The Ultimate Life Coach
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- Fancy Magazine | Classic Blog
Date: May 18, 2024
Comments: 107
Almost nineteen years into early retirement now, I’ve realized that the complete freedom of this lifestyle can be a double-edged sword. You’ve already heard me raving about the benefits: having the freedom to raise a son from birth to adulthood with no compromises, and dedicating thousands of hours to everything I value—family, health, friends, adventures, building things, and even writing blog posts. I have no complaints about any of this.
But, as they say, every silver lining has a cloud. Even in this seemingly perfect life, there’s one flaw:
I never have to do anything I don’t want to do.
To many, this sounds like a dream come true—total freedom coupled with plenty of money, life is a non-stop playground of self-actualization, right? Well, maybe, but maybe not. The truth is, freedom and wealth expose our strengths and weaknesses, revealing a spectrum from "unlimited drugs and booze on the couch" to "creating and managing nonprofit foundations that employ thousands to research medical advances and clean energy."
For much of my journey, I found this balance naturally. My “day job” was intense for a decade, but I also built and restored houses, traveled extensively, gave talks, made videos, and wrote hundreds of blog posts.
However, in recent years, slowing down has become more challenging. Instead of constantly building or writing, I find myself retiring to the couch earlier and seeking distractions on my phone. I yearn for the energy and focus to do things I enjoy more.
So, I fought back by learning about health and wellness. I’ve studied and trained to boost my energy, focus, and motivation—you’ve seen some of that here in articles on daily habits, avoiding excessive comfort, and more. These strategies work, if you apply them. But the problem is…
I kept acquiring new knowledge and successfully integrating it into my life, but eventually, my brain would find excuses to stop doing them consistently, leaving me with valuable insights but little accomplishment to show for it.
Finally, a few months ago, I realized I was sabotaging myself by using my freedom to avoid things I didn’t feel like doing.
You see, freedom is fantastic when it frees us from undesirable tasks, but it becomes useless if we waste it by lounging around instead of pursuing more valuable activities—things that were even more important than the job I left behind. This is what I was doing while pretending otherwise. I focused on easy things that are still good for me, like taking care of the house, but I neglected other crucial aspects.