Money And Investing  -

I Will Never Be the Same

09 04 07 13 21

-------- For The Better

I spent 7 weeks in Australia, and I think that the experience changed my life in a way that made me different. It is not that Australia is a beautiful country where you feel like in America, but safer and everything looks cleaner – for they are like that, but that is not the point. It is not that my heart ached to come back to America to meet again with my wife and family – for it did – but that is not the point of this article either. Nor it is the type of work I did there, which was a good example of my abilities and a great way to prove that I could do implementations from start to finish in even the harshest work environments.

What changed my life is that I proved to myself to be brave enough AND to have the means (skills, investments and savings) to quit gainful employment without having another job waiting for me. I haven’t seen a paycheck in two months and I feel good! Everyone’s risk tolerance is different, but for me, it meant that I was ready for another stage in my life: one that doesn’t depend on a salary. It meant that I felt I had accomplished the task of becoming independent from steady employment. It meant that I had saved/invested enough to meet the simplified lifestyle that I live – by design. It meant that if I worked, it was to have fun, to get some money to have more fun, or both: but not to pay obligations or past fun.

I recently started a new job. It is one where there is plenty of opportunity for growth – well balanced with more than plenty of risk of failure. I look forward to excelling there and gaining some skills that may prove useful if I decide to continue working: be it for a corporation or independently. However, at last I can say that I work for fun. And the day this job is not fun anymore, I now feel truly capable of quitting with no hesitations.

Work For Fun?
The premise sounds almost like the opposite of what I tell my peers. The reality is most of the time we work to pay the obligations that we have chosen to have (luxuries – the majority of our expenses) plus basic living expenses than most people may have to pay for (basic shelter, and basic food).

Ironically, I proved to myself that there is a great joy to be found on knowing you are not forced to work in a place you do not like. And I proved my assumption right: that it is a matter of reducing your wants to match your passive income. And then, if you feel so inclined, work a bit to have more fun.

Unfortunately, I must tell those people who haven’t invested too much: keep working hard just to pay the bills for now. But start making changes now that will improve your life in the medium to long term.