Monthly Archives: September 2019

FIRE.092 Good News or Bad News?

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Have you ever thought about your personality traits?

I’ve learned over time to understand how I think.  I’ve been placed in situations where I come across information that I’ve had to evaluate and make a decision from.

It makes me wonder how other people see situations, instances, information or crisis actions.

The general questions are:

  • Good news or bad news first?
  • Half full or Half Empty?
  • The best: first or last?  

What kind of mindset do you possess? 

I’ll share how my brain/personality seems to work.  I’ll answer the question above (maybe just to learn more about myself).

Examples:

I always want the bad news first.  I want to know what is going wrong.  I find that I want to deal with the problem…now.  I want to see if I can resolve or start the process to eliminate the issue.  In a sense, I want to stop the bleeding.  Once resolved, or on track for (possible) resolution, I then feel free to look ahead and try to make things better.  Somewhere along this process, I want to “good news” to see how that fits into the current issue/process.

I generally find the glass half full, but only in the sense that I seem to have the drive to fill the glass back up.  I don’t believe I feel as though I’m missing the (top) half empty part of the glass.  Maybe I just feel there is half a glass to fill up.  Though, sometimes I also think, just because “a” glass is half full, that doesn’t necessarily mean the glass was ever, or ever will be full.  Not everything in life needs to be perfect/full.  I live by a life-calming statement of “everything has a ding.”  Nothing is perfect.  No need to try and make everything perfect.  I just try to enjoy the best of what I can do and accomplish.

No surprise to me, I tend to save the best for last.  I will get the bad stuff (work/tasks) out of the way so I can then enjoy the good stuff.  Thinking about the FI lifestyle, this is one form of delayed gratification.  I don’t believe waiting for the good stuff is required, but I do think the intentional decision in the selection process may be just as valuable.

My grandma would ALWAYS grab dessert first at any buffet.  She decided to start with what she enjoyed the most.  I always thought that was awesome.  She did something that was so far outside the norm (salad, entrée, dessert) without any regard for what others thought.  Also, she always a full selection of dessert choices.

Balance:

So I wonder, get the bad out of the way and save the best for last?  Take advantage of the best now since we never know what the future will bring, or if it will even arrive for us.

How do I balance my inherent nature for delay (wise) gratification with a life optimization mentality?

As a fairly risk-averse person, I guess I will try and continue to take care of the issues/planning and aim for the good stuff while keeping a very close eye on the future and making sure I’m not sacrificing future stability for immediate gratification.

See, nothing is easy when you try and break things down and really think about them.  Enjoy your life, enjoy your days.

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.

FIRE.091 Five Years in FIRE

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I was just noticing my 5-year FIRE anniversary has now passed.  What a great time to celebrate my five-year-ago accomplishment.

Wait.  How could I possibly celebrate anything related to a FIRE anniversary when I am in full celebration/gratitude mode every single day!  Think about the relationship between these statements.  Should there be a special once-a-year celebration or should you celebrate every day of the year?

I have been living my days with an “enjoy each day” perspective tied to pure gratitude.  The attitude of gratitude.  The attitude of gratefulness.

Some five-year thoughts:

  • My days are awesome.  Every single day.  Even a bad day where something goes wrong is still better than in the past, not only because of my attitude, but in the ability to use my time/resources to tackle the problem, thereby lowering the stress of the situation.
  • There is not enough time to do everything, or even most things, on my to-do list.  As a matter of fact, my to do list is insanely long—which is a good thing.  It’s not stressful adding items to a to-do list when that list isn’t a burden fighting for your limited free time.  It’s a list of activities “available” for your nearly endless free time (we don’t have children).
  • Who you are before FI/RE is who you will be after FIRE.  People are all so very different, but we are who we are.  Don’t expect any great change from any milestone.  It’s true your level of stress may change, but you are still who you are.  I find I really like doing my own thing, on my own schedule, staying busy at times and other times not running around crazy.
  • It feels nice to give/help others when you can.  When I have the ability to help, I truly feel better afterward.  I find I like giving in ways that can be multiplied by the receivers.  If I can share information to one person that they can expand on, or that they can share with others, I find that most rewarding.
  • Living Off-Peak is amazing.  The ability to run errands, visit places and have adventures M-F from 9-3 and travel in the off-season/shoulder-seasons is great for your time, energy, stress and often wallet.  There’s a reason early bird dinners are at 4pm.
  • You’re not getting any younger—you will never be this young again.  That’s an important thought—similar to “you will never live this day again”—showing you really need to enjoy each day.  Everything you do in the future will be a little hard and a little slower as you age.  Maximize your life now.

To be honest, I’ve learned so much about myself, life and the universe having the past five years to take it all in, but I just do not have the time right now to put it into this post.  Life’s pretty busy.  Get out there and enjoy!

*** Nothing in this article is to be construed as financial advice.  I am not a financial planner, nor do I pretend to be.  You should always consult your own professional when seeking advice.