How to retire at any age
The other day I was having a conversation with one of my clients who recently just took a huge leap, leaving her 9–5 job to embark on her journey as an entrepreneur. Fresh into her new life, she said to me “I just retired!”. We both started laughing because in that moment, we were talking about starting her new business, but she was dead serious! I asked her to tell me more about what she meant…
She explained to me that this new lifestyle that had been calling her for a long time (to really fulfill her purpose and go through her day on her terms) was her version of retirement. She said, she would never go back to the constraints of a job that was not supporting her purpose or her desired lifestyle. Then I thought to myself “Wow…this is exactly what I’ve been doing on my journey as an entrepreneur for 10 years”, I just never put words to it like she did.
I knew we were onto something genius because what is retirement, really? For me retirement looks like being able to spend your time doing the things that you truly love, being of service when you want and living freely (however that looks like to you). If you think about it, retirement is just people waiting to live their dream life. So why should we wait? When someone retires, they rarely sit at home watching Netflix all day doing nothing of themselves. It’s the opposite. We see retired people travelling, going back to school, doing volunteer work, writing a book, and so on. They still spend their energy on something…just something they love and in this day and age, we know that we can all make money doing something we love. Why on earth are we waiting 65 years to live such a wonderful life?
I remember when I began my entrepreneurial journey as a Yoga Teacher, I used to tell my friends and family that I would never retire. They thought I was nuts and that I would at some point change my mind. The reason I felt so strongly about that is because I knew that I would never want to give up my craft and my purpose for being here on this earth. 10+ years in and now a business consultant I still feel the same way and I will continue doing this until I’m done here, in different shapes and forms. So I too, just like my client, feel like I’m waking up to a retired lifestyle every day. I get to do work that I love, make my own schedule, take time off when I wish, continually increase my income and spend my energy exactly how I want to. Since moving to Mexico, I’ve been faced with many opportunities to help street dogs, so when a dog in need is right in front of me, I have the flexibility to put everything else on hold to help the sweet soul. This is just one example of the flexibility that comes with living a “retired lifestyle”.
I think we all need to be living this way as soon as possible instead of waiting until we are 65. I hope you will start INJOY-ing your life, right here, right now, as you desire. The yearnings you’re having are life’s way of giving you a preview of what’s waiting for you. Don’t let them wait too long because you won’t be here forever.
Cheers,
Jennifer
