This post was just supposed to just be my EconoMe talk. Here it is:
The talk was great. It was one of the best moments of my 2021 and I’m a better person for having done it.
But then I reflected a bit more and realized I had something else to say.
Bucket List Items I Didn’t Know I Had
I think bucket lists are silly. It’s good to have goals, but focusing on them takes you out of the present. The best parts of life aren’t the minuscule moments where you do something you’ve been planning for years, but the journey. My dislike of bucket lists didn’t stop me from creating one. I even created an Anti-Bucket List of stuff I never want to do. But I digress…
This year has been a pretty great one:
- I started a podcast: Check out Mile High FI!
- I explored new cities: Wandering around new places is a lot of fun. I got to explore Oaxaca, Texas and Cincinnati this time.
- I installed solar panels: As a kid, I was obsessed with solar energy: “Wait, there is tons of FREE energy landing on the earth every second?!??” I remember having toy cars with solar panels. Now, I have a real home with solar panels. DIYing the job was a lot of work, but very rewarding.
- And I gave a talk in front of 500 people:
FIRE allowed me to do all of these things. If I had a standard job, I wouldn’t have had the time to travel extensively. I wouldn’t have had the time to install the solar panels. I wouldn’t have had the time to prepare for a big talk. Time is the most valuable resource. My life is richer and a hell of a lot more fun because of financial independence. It’s turned into a series of bucket-list-worthy items I didn’t even know I wanted.
And while I just pointed out the big-ticket items, the most satisfying aspect of life and the one that really matters is daily existence. It’s pretty great just to hang out with friends on top of a mountain on a random weekday.
More 1500 Days!!!
You can also find me (and the dinosaurs) at:
Mile High FI podcast:
Also here:
- Facebook: Facebook group and page
- YouTube: My channel is mostly devoted to home improvement, but I have some other material coming up soon too.
- Instagram: Pretty pictures of dinosaurs, sunsets, and nail guns!
- Twitter: Spontaneous, often insane, ramblings
- Coworking space: On the surface, MMM HQ is a coworking space. Look a little deeper and you’ll see that we’re really building community. The members of MMM HQ are some of the finest people I know.
Join the 10s who have signed up already!
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*Only if your life is pretty bad to begin with.
That’s so fantastic, Carl. I’m just a few days away from FIREing, myself. Can’t wait to have increased time to focus on (new) bucket-list items.
Whoah, BIG CONGRATULATIONS! I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
It all comes back to time, doesn’t it? I had yesterday off work and I spent 80% of my day sitting on the sofa reading a book. Today, when I’m on the clock, suddenly time is more precious — so I got a 10K run in before the dang sun even came up. I worry sometimes that when we hit FIRE I’ll spend too much of my life on the sofa and not enough of it on worthier pursuits… but I guess the point is that at least it’ll be my choice, rather than what a career and responsibilities thrust upon me.
“I worry sometimes that when we hit FIRE I’ll spend too much of my life on the sofa and not enough of it on worthier pursuits…”
I wouldn’t worry about that at all! In the 1500 household, our seating devices rarely get used! 🙂
I was just dangled a substantial financial carrot to stay at my job until 2023 instead of leaving as I had planned in March of this year. Struggling with the time v. money decision. Your post has me reconsidering.
These are always tough decisions! I stayed at my job much longer than I had to.
Is there any middle ground? Can you go part-time?
Agree on part-time…I’m in healthcare and just went from a 1.0 FTE to a 0.9 FTE. Even though this is not a huge change it has made a difference. I hope to do this for another 18 months (last son graduates high school) and then continue to drop until I hit my FI number…
PS- 1st time out to Colorado in November; did some hiking around Georgetown, CO and The Eldorado Canyon Trail. Awesome place (except for all the weed in Denver).
Well done! Thank you.
Finally took the time to watch your talk at econome. Really good! Like how you synthesized the journey with post FI life, and it flowed really well. Wish I could have been there in person.
I was a speech major(chosen because it was my worst subject during gen eds and it scared the shit out of me), and continue to do a fair amount of public speaking at work. Though it’s become easier, I still feel like I’m going to puke right before. So you’re not alone there.
Here’s to embracing the suck! Way to power through and bring some goodness to the people.
JSD!
Thank you for the kind comment! You have no idea how much I appreciate it!
Embrace The Suck! Now that is something to put on a t-shirt!