Thanks to stock, crypto appreciation, I hit 4M net worth recently. Funny thing is while I’m grateful for having reached here, I’m not really happy. I don’t feel like working anymore and I’m just coasting at work (doing the bare minimum). I feel empty inside, lacking purpose and drive. I’m worried since this is very unlike me. Is this normal? What do people do once they reach FIRE money?
In a similar boat, I think it might be burnout. Or maybe money served as an excuse to not truly define a purpose. But hey, better to discover now than at 60.
Thanks, can a person burnout with <30 hours/week? You maybe right on never truly defining a purpose...or always putting it on the back burner due to the golden handcuffs.
That’s a good question. The symptoms are present, but there’s also covid going on, and waking up to +$50k without doing shit can make it real hard to care about work.
Sorry buddy, I likely do...
Take a break. Eventually you will get bored of not working and get the fire back again. Just use that on your own ideas instead of big corporate jobs.
Have you tried this? Do you really get the fire back?
Absolutely. You just get bored of not building things and then you want to again but it's different. You might want instead to build your own company or product. Or maybe you want to take a big role in a charitable organization.
Start your own business, it really helped me.
Did you start a business in software or something completely different? How/Why did it help you?
Maybe try revisit your old college, work place, or other location that are formative in your life? Going down the memory lane may help you pick up some of the side quests which you have sacrificed during your journey to 4 mil.
Nope, totally normal. Find happiness outside of work. Take time off to reflect and build a plan.
Can you share your journey, what sort of a plan did you build?
maybe you just need 5mil
I’d probably quit working, live minimally, and just work on things that seem interesting to you. Maybe one will turn into a small business that can keep you busy and create some cash flow.
Thanks, this might work...
this is the right answer, but honestly OP you should force yourself to take a couple of months away from 'work' as a concept imo. with covid and wfh lockdowns it's easy to change your mentality to focus on the rat race and meaningless stuff. have you taken time to indulge in your hobbies, learn more about yourself, and enjoy the things in your life like family, friends, etc? i think that would be helpful, then after a bit of time you'll probably be more recharged and in a better mental state to think about what will come next to give you a sense of completion, be that a larger project based on hobbies, a business, youtube channel, restaurant, whatever just make sure your 4 mil is properly invested for safety and decent passive income and you have a lot of time to figure things out, that's the real value of money imo
Curious how old you are? Congrats btw... I hear volunteering, giving back, etc can provide some happiness
38, Thanks, I’m volunteering and donating every year, it does help temporarily