What we want: Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose

[Markola]

This week I heard podcaster Paula Pant say that what makes for a fulfilling life is Autonomy, Mastery and Purpose. If a person does not have one or more of those qualities in sufficient quantity, he/she might not be fulfilled.

I don’t think she originated the idea but it struck a chord with me and my own progression, and I’ve been pondering it.

Purpose for me was baked in, when I decided in college to pursue a career in nonprofit service.

Mastery started to came later, of course, with achievement, greater responsibilities and job progressions.

Autonomy grew to be the thing I craved. Fortunately, I’ve always craved it my whole life, and that’s the thing that drove me to save, invest and pay attention to personal finance since my twenties. And not having enough of it at work is fundamentally why I quit my office job last year. I’m doing a little consulting and a few side hustles, and a requirement for anything I get into is protecting my autonomy.

I thought it was a simple framework that might be useful to others who are considering whether and when to pull the plug.

 

[donheff]

Yeah, I think autonomy is a major motivator for many of us here. That life attribute has largely released me from worries over the last 16 years that I have been RE.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

It is nice to be free from work and money worries, for us or helping out our adult kids if they would ever need financial support.

I am not so sure I need any mastery or major purpose. I can have a good day just puttering around the house and watching sci-fi shows on Netflix.

 

[Luvtoride]

It is nice to be free from work and money worries, for us or helping out our adult kids if they would ever would need financial support.

I am not so sure I need any mastery or major purpose. I can have a good day just puttering around the house and watching sci-fi shows on Netflix.

Well put daylate! Glad your autonomy includes watching TV...My wife wouldn't let me retire if that was to be my plan. Which Sci-fi shows are you watching on Netflix....although there is a different thread here for "streaming" shows.

 

[Letj]

I don’t care about any particular purpose. For me that is the ability to live life on my own terms with no one controlling my time. Like Markola that motivated me to save and start a side gig while working. Today I choose my hobbies and what I do on a daily basis.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

Well put daylate! Glad your autonomy includes watching TV...My wife wouldn't let me retire if that was to be my plan. Which Sci-fi shows are you watching on Netflix....although there is a different thread here for "streaming" shows.

We just finished up Travelers and are watching Star Gate Universe now. On days we're home we'll do errands and chores, go for a walk or do exercise videos and then take a break and watch an episode here and there to relax.

We belong to several clubs and used to go out for activities pretty often, but I'm still content on that days we just stay home, and with the pandemic we have been staying home much more than we used to.

 

[Jim59]

A great and thought provoking thread.
Autonomy- always had this throughout my career, but noticed a gradual waning in recent years just as I close in on vocational freedom. So not that concerned
Mastery- very competitive in achieving goals whether personal or for clients. Always wanted to be at the front.
Purpose- Went about clearly defined goals and everything else with a purpose, motivated by a fear of failure, that kept me going.

Now on a glide path so don’t seem to matter anymore as I embrace chillness.

 

[target2019]

The OP very much reminds me of other frameworks for development, like Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maslow's_hierarchy_of_needs

I've looked back at this concept several times, and found that it fits. Maslow identified 8 stages of growth, and studied how we progress from each level. Rather than look at one characteristic, or three, it's about the development of an organism in their environment.

Another researcher simplified the model to 5 levels. This graphic shows a more dynamic view of the 5 needs.

 

[Teacher Terry]

My purpose in life was my kids, my career in human services and then my part time retirement gig teaching. Now I am master of my time which is great.

 

[yakers]

Yes, brought back Maslow. I do think we need all of those things but how much of each one varies greatly. Knew a co wroker who was very intelligent and one of the laziest people I ever met-until we played basketball. No one ever saw him or most guys hustle so much.

 

[ExFlyBoy5]

Yes, brought back Maslow. I do think we need all of those things but how much of each one varies greatly. Knew a co wroker who was very intelligent and one of the laziest people I ever met-until we played basketball. No one ever saw him or most guys hustle so much.

Those of us that are often labelled as "lazy" are simply "leisurely" but I do see that "lazy" is defined as, "unwilling to work or use energy" and I am definitely guilty of my unwillingness to work.

 

[Markola]

What we want: Autonomy, Mastery & Purpose

My purpose in life was my kids, my career in human services and then my part time retirement gig teaching. Now I am master of my time which is great.

Congrats on your achievement! It doesn’t really matter, but the way I’ve heard others describe Mastery is that your teaching would fall in that category; and your newfound daily control would be more in the Autonomy bucket. I didn’t define it well above in my OP but the Mastery stage is when we finally know enough about a field, hobby or interest that we are not just a doer but are sort of an elder for younger folk coming up. Or not. Plenty of people are done with the thing once they’ve achieved Mastery and have satisfied their Purpose for doing it.

Assuming one has enough money saved to have some options, I guess the way this framework might help someone trying to decide, “Should I quit my job?” by providing better, more specific questions to ask oneself, related to:

Purpose: “Do I still feel like this thing I do still has more purpose for myself, loved ones, customers, others important to me or society that it outweighs other purposes I could imagine for my time investment?” (This is probably the hardest of the three to evaluate.)

Mastery: “After doing this thing for a long time, do I get great satisfaction in doing it well, or from teaching it to others? Is there some inherent joy in it still that is still fulfilling; or have I achieved most of my goals, and my interest is satisfied to the point that I’ve seen it all and am looking at years of drudgery doing it? (For me, I spent the last 10 years as mostly a manager of large teams, so I felt Mastery leading others. However, the manager BS bucket filled up and I took a career break. Now I’m tiptoeing into consulting, which is a different form of demonstrating and enjoying Mastery. We’ll see how long that satisfies.)

Autonomy: “After years of practice, am I allowed the freedom to, and am I rewarded for, doing things mostly my way? Or, do I feel too stifled by a boss, the organization’s decision-making, abrasive, selfish or incompetent peers whom I depend on for my own success, a commute I’m sick of, or other identifiable garbage.” (In my case, about 6 years ago, I was ready to do ANYTHING other than my career, which is when I dove into FIRE study seriously. And I had the best job of my career, in most ways. I finally realized that I’d never be able to adjust to the fact that my boss, the CEO was never going to leave or to improve his domineering, command and control ways. I left that job for a lesser-title but far better boss and then worked productively for another 5 years. And I’m glad I didn’t quit my field. Rather, I identified the most major irritant and solved that specific problem, allowing me to continue the rest. Eventually, the good boss retired and I looked around and thought, “Meh, this place is full of BS” and quit daily office life for good.)

Obviously, everyone is different and, as commenters above said, not everyone needs high levels of Purpose and Mastery (though I bet most people make sure they have eventually have enough Autonomy, especially as they grow wealthy enough to not need the job.)

 

[BH58]

Yes autonomy is very important to me. My plan is to retire in March 2023 and I am so tired of too many cooks in the kitchen and lack of clarity on decision making processes at work. Markola I also work in the nonprofit sector and have enjoyed the sense of purpose I get helping a worthy cause. I can continue to volunteer or do some interesting projects that offer autonomy when I retire. I'm counting down my last 17 months until when I can spend my days how I want to spend them and stop dealing with work BS.

 

[Markola]

Yup. I get that completely.

 

[jollystomper]

It may vary by one's stage in life. When I started my career I had little autonomy but a lot of purpose - for both career and family - and was growing mastery. Mid-to-late career mastery flourished, autonomy grew, and purpose became more refined and perhaps more complex. In retirement autonomy matters to me most. Mastery - been there, done that, no real need for it anymore. Purpose, with career and raising kids behind me, is much more simple.

 

[Markola]

^^^^ Yes, I think the framework works pretty well as a gauge of fulfillment in retirement, too. Some folks simply can’t handle retirement, probably mostly those who are thrust into it unwillingly. For them, the lack of Purpose they got from work can feel empty, and the abundant Autonomy that many of us here worked hard toward and wanted is not welcomed.

 

[Koolau]

It may vary by one's stage in life. When I started my career I had little autonomy but a lot of purpose - for both career and family - and was growing mastery. Mid-to-late career mastery flourished, autonomy grew, and purpose became more refined and perhaps more complex. In retirement autonomy matters to me most. Mastery - been there, done that, no real need for it anymore. Purpose, with career and raising kids behind me, is much more simple.

Wow, you have pretty well summed up my thinking on the subject.

I ended up my c@reer having achieved most of my goals (mastery and autonomy) and my purpose was structured around family and Early Retirement. NOW my purpose has added the dimension of providing for my kids and my favorite charities. Life is good.