A couple years before retiring. I came across this T-Shirt in my 2nd trip to Hawaii
Kimo's Hawaiian Rules.
These four are very FIRE, and the rest very Hawaiian
The best things in life aren't things.
Goals are deceptive-the unaimed arrow never misses.
He who dies with the most toys-still dies.
There are 2 ways to be rich-make more, or desire less
The other important I learned is that for most people, with careers not jobs, your best most rewarding months will be while working. It is hard to beat the sense of purpose, being part of something larger than yourself if you work for a good company in a job you generally enjoy and find challenging. However, your worst months being retired are almost certain to be better than your worst months while working. I didn't miss at all, the stress, the feeling of not having control of my life or my time, having to fire people, the frustration of endless meetings or doing things you knew were dumb because a top executive demanded they get done.
In my experience people, who failed at retirement and went back to work because they felt unsatisfied, were more concerned with having the highs associated with work than avoiding the lows. Becoming FI is always a worthwhile goal, but the psychological preparation for the RE part is every bit as important as the numbers.
Even after 20 years of retirement, I'm not 100% sure I made the right choice.