Life and Motivation

The Extrinsic Element of Intrinsic Motivation (AKA Failing at Retirement Twice)

A lesson learned in early retirement to go beyond the self. Revealing a missing void for some people, especially the altruistic.

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Intrinsic

adjective

Belonging to the real nature of a thing; not dependent on external circumstances; essential; inherent.

I’ve shared in the past how I failed at early retirement after just seven weeks, but this is a follow-up story that I’ve never told anyone.

Today I’ve got an interesting take on motivation and personal growth. We’re going deep into the soul.

After hitting FIRE and “semi-retiring” to work at multiple simultaneous startups for fun, I took seven months off in 2022. It was part two of my FIRE journey to

• A) validate whether the earlier seven-week phase in 2021 was a fluke, and
• B) focus on my personal dreams and hobbies in a serious way.

I’d spent 1.5 years helping the dreams and aspirations of random startup founders/CEOs, but none of that was relevant to my own dreams whatsoever. So I figured at least half a year would be…