I haven't thought about retiring in awhile (still working towards FIRE but not obsessed with it). I realized today that I'm finally at a place in my career where I enjoy my colleagues, respect my company, and have great work/life balance. I will definitely quit when we hit our number. But, I can finally enjoy working towards FIRE compared to before when I felt frustrated and empty.
I have to say the biggest investment I made was working towards a career I enjoy and finding a good fit (after many, many bad fits, so many that I gave up a few times only to be pulled back in by people who saw my potential).
I'm a software engineer and the one thing I'm passionate about is making tech more accessible and palatable to women and BIPOC. I feel the best way to do that is to be a female software engineer lead. Be visible, lift colleagues up, etc. So, now I'm not even thinking about quitting when I FIRE because when I'm FIRE I want to do the same thing as when I'm not FIRE. Do you know what I mean? That's the great thing about FIRE. It's almost unlimited options.