Farewell message from my company's CIO

[LibrarIan]

Our CIO is retiring and, although if he had managed his money better earlier he would have retired sooner, he is getting out at 50 years of age. Not too terrible. He sent us all a farewell email this morning and part of it is particularly interesting for readers of this blog. Some in the office have said it seems a bit pretentious but this dude is pretty legit so I disagree.

Corporate life is all embracing and becomes our identity and raison d’etre for a long time.  I had a dream when I came to [company] in 2006 that I would retire when I turned 50.  At that time I am not sure if I truly understood what retirement meant.  During the ups and downs of the economic cycle I questioned myself a few times along the way as my criteria used to be different. 

Ending the corporate sphere of our life is a seismic event and it is important for us to plan our life after the merry-go-around.  I was lucky enough to read a book “How will you measure your life” by Christensen Clayton during my trip to Antarctica when I was truly disconnected for five days.  The book in essence said that we all run after five things in life “Address of our home, Vacations we take, Car we drive, Title and Size of the office”.  His view was that these are measures that others use to judge our success (I found myself on the guilty side!).  Christensen helped me realize that true happiness was more about seeking it intrinsically, loosening the bonds of seeking success as defined by others and enjoying the journey of what we seek.  Realization and awakening ensured that my conviction of possibilities and aspirations of life ahead would prevail and I would be able to stick to my goal of retiring from corporate life at 50!   

It's refreshing to see someone high up in the corporate world express some of the principles many of us strive for. Don't get me wrong - our now-former CIO had a very high-income job and ridiculous benefits. But I think no matter what level you're at, having the mindset he has discovered is key to happiness in this life in my opinion. Let's all avoid the rat race.

[okits]

Inspiring!  Some people don't understand the emptiness of shallow and vain pursuits, but it sounds like he did.

[Dances With Fire]

Nice for him to share his reasons for ER with everyone there.

We wish him well on his next adventures. (Many would love to do this by 50.)

[kpd905]

Good to see that someone in such a high profile position can dissociate themselves from their job title.  I also find it sad that according to that book one of the five things people strive most for in life is their car. 

[Candace]

Bravo to your CIO (ex-CIO now). That sounds very thoughtful and emotionally honest to me, as opposed to pretentious.

[Ricky]

I'm not so convinced that the things listed are necessarily bad things. In the context of the letter, sure. Maybe the CIO's life was molded around things others wanted for him or expected of him.

Humans naturally want to improve and excel at what they do. I think aspiring to live in the place of your choice (address), driving an acceptable car, going the places you want to go (vacation), and doing the things you want to do (employed, self-employed, retirement) don't have to be a bad thing at all. Whether your goals are your own or based on what others want to me is irrelevant. In either scenario, you're going to be working for a better tomorrow. There's no such thing as truly doing your own thing either. Someone out there is doing the same thing. Everything is always influenced by everything else. It's funny to think we can truly escape social pressures and influences.

It just sounds to me that he realized a little too late that he was living a life that he didn't really want to be living anymore, and that's the point.

[LibrarIan]

I'm not so convinced that the things listed are necessarily bad things. In the context of the letter, sure. Maybe the CIO's life was molded around things others wanted for him or expected of him.

Humans naturally want to improve and excel at what they do. I think aspiring to live in the place of your choice (address), driving an acceptable car, going the places you want to go (vacation), and doing the things you want to do (employed, self-employed, retirement) don't have to be a bad thing at all. Whether your goals are your own or based on what others want to me is irrelevant. In either scenario, you're going to be working for a better tomorrow. There's no such thing as truly doing your own thing either. Someone out there is doing the same thing. Everything is always influenced by everything else. It's funny to think we can truly escape social pressures and influences.

It just sounds to me that he realized a little too late that he was living a life that he didn't really want to be living anymore, and that's the point.

Very true. The things he listed from the book are not necessarily bad things. I think he worried about having an expensive house in a respected location, going on ballerific vacations, having a sweet ride (and he did/does), having an imporant-sounding title and having an impressively large office. In that context I, personally, would say he was striving for things that don't make people happy.

However, I worry about the same stuff, just in a different way. I fret over ensuring I buy a small and simple house, going on vacations in badassly frugal ways, having a regular old car, maintaining a vague title that doesn't draw attention and avoiding having an office so I don't look like I'm important. So I stress over the same stuff, just in a way that tries to avoid impressing others.

[arebelspy]

Great post.

Just put a hold on the book he mentioned at the library.  Thanks for sharing!

[thd7t]

It just sounds to me that he realized a little too late that he was living a life that he didn't really want to be living anymore, and that's the point.

He got a slightly later start at 41, but it was hardly "too late". He clearly made a plan and retired in under 10 years. This is an example of someone who examined his life, then crafted it to be what he wanted.