Hey there forum, long time lurker.
TL:DR version of my question: Once you're convinced about the logic of FI and have done your basic management (checked your budget and debts, gotten costs under control in theory) all that's really left is waiting and not doing much. What do you do at that point?
Slightly longer version:
I'm struggling with the part of an FI goal where I accept that this is smart and wise and right for me - and then going off and working towards that goal by not doing things. I kind of want to... buy some gear (the consumer is still strong in me), sign up to a challenge that requires daily check in, feel like I'm making an effort that hurts towards the goal. The "problem" is that for me, all I need to do right now is not spend extra money and invest my surplus every payday. Not spending extra money will of course require a lot of individual choices but it really doesn't mean any effort RIGHT NOW.
Yes, there is a list of more major life changes I'm going to make in the next year or so (adding second child to picture, changing jobs to shorten my commute and make my working years more pleasant) but I'm 6 weeks away from maternity leave and live in a lovely welfare state that will allow me to stay at home with decent pay the rest of 2020 so for now my efforts basically boil down to 100 occasions of not buying take-away coffee or signing up to stuff.
My worry is of course that I'll "forget" to be Mustachian whilst going about my life. This worry is pretty reasonable given that I've known and read about FIRE for 5 years and, whilst I credit it for helping me avoid a lot of stupid debt (pre-kids husband and I had a roommate in our home whose rent effectively paid for our wedding etc.) and saving me loads of money in other ways I haven't really been serious about it before now. There is a limit to how much time I can spend rereading old MMM blog-posts... I realise that I may be creating a problem out of thin air here, or limiting myself uneccessarily but I'm genuinely stumped and kind of antsy. I'm so used to buying a thing or a membership or going to meetings or whatever when I want to change something. Reading more specifically on the topic isn't neccessary now - I've got the basics and will space out reading the obvious books a bit through the months/years to keep everything fresh in mind.
To be clear: I've got a mortgage which is best in market, a student loan with low interest (way below what the market is preforming these days), non-spendy spouse, got rid of all subscriptions/recurring costs that I didn't feel very strongly about keeping recently, invest in low-cost index funds and have very cheap, very good childcare and healthcare curtesy of my astronomical taxes, don't really eat out, don't have a car or consumer debt etc. etc.