ve discussed the importance of having a routine (that you customize for yourself) before, so this was an opportunity to discuss some new concepts that I haven’t addressed before.
https://www.mrfreeat33.com/reprogramming-my-mind-to-enjoy-a-routine-which-has-helped-me-become-happier-and-more-successful/
Figuring out the money is important, but it’s also not very hard. Once you kind of go from crawling to walking (in financial terms), you should make the most of that newfound ability and actually build something worthwhile and meaningful. If you have passions that keep you productive and progressing forward, I can’t imagine you’ll be unhappy. 🙂
Best regards!
Good article this one.
Even within the boundaries of FIRE, there are still progress (P) made and not a traditional moot beliefs that people always thought about the usual boring retirement stuff.
FIRE makes that happens, by nature or consciously doing it.
B,
Definitely. It’s just that progress takes on a whole new meaning. Instead of climbing an infinite corporate/social ladder to nowhere, you’ll be progressing forward and “leveling up” in a way that is far more profound and personal. 🙂
Cheers.
Hey Jason,
Thanks for another great post. This really resonated with the thoughts that an article I recently read in the Atlantic provoked in me. The article can be found here: https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2019/02/religion-workism-making-americans-miserable/583441/
The article points out that many young people have fallen into “workism”, a state where people seeking meaning, identity, transcendence, and community through their work. I am guilty of seeking this to some extent, with an arguable degree of success or failure (depending on how you look at it). I understand the author as saying this is in opposition to what John Maynard Keynes predicted would be the problem of the 21st century of figuring out how to occupy out leisure time. Perhaps what you advocate here for the ideal way of living FIRE is the the happy middle ground between workism and Keynes imagined 21st century.
Expat AJ,
Hmm. I’m not sure “workism” is really how I’d look at it. To follow through with the concepts I just wrote about here, I’d call it “jobism”. Americans self-identify very strongly with job titles, job success, climbing the ladder, racing the other rats, getting raises, buying more stuff they don’t need, etc. That’s just how it is over there. And it’s a big part of why I didn’t feel comfortable living in the US any longer.
FIRE is a great way to simply right-size your entire life, including the work you pursue (or do not pursue). I’m only pointing out that the idea of putting yourself in a position to live off of passive income at a very young age is, in many ways, just the start of the rest of your life. The kind of driven person who achieves FIRE is not going to be content just sitting around all day long. You’re going to go out there and do interesting work that speaks to you. You’re going to add value. And you’re probably gonna make a few bucks doing it.
Cheers!
Hi Jason,
Thanks for the reply.
I completely agree, there is a difference between workism and jobism. Unfortunately, most people equate work and jobs. They ask: where do you work? Or: what’s your title at your job. I even do that at times. While I would argue that all jobs are work, not all work is a job (for example volunteering). I definitely want to do work that is meaningful and purposeful to me through my job, but I am unsure whether I’ll ever get that through a job. Ive never identified with any job, nor achieved any transcendence or community. Then again, I’ve never gotten to do work I have wanted to do or for which I went to school. Hopefully, someday I get to do the work I want and get those positives through work 😉
Progress is the key. Human is built to make progress. We can’t handle being static very well. That’s why everything is gamified now. When you level up and make progress, it keeps you happy.
Productivity, on the other hand, probably isn’t necessary. Someday, I want to be much less productive. That might just be daydreaming, though. Once I get there, I probably can’t handle it.
Joe,
Ha! Yeah, it’ll be interesting. I think you’ll find that you’ll want to be productive, even if you try to get away from it. Part of progressing forward is remaining productive. I really see all three P’s as being holistically complementary. Productivity takes on many forms. I doubt I’ll still be writing 10 years from now, but I’ll just be productive with other stuff.
Best regards!