I'm sure I'm not the only one who starts down the path of this thing called FIRE, with dreams about how fantastic it will be to no longer have the constraints of a regular job keeping me from doing whatever I want with my time, only to find as that possibility becomes more and more real that I have no idea what I would do with that time. When it's all still "in a few years", it's easy to not focus on the specifics, to just hold onto vague ideas about a new hobby, or volunteering, or traveling, or finally having time to read all those books on the shelf, or to write that novel.
Now that I recognize that the prerequisite to having that life - financial independence - is just a year or two away (probably), I am more struck by the importance of making some concrete moves now, so that I can prove to myself that I am really ready psychologically to leave the workforce and the positive things like structure, socialization, and sense of achievement that it provides.
The bolded really hit home with me. I started down this path in 2012-2013 with thoughts of potentially reaching FIRE in 10 years. I've tracked my expenses every year, tracked my assets, saved my ass off, and gotten pretty lucky along the way. A few years ago, I sort of tentatively targeted a date (spring 2022) where I thought I could reach my FIRE number ($925k). After tracking my assets this month, I'm within spitting distance of my FIRE number, only around $25k short. It has suddenly become extraordinarily
real that this can actually happen. That I could quit my job at 32 and never need to work again. I've been able to convince myself that I'll be ok money-wise. But emotionally/psychologically, I'm not quite there yet. Despite this being my goal for ~8 years now, it's different now that it's actually here.
Like you, I've also only ever had vague plans. Sleep more, read a lot, bike a lot, kayak, walk, enjoy nice days outside in the summer, see daylight in winter, travel, play music, volunteer. I also wonder, is this enough? I'm a pretty extreme introvert. In the past I've gotten a large majority of my social needs met at work. COVID has shown me what it's like when that mostly goes away. And I do sort of miss it. The thought of leaving my job is easy. But the thought of no longer talking to many coworkers that I've spent years getting to know? That makes me a little sad. Some will continue as friendships outside of work, but most will probably not. That's just the reality of it.
While working, I've always been too exhausted to really be able to commit to volunteering or joining group social activities. I spend all of my extrovert energy at work and don't have any left. So I think for me, I'm just going to need to take the leap. A lot of people on the post-fire threads talk about needing several months to just decompress. So I think I'll just let myself be free with no goals or ambitions for the summer in 2022. I'm hoping by that fall, it'll be easier for me to spend some energy looking at volunteer opportunities, maybe joining some meet-ups that involve my hobbies, maybe make more of an effort to connect with friends and family more often.
So basically, I'm just gonna wing it. While I do see there'd be great value in setting up these types of social foundations now, I don't see it as a necessity. If I end up hating RE, I can always go back to work. I'm young enough that I'm not too worried about job prospects by taking a year or two off. I hate interviewing and have only had one job my entire professional life, so that may be off-putting enough to keep me FIREd haha. So while I do need more time to mentally prepare for FIRE, I don't know that I'll ever truly be ready. I'm just hoping when the time comes, I'm able to take that leap. And hopefully posting here will help keep me accountable!
Good luck to you. There are no easy answers on this and we're all different in our needs. But at least you know someone else out there is floundering a bit about the non-monetary aspects of FIRE! :)
