imagine having all the time in the world to do whatever you want how would you spend that time
sitting by the poolside all day finally learning that skill or hobby you've been interested in
going on exotic vacations as often as possible
in our society this is how we often paint the picture of retirement
the ultimate freedom to do whatever we want whenever we want but often this promise of a
happy ending can limit us to endure meaningless jobs and spend all of our time working hustling
grinding our way towards the finish line while putting everything else in our lives on hold
what if you may get to that finish line and realize that there was no destination
would you have reconsidered the path that you took to get there for most of us work dominates
our lives and i was no exception to this when i was a college student and even before that
i remember that i would always plan out my life based on my work where i was gonna live what my
day-to-day was gonna look like and also what kind of lifestyle i could afford so i figured
that if i work really hard save up enough invest that money then i could afford to retire early
and i could free up my time to do whatever i wanted and in fact that's exactly what i did and
i know some of you guys know the story but for those who don't my husband and i we bought two
really beat up properties and we worked on these houses for about three years non-stop both of us
worked 40 plus hours at our day jobs then we would come home and work on these properties at night
and it wasn't just in the evenings but it was our free time the weekends and holidays and
because we were doing all the work ourselves we really had to stick to a timeline and budget so
it was pretty intense to say the least and looking back now i am so proud of us and so proud of what
we were able to achieve i'm really grateful that the opportunity came to us but to be honest it
was a lot and i felt like i had to give up a lot of what was happening in my life at that moment
in order to achieve it and i just wish that i had learned to balance it a little bit better
and take some time off if i really needed to take the paid time off to go see my parents more often
attend a few more birthday parties because now i realize that time in my life is something i
could never get back and that really made me question was what i'm giving up now
worth what i'm gaining later this is just my story but i also hear the story from my dad's co-workers
even my own family members and my clients who are now all retired they were in such a rush
to retire that they had to work extra shifts and sometimes sacrifice their weekends and holidays
but now that they're retired they don't really know what else to do with their time
for many it seems like so much of their time revolved around work they never really took the
time to travel or change jobs develop friendships to explore other aspects of life and now all they
know is how to work because that's exactly how they've been conditioned for so long and for
many work defines who they are and i guess this is why so many people decide to go back to work and
some due to the fact that they don't have enough finances which is a completely another topic but
for many because of what they call the retirement blues they're bored or lonely they don't know how
to find joy in anything else so might as well make some more money right but i feel like this really
could have been avoided from the beginning if work wasn't such a dominant factor in all of our lives
when my husband and i first talked about retiring early or at least being financially independent
we learned so much about how to better manage our finances and also we were able to organize
our lives in a way that would better serve us in the long run which really changed our lives
and i'm really grateful that we did that early on but when we actually reached the point of
financial independence i realized that what i wanted wasn't really freedom from work what i
actually needed was a balance in my life you know retirement isn't the answer and that shouldn't be
the point when we start to live our lives but we can live it now and we can do it as we work
through my financial independent journey i learned that it's not about completely freeing up our time
but rather what we do with our free time that counts now i see work as something that is just
one small part of my day not something that is the center of my life i want to always
live way below our means so that i can continue to work the jobs that i find meaning in
even if it doesn't pay as well or if society doesn't see the job as glamorous
i plan to make the time to pursue my passions learn cool things
take rest if needed spend time with people i love just live my life to the fullest each day
because these are the things that i don't want to miss out on in order to get to the finish
line because without these moments having all the time in the world would be pointless
our lives are all so different i mean we are all so different and i know that there is not
just one way to live life and i thought that i would just share my thoughts and perspective
because if you're watching this i know that you also tell you a very slow and meaningful
life as well so let me know in the comments what you think about what work means to you
and how you find balance in your own lives i would love to hear it thank you guys so much
for watching today's video and until next time take care and i'll talk to you soon bye guys
you