Fighting Post-FIRE Complacency

[AR]

I’m new here.  Although I didn’t know it until very recently, I am a Mustachian.  As I have been binge reading through MMM’s blog posts over the last few weeks, I find myself identifying with basically all of it.  One thing that I admire about Pete is the post-FIRE fire that he has for life and generally making the world a better place.

I quit full-time employment 18 months ago with significant FU money, but probably not quite enough to fully retire on (I am 33 and FU money is about 15yrs expenses).  The plan when quitting was to enjoy an epic honeymoon with my now wife and when that was over to pursue endeavours that I am passionate about.  The endeavors of passion would probably make enough money to fill in the gap between the FU stash and a FIRE stash and life would be good.

Fast forward 18 months, the epic honeymoon is over and I am working a part-time consulting gig of at most 10hrs per week (not an endeavour of passion).   This part time gig gives us more than enough money to cover our expenses and here I am realizing that this shit is just too easy.  It’s too easy to work a few hours a week and just relax the rest of the time.  It’s too easy to have a pleasant life and never achieve anything worthwhile.  I haven’t been totally unproductive, I’m probably in the best shape of my life as a result of the amount of time I’ve been on the bicycle and in the gym.  But even so, I’ll get back from the morning gym session and just sit around and read some stuff, or mess around with some stuff on the sailboat (also our home), or spend half the afternoon cooking some stuff and then realize that another day is gone.  Life is good, but after about 6 months of this routine I’m sitting here and realizing that I haven’t made any progress in those “making the world a better place endeavours”, because, I guess, life is good and I don’t really need to?

I won’t drag this out any longer, but I guess my general question is:

For those of you that are on the mustachian path and are (or have been) passionate about achieving significant, meaningful things, have you had a hard time maintaining the drive post-fire?  Pete seems to be immune to this condition.  Unfortunately I have not been, but I’m thinking that being a part of this community will help get the drive back.

Mustachian people problems…

[Travis]

"What next?" is definitely a significant concern.  We have an entire section for post-FIRE topics if you want to swing this discussion over there.  This is a fairly common discussion point on that sub-forum.

[AR]

Ahh crap!  Well at least I have the excuse of being new here for not getting this in the right spot.  Now can anybody help with how I can move this to the Post-FIRE section?

[jim555]

For those of you that are on the mustachian path and are (or have been) passionate about achieving significant, meaningful things, have you had a hard time maintaining the drive post-fire?  Pete seems to be immune to this condition.  Unfortunately I have not been, but I’m thinking that being a part of this community will help get the drive back.

I never had this drive you described, so not a problem.

[Kay-Ell]

I'm 28 days into "semi retirement" (same 10hr/week schedule that pays enough to cover expenses while investment income accumulates) and am nervous about this also.  Starting a few days before my last day of work my kids got sick with strep, which resulted in me getting sick with strep, and then after their immune systems took a hit from the antibiotics, they got sick with a regular cold again.  So for the entire months one or all three of us has been sick, and we're just starting to approach wellness again.  I feel like the only thing I've accomplished is doing a little more cooking and a little more yoga than before and otherwise hanging around the house feeling miserable and trying to keep up with domestic tasks.  I keep telling myself I'll hit my rhythm - and I do believe that I will.  But it's a little scary to achieve such a huge goal, that I have so many plans to utilize, and then feel anxious that I'm just wasting it.

Do you have specific goals for what you'd like to achieve in FIRE, or just the general nagging feeling that you want to achieve something big.  If you have a few specific ideas, i would imagine setting up some structure and discipline around them wouldn't be too hard.  If not, well then maybe enjoying your wife and your sail boat until the right idea catches your interest isn't a bad way to spend the next few months or years.

[MonkeyJenga]

I'm only a few weeks into fire, but I've worried about this. For a few years, I looked forward to doing absolutely nothing in retirement. Travel, visit friends, go for walks, nap, and have zero responsibility.

Then American politics turned into a surrealist nightmare. I decided to dedicate my fire to that cause. But man it's hard to break out of nap & fun mode.

I am giving myself a few months break, then I need to figure out how I can do something while also enjoying the thing itself. There needs to be an external structure to work within, not just independent initiatives, to ensure I get shit done.

Finding local groups or individuals also interested in your passion could help. What exactly are you passionate about? "Something good for the world" is awfully vague. Politics? Animal rescue? Environmental protection? Criminal justice?

[AR]

I'm 28 days into "semi retirement" (same 10hr/week schedule that pays enough to cover expenses while investment income accumulates) and am nervous about this also.  Starting a few days before my last day of work my kids got sick with strep, which resulted in me getting sick with strep, and then after their immune systems took a hit from the antibiotics, they got sick with a regular cold again.  So for the entire months one or all three of us has been sick, and we're just starting to approach wellness again.  I feel like the only thing I've accomplished is doing a little more cooking and a little more yoga than before and otherwise hanging around the house feeling miserable and trying to keep up with domestic tasks.  I keep telling myself I'll hit my rhythm - and I do believe that I will.  But it's a little scary to achieve such a huge goal, that I have so many plans to utilize, and then feel anxious that I'm just wasting it.

Do you have specific goals for what you'd like to achieve in FIRE, or just the general nagging feeling that you want to achieve something big.  If you have a few specific ideas, i would imagine setting up some structure and discipline around them wouldn't be too hard.  If not, well then maybe enjoying your wife and your sail boat until the right idea catches your interest isn't a bad way to spend the next few months or years.

Hi Kay-Ell,
That sounds like a fairly unpleasant month that your family had!  Like you, I have spent a few months thinking that I would get that rhythm, but with so much unstructured time it really hasn't happened.  So, you're right that adding a bit more structure to the days is probably needed, i'll work on that.  I'm pretty big into sustainable energy, home efficiency and healthy lifestyle stuff with a few specific ideas that I would like to pursue.  I just need to make it happen!

I'm sure you'll get your rhythm as well.  It sounds like you know what you want to do and how to get there.  A bit of down time to "reset" is probably a good thing in the long run.

[AR]

I'm only a few weeks into fire, but I've worried about this. For a few years, I looked forward to doing absolutely nothing in retirement. Travel, visit friends, go for walks, nap, and have zero responsibility.

Then American politics turned into a surrealist nightmare. I decided to dedicate my fire to that cause. But man it's hard to break out of nap & fun mode.

I am giving myself a few months break, then I need to figure out how I can do something while also enjoying the thing itself. There needs to be an external structure to work within, not just independent initiatives, to ensure I get shit done.

Finding local groups or individuals also interested in your passion could help. What exactly are you passionate about? "Something good for the world" is awfully vague. Politics? Animal rescue? Environmental protection? Criminal justice?

Hey MonkeyJenga,
I'm not ready to start discussing American politics quite yet.  I just moved to the US (SC) this past June, so I figure it's best to abstain from those discussions for now to avoid pissing off 50% the people I talk to.

Anyways, you're right.  Some structure in my life is needed for getting shit done too.  I've come to realize that I've spent the majority of my life being motivated by stacking money as quickly as possible and now that the need is gone, my mentality needs to change.  Stacking money felt like an immediate need, but doing these other things that I've been passionate about seems less urgent.  So yes, structure is needed.

I'm on the search for Mustachian types in the physical world and have actually successfully found one in real life, but they are a rare breed!!

I'm into environment and health/fitness stuff mostly.

[Guesl982374]

This might be helpful:

https://livingafi.com/2015/03/09/building-a-vision-of-life-without-work/

[Rhoon]

My plan is to buy a Catamaran and sail around the world with the family -- before the kid(s) go off to college / whatever. After that they go to college? I hope to be well into a habit of sailing around the Caribbean, the med, etc...

I'm picking up photography as a hobby and I look forward to mixing that with sailing to other places!

[undercover]

I guess one way to create a sense of urgency would be to give up everything you've got and start semi-fresh. I'm sure that's not something you're willing to do, but maybe there's a way to trick your mind and get the same result.

You have to have a reason/goal in order to want to do something. Otherwise, you won't do it. You could find some experience you'd like to do or something else you'd like to buy and come up with a way to make money solely for the purpose of funding that endeavor. Put a proverbial carrot on the end of a stick for yourself. Just pretend that you're not allowed to draw from existing money in order to fund it or from your current part time gig. Ideally whatever you do it will be something creative/fun and something you'd want to do even if money wasn't part of it but trying to monetize it will be the rewarding part.

In regards to "real life" Mustachians - I like talking and interacting with like minded people, but I equally enjoy learning from people that are very different from me. Everyone has something to offer. There is no one way of doing anything. And you might find someone that indeed does give you a new perspective and motivates you to get involved in areas you normally wouldn't want to.