Retire in the Next 5 Years Give Up These 10 Things

It’ll change the way you see the world

Retirement is overrated.

I’m not retired but I’m convinced its appeal is rooted in extreme hate of the alternative. You see most people hate what they do for a living.

You drag yourself to work, throw stale lunch into a Tupperware box, put on clothes that stifle your creativity, wave at your neighbour Jim and head to hell.

You sit in traffic, listening to the radio grate on how it’s only 5 days until the weekend, an hour later you pull up to the hotbox.

And then you get there…

Stress-levels rise. You wait for the elevator. Ping. 9 am, you can hear the pulse of tapping chimes around the rows and rows of desks.

The office conversation kills your soul. You don’t care what Bill did with his weekend but you feel obligated to ask. You zone out as he tells you about his weekend of Netflix and binge food.

The big boss walks in.

No-backbone 1 and 2 squirm round. A little bit of sick hits the back of your throat. You can hear them in the background, complimenting, laughing and complimenting again.

You put your headphones in…

Your mind drifts off

You think back to Jim who lives down the road, he’s 70, retired. He walks to the shop to get the paper every morning. He smiles all the time.

Why does he always smile so much?

You got chatting with him at the weekend. Gardening. That’s how he spends 80% of his time. He’s been telling you lately about his tomatoes, tonnes of the things he’s got. Overwhelmed by them. He’s got a bag waiting for you.

The thought of standing in a greenhouse, smelling sweet tomatoes, and laughing with Jim seems like heaven right now.

And that’s why retirement seems so good.

Because it’s in stark contrast to where most people are right now, but actually, it’s not retirement you crave, it’s living.

A new retirement

Here’s a new idea.

Instead of retiring to sit and watch tomatoes grow for a living (and there is nothing wrong with that by the way) maybe what you need is an invigoration of life.

I’m giving retirement a new definition.

Retirement: the withdrawal from one’s unhappy occupation.

As they say, find a job you love and you’ll never work a day in your life. So here are the ten things you need to give up in the next 5 years to get there.

1. The jet

You won’t be a billionaire.

I’m sorry to burst your bubble but you won’t be. You really won’t be. And that’s okay. For the record, I won’t be either. And that’s okay. You won’t found a Fortune 500 company, you won’t own a private jet and you won’t have a 19-bed mansion.

Give up on that idea altogether. It’s pretty freeing, right?

So many people chase this superior state, this filthy rich lifestyle. Until they realise that ‘having enough’ is a more worthy goal. And a more achievable one.

Can you imagine how gut-wrenching it must feel to spend your whole life working to own the private jet to get there and realise it was an empty goal?

Don’t fall into the trap of materialism.

2. Seeking validation

My life changed when I realised one thing: nobody is thinking about me.

Here’s the reality: most people are too busy worrying about what you think of them, to think about you. It’s the sad irony of the world that everybody is sitting worrying about what everybody else thinks.

And because they are, nobody ever thinks about them, least of all themselves.

If you want to win, realise that nobody is thinking about you, so you may as well do exactly what you want.

3. Short-term thinking

If you want to be top in your field at anything, or even near the top, you need to put in an insane amount of work.

Most people won’t do it. Most people have no idea how much hard work it takes. Basically, it’s this: Be willing to work harder than you ever have and get paid less than you do now, in order to learn the skills that eventually lead to your dream job.

Short-term is the long road to failure.

4. Beating yourself up

Not because you should be kind to yourself. You should but kind in a coach-type way. Look, if you want to get to a job that is so good you feel like you’ve retired, you’ve got to get tough.

It takes ages. Spending any time knocking yourself down is just a waste of time. It’s not progressive. It doesn’t solve anything. Get to work.

It’s hard but once you realise that beating yourself up is a waste of time, things change.

5. Cheap dopamine

Most people that hate their job let it sink them. It used to be me. I’d get home. Throw off my bag, grab an alcoholic beverage, and slump in front of the sofa.

I wanted to detach my mind from the life I lived. It’s sad. But it’s that very action that leads to a prolonged life of emptiness. Cheap dopamine is everywhere:

• New clothes, you don’t need
• Scrolling Instagram, looking at the life you don’t have

Engage your mind in something deeper.

6. Easy work

Instead, find a high-value skill. Something that someone is willing to pay you for (and you like). You might be thinking, like what Eve?! There are so many skills: selling, marketing, copywriting, lead generation, coding.

Find a skill and spend the next 5 years giving it your everything (and I mean everything).

7. Sucky friends

This one hurts. Sometimes you’ll outgrow your friends. It stings. But it’s the truth. Some friends will want to pull you into their old way of thinking: that life is small, that you’ll never be able to live a big life.

Let them go.

8. Buying happiness

New trainers. New coat. New watch. New car. New, new, new. Here’s a sad truth: many people fill up their closets, bedrooms and homes in order to fill a hole in their life. If you want to live the life of your dreams, understand the role money plays in your life.

9. The ‘so that’ mentality

I hate to think how many people have died before they got to their ‘so that’ moment. I’ll work 70-hour weeks for the next 10 years so that I can retire and buy my dream boat. I’ll keep this job so that I can go travelling one day. I’ll hold off on my dream to write on the internet so that I’ll have enough money to save for a rainy day.

Life is now. It’s today.

10. Happily ever after

Look, whatever path you choose there is going to be a bucket-load of pain that comes with it. You’re not escaping that. Nobody is. Better to choose your pain.

You gain control, perspective and a whole load of grit when you do.

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This article is for informational purposes only. It should not be considered Financial or Legal Advice. Not all information will be accurate. Consult a financial professional before making any major financial decisions.