What keeps you on track to RE?

[dex]

It is a rainy day. I'm at work and I get depressed when it rains or if there is a lack of sunlight. I'm also in the process of selling my home. It is times like these doubt, fear. comfotable routine raises its head.

It is so easy to stick to the routine, comforts, security (see my thread http://early-retirement.org/forums/index.php?topic=3596.0) of work and just cocoon - pull the sheets over my head and go back to sleep.

I keep myself focused on RE by reading this board, books and http://www.retireearlylifestyle.com/
but it still isn't easy on days like this.

How do you keep focused on your RE goal?

 

[HFWR]

Autopilot...

 

[razztazz]

How do you keep focused on your RE goal?

WORK ITSELF! Even when I was younger and actually loved my job... it was exotic, almost surreal, very proprietary and about as low paying and provided as low a standard of living as anyone would find acceptable/sufferable. I still loved it.  

BUT ya know.... I also knew I didn't want to be dependent on that sh*t forever.  It wasn't THAT good. And then there was The people.  People can make or break everything for you. I didnt want to HAVE to be around any people I didnt peronally apporove of beforehand. All I really wanted out of life was for every day to be like a Saturday when I was a kid.

Everybody (losers) would  bust my balls about "Waddaya? A millionaire? You think you can ever stop workin'? It ain't gonna happen!"

I figured it can't take THAT much money if all you want is 7 Saturdays per week. No Caddy, no summer home, no Villa in Capri. Just Saturday. Found out it doesn't take all that much. Especially if you start young and pinch your pennies

 

[peggy]

What the other two said.

Autopilot = all of my investments are made by automatic deduction/transfers from my checking account to my investment account, so I don't have to think about it at all. Well, except for those times when I look in the checkbook and notice that the balance has crept up beyond what it needs to be. Then I write another check and send it off.

And however much I enjoy what I do to earn money, it's not nearly as satisfying as other things that I do--like writing with my new-found collaborator, or riding bikes, or reading, or--whatever. Wanting every day to be even one of my Saturdays NOW (as opposed to Saturday when I was a kid) is a powerful motivator.

 

[tozz]

I procrastinate.

Let me explain.  I am five days away from retirement.  The big driver for me was that the early retirement from my organization was a one time take it or leave it offer.  I am not totally comfortable with my future retirement income since I receive an additional penalty for being under 55.  However, I am (considerably) less comfortable with the concept of being locked into this job and a probable forced move for the next 8 years.  In my government agency (and perhaps others) blue state offices are being shut down and combined into red state offices.  To the victor goes the spoils.  

A couple of weeks ago word got out that there will be another series of early-outs with the possibility of a modest $25K buy-out.  I ground out the numbers--again--and each month that I stay adds another $300 or so to my annual pension.  Numberswise, it makes sense to stay for a few more months, years, whatever.

But I procrastinate.  I have worked myself into a zone where I perform my job, pleasantly respond to coworkers questions about what I'm going to do after I retire (eveyone gets their own personalized, different, answer), and generally go through the motions.  If I keep this trance up, next week it will all be too late.  That is the intent.

How do you keep focused on your RE goal?

 

[MattInAustin]

Hey dex,

The one thing I have found that helps is to do something that I typically think of as something I would wait to do when I am retired. The reality is that most of the things on my to-do list for when I retire are things that I can actually do now. For example, I am taking a 2 week titanium welding class later this year. It's not for my current job, its not a way to de-stress, its not for anybody else but me.

The effect of doing something like this is to get you focused on something that you actually really want AND you can obtain today. It also gives you a peek into what retired life would be like so it re-energizes the effort and sharpens the long term vision. Finally, I think it serves as a sort of practice for that RE lifestyle with the end result being a better idea of what you want your retirement to look like.

While at work, you are constantly reminded about all the things you want to get away from and that is one of the main drivers for RE, but it is a really depressing way to think of RE. The other side of RE is thinking of all the cool things you will be free to do. I say spend more time there and less on what you are getting away from.

Other ideas...Maybe a back packing trip, or a gardening project, or taking a language class....or maybe its just making your to-do list for when you retire.

--Biker