I don’t see financial independence as the ultimate goal. I see it as just a ticket to the greatest show on earth – the earth itself with all her beauty, complexity, critters and currently crises. The opportunity to ask the Mary Oliver questions: What are you going to do with your one wild and precious life?
I invite you to look past the numbers to the meaning of life.
In the early years of being FI, I worked a lot on untangling relationship problems – with my family, with my was-band, with my new partners. I did a lot of self-examination. I didn’t know there were so many me’s inside of me – some decent and admirable and some quite hard to face. I had a glorious chance to travel to beautiful places in a home-built motorhome and meet so many fascinating people on the road.
When I’d ask, “What’s my purpose?” though, I’d often draw a blank. I knew I wanted one, that I must have one somewhere, but it wasn’t until I acted, until I found worthy projects that mobilized my latent talents, that I actually felt what living on purpose might be.
Something in this world is hanging in the balance.
I believe that you, who now have time to let the striving and tightness of making a dying fall away, can put your fingers on the healing part of the scale, to tip the balance. Entry points to having an impact are everywhere, from helping one miserable family member feel more buoyant… to influencing crowds of thousands who are like baby birds with their mouths open, seeking some guidance from somewhere.
We can stop them from turning toward demagogues. It’s easy to organize around hate. It’s much harder to get millions, to respond to another signal and swoop towards love.
Unfortunately, we live in times with a cacophony of voices shouting at all of us from every screen, every shop window, every magazine, every cause, every form of distraction. FIers have learned get one of these voices – consumerism – to shut up. That alone should give us a clue to finding our way. Once we attach ourselves to a worthy ambition, we move mountains to achieve it. When you want something more than you want the postage stamp of a life you have (even it is a huge commemorative postage stamp), then you will do anything to get it.
What do you for your post FI life?
After a necessary period of relaxation, catching up, repairing whatever relationships you neglected (with mate, family, house, car), a few fun trips, then what? I offer from my own experience this list of “where to look for the next adventure”, but the world is wide and sub-cultures are vast and opportunities are everywhere.
You – with time. Accept that getting FI launches you into what may seem an identity crisis but is really a big fat opportunity to find yourself in freedom. You designed a work life. Now design a life work. Look for ways to help focus your mind and learn tools.
And then there is the deeper search for the meaning of life. Whatever your faith, or your interest in spiritual paths, give yourself some time in retreat or nature or workshops to help you slow down to the speed of wisdom. I’ve seen hyped-up FI sprinters smooth out and deepen down when they have time for their inner life.
Learning. The sky is the limit on this one. Literally – you might want to learn to paraglide or, going in the other direction, scuba dive. Lots of delayed life pleasures and sport await and you’ve earned them. Sing, Dance. Travel the world. Learn how to build things, fix things, invent things. Learn to meditate. Learn to communicate.
I encourage you to also learn about the serious challenges to our world.
The exponential growth of consumerism is the driver of all other collapse scenarios. Climate Change. Earth Justice. Food Justice. I hope some apply your systems thinking and analytic capacity and intelligence to this biggest problem on earth.
Family– expanded. Time with kids and grandkids is precious. What a luxury to enjoy it. Perhaps ask, how can I also help other kids whose parents are working 12 hours a day – like you used to. Coaching a team. Organizing a club – be it hiking or sailing or scouts. Starting some children’s theater classes that could morph into performances. Tutoring. Starting an alternative school where kids learn through nature and adventures.
Community. Where I live, retired people fill most board positions for most non-profits. Just about any service project in your town or city could use you, and don’t be afraid to shop around for where you come alive. We need to re-localize.
Political engagement. Politics was the last place I looked for meaning. I was cynical about politicians’ empty promises, the moneyed interests that ran them and the thin nozzle of effectiveness through which huge issues needed to flow to solutions. I banked on cultural change – masses of people exiting the putrid story of more more more and building new ways of living. Now I’ve realized we all have to be engaged. Some things can’t be solved by masses of people making personal changes. The scant progress we’ve made on climate and justice issues is now sliding back into the swamp.
We are all political animals because the economic/political/social environment we live in has a lot to do with how secure we are and the opportunities we have. I recommend you also think about how the blessings of financial freedom might be distributed through out society. Less stress. More time. Happier Life. For Everyone. And think about getting into the fray on some level, be it local, state, national or global. At very least, you will meet amazingly courageous, intelligent people who have their whole hearts with the work.
But electoral politics is just one point of entry. I’ve gained a great appreciation for “policy wonks” – systems thinkers who realize that laws, regulations, ordinances, taxes, subsidies, incentives are like the weirs and channels in the flow of money and engagement on issues. When a politician announces a bill, guaranteed there’s been 20 years of tinkering and perfecting and analyzing the policies proposed in the bill that will carry the politician’s name. Here too is where your prowess can make a big difference. It might seem like, jeesh, another job. If you occupy higher level positions you might even earn more money. But you know you can walk away and you don’t have to compromise your integrity to keep the job.
As I said, with your smarts and capacity for focus and skills, and with the world’s precariousness, I see an outsized opportunity for time rich people to make a big difference in small and big ways.
If you are looking for your path, many teachers have this advice: choose a path with heart. Service without love casts as much shadow as light. Let whatever draws you forth hook a piece of your heart. Let yourself be vulnerable, to care, to risk disappointment or looking like a fool. Let the path not be sourced in rationality, but served by it. Don’t just give to causes, show up with those who are suffering to give what you can from yourself. For me, it is when I put myself in the midst of a problem, when I feel it, when I want to help but don’t know how, that my best service happens.
I’d add, if I can at all improve on the sages, that you choose a path that is a context, not a project. When I do projects without a larger context, I might get good work done but it is not dedicated to anything higher.
May your lives spark a fire in the world around you – and in your own soul.