For most of us, we would possess both a mixture of things that we look forward to and things that we don’t look forward to in our everyday lives. For instance, I would most certainly not look forward to going to work on Monday and facing those daunting emails. On the contrary, I look forward to things like weekends or going home from work so that I can play with my son. These are just the most direct day to day events that I am going through right now.
The thing with going through events that we are not looking forward to is that life suddenly becomes a drag and meaningless. It is like waiting for those moments to pass by and if you’d be given a remote control that you can fast forward the time, you’d take it straight away. Life would be deemed colorless. Of course, the argument is that no human beings can sustain a life filled with extreme euphoria all the time but having something to look forward to in life is a different matter altogether.
When financial bloggers set up a goal to reach early financial independence by X years old after Y passive income meets Z expenses, they are unconsciously thinking of an ideal state of life post financial independence. By then, you no longer have to face the same dreadfulness of going to work on Monday (something you don’t look forward to) and you’ll be able to schedule your week according to what you desire taking out money as a factor in your decision (something that you look forward to). These are all state of matters that financial bloggers would desire.
On the contrary, life can get equally meaningless if you managed to attain financial independence but are lacking of ideas or things that makes you look forward to. In fact, I would say that this can be very dangerous because suddenly you no longer have goals in life. See, if you had attained financial independence, that would mean that you no longer have to worry about money, so that factor is taken out. Unfortunately, if you had attained those at an expense of your health and time (age), then you’d realise later on that you’d just miss the important moments in life and that is something you cannot rewind back.
I’ve been blogging on the topics of financial independence for about 5 years now and I’ve come to realize that achieving financial independence is not about attaining an ideal state of life but rather I would need to continuously rack my brain as hard as I would have done right now before I reached financial independence. There needs to be something that I look forward to in life, regardless whether I am 10 or 90 years old and they are independent of my state of reaching financial freedom. If not, life would just go downhill from there and that’ll be the end of the journey.
What do you think? Can you schedule your life without a purpose or things that you look forward to in life?
Hi B,
Agree. I've so many things to do, I doubt I'll be bored. During my 2 yrs downtime period, I had a plan to do some art work and projects. 'Unfortunately' my work picked up and never had time to do it. The pick up rather caught me unawares…still, the projects are still there waiting to be done.
I don't think I'll ever stop working in my life. But there'll be a time that I work for other things besides money. Maybe I'll work for charity for example 🙂 Plenty of things to do!
Hi LP
I guess you picked that up much earlier than I am 🙂
I've come to realize that you actually love your work which is awesome and it brings great savings too (wink). When the time comes, you can choose to do it for the needy perhaps, be choosy and more picky for the better 🙂
Life itself has no purpose. But we need to create that purpose for ourselves. I am also trying to figure it out. Now that i have too much time on my hands, i keep on wondering whats next …
Hi PIB
Thanks for sharing.
I believe you have gone through much more than I am.
I hope life is well for you. Having too much time on your hands give you the option to action something and make your presence known.
There are days that I lay in bed to read, my recharging method. But just to quit my job without any meaningful work is almost out of the question. It's really sad come to think of it. I can't relax. I'm so wired to get up and run. In fact, I've reach FI, but I don't have any concrete plan for the future, so I'm not quitting yet.
I went to a Buddhist Monastary, that place has a way to curb my "anxious" life. But when I go home, things go back to the way it is, go go go. 🙂
Hi Vivianne
You're so fired up all the time!!! What about being a soccer coach? 😀
I hear you on being idle for the long term. I think I won't be able to do that either. Sometimes, I just get pumped out and be ready to move on with things I wanna complete.
B,
It's quite interesting to see some of the transitions some financial bloggers have made 😉
From the accumulation of money (which is not that different from accumulation of stuffs) to the accumulation of experiential experiences…
From the checking off of milestones to questioning why did we want that milestone in the first place 😉
I guess being a father changes a bit of your perspective on life!
Hi SMOL
Sometimes, you've got to feel it yourself to know the truth. Now I knock myself to sense after a few years of blogging. If you tell me in the past, I'll just blow it through left in right out but I guess I'm glad I found some value after some time messing around in the blogosphere 😉
It certainly changes my perspective!!! thanks for the knock!!!
Hi B,
You do ask the question of all questions: The meaning of Life or better the Purpose within Life.
I don't have any clue.
I only know that everything beyond tomorrow is a gift with no strings and no expectations and that there is no test to hand in at the end of life, so there is no way to fail at it.
Oh yes, now I remember, my primary purpose in life is to enjoy it.
Hi Tacomob
You nailed it right there.
Back to square one, the primary purpose of life is to enjoy it, but people go round and round in order to find ways to find happiness. Live life now and enjoy the present.
Thanks for your advise.
I work as a lawyer now, but that's the key. I work for someone else.
I look forward to the day I can run my own practice and pick the kind of clients/cases I want without having to worry about paying the bills.
Hi bluB
Thanks for leaving your comment.
I think that's a very fair and goal to look forward to. It's a very different feelings and achievements altogether when you can run your own practice and have your own client base and you are more controlled of the situation than anybody else.
Hi B
I am sure after FI, if you take the first step to step out of your corporate life, you will find your answers gradually. The lucky things for me are that I always have a lot of things to do but lack of time even I do them at lightning speed.
Hi FD
I really hope I find the answer to it once I reach FI.
Surprisingly, I am actually not afraid not meeting FI. I am afraid I can't find the answer I am seeking for after I achieved FI.
I'm very focused on the day to day at the moment, and look forward to little things each day like getting out for a run, being helpful and having an impact on someone with my work, reading a book on the train ride, and getting to spend time with my family in the morning or evening.
Hi Jason
A shot in a hole 😉
I can see how much you've sat back over the recent months and spending more time with your family. I think you're much relaxed now given thats what you probably want after you reach FI.
What a timely article B!
I am going through this transition in my life. Initially, I thought that financial freedom was all that matters and all I have to do is to sacrifice a few years of my life for the rest of it to be secured. However, I've been doing a lot of thinking lately and I've come to realized that life isn't about money. It's about personal growth and happiness. Working at a job that destroys your health and consumes your entire time can hinder the eventual goal of financial independence. Without any free time to grow and learn, I've figured that I would be stuck in the rat race and a never ending cycle of chasing the bills.
Hi Jeff
Glad it helps.
It appears like more people are realizing that financial independence are not the end of the journey but a means to end some of the things that we don't like in life. There will still be other things that may hinder your progress, but it probably won't have to do with money by then.
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