A simple early Monday morning text message exchange with a friend inspired me to write today. She is newly between jobs and is in gray below, and I’m in blue:
My last comment sat with me for a few seconds after sending it. My first thought was realizing just how true this was. But the second got me thinking about what I’d really gained by leaving my 23-year career behind almost three years ago today. I usually just reduce this to simple concepts like “time freedom”. But what is that really?
Put simply, I now have a frankly staggering number of hours directly under my control, and by not some employer. For at least the last six years of my career, I’d get in the car between 5 and 5:30AM and drive to work, work, and then I’d get back in the car again to head home sometime between 3:30PM and 6PM, depending on the day. If we assume I did that 48 weeks a year after subtracting vacation, holidays, and sick days, that means I have taken back 240 days per year since leaving work. And that’s ignoring all the international travel my job entailed, which often meant time away from home on weekends. It also ignores the pull many of us feel from work via off-hours emails and text messages. Nothing too unusual here.
Because I recently read and clearly have been contemplating the book “Die With Zero”, I decided to put this in practical terms. By not working, I’ve reclaimed those 240 days per year. I’m claiming the whole day even though technically my evenings after work were mine. What, am I gonna go on an adventure after dinner? 😆 Comparing to a fairly standard US retirement age of 65, by retiring early just prior to turning 47, I took back 240 days * 18 years = 4320 days I would have worked, which is equivalent to nearly twelve years (4320 / 365) of additional experiences I get to choose to have - instead of working. Wow!
Twelve years! I’m certain that my whole mood and attitude today will be shaped by this realization, one inspired by math I’d never actually done before. For sure, this is a good and needed reminder to me about just what I’ve been so fortunate to achieve here. Like anyone, I’m capable of taking all this for granted in times of stress, rather than being ever-cognizant of how lucky I am to be in this position. I now want to edit and re-edit this quickly written post now in order to sound more intelligent about the whole thing - but won’t. In the end, I’m just another silly human being stumbling through life. Being vulnerable is good, right?
As I’m fond of saying, none of us knows how many days we get the privilege of being vertical on this planet. Not each of those days I’ve taken back will be part of some epic trip or other life-changing experience - of course not! Some days are frankly pretty low-key. There are errands to do, books to read, and plenty of “normal life” things to manage. But I now have so much more time and freedom to choose among them. That is why I elected this path. I want to choose how my time is spent.
I wish each of you the very best on your own journey through life. I hope you can reclaim and enjoy many days too, in order to live your best version of this all-too short life we each get. Thanks for sharing some of your time with me. Mahalo 🙏
Hi Jason,
I'm not sure why your post resonates so much with me today but it truly does. Perhaps it has to do with a couple of recent losses in my life within the past month, first my mother and then my father-in-law. I have been thinking about retiring a lot lately despite not being anywhere near financial freedom but life just seems too precious to waste going into work everyday. I think I've come to the realization that I don't need a million dollars in the bank and I can get by with a lot less if I just put my mind to it.
So thanks for the reminder that life is about the freedom to choose how we all want to live and I believe I will choose my early exit this December when I turn 60. I'll pick up a part time gig that is less stressful than my current job just to keep myself active and provide a little bit of a cushion for the next few years before I begin collecting all of my retirement benefits.
Cheers to the "Next Phase"
Jason