When you have a lofty goal such as early retirement or early financial independence, it becomes easy for your mind to drift into the future to this magical place.

Focusing on how good things will be later, and how bad things are now. This is an extremely dangerous way of thinking that will lead to not living in the moment and not enjoying life.

Not a good place to be in.

I should know. I was there a few years ago. Counting down the days to a better future.

Financial independence is a long journey

For most of us though, the path to financial independence will be at least 15 years. That is a long time to be counting down and wishing you were somewhere else instead.

There are two things wrong with that line of thinking:

1/. Is your current life really that bad?

2/. Will financial independence solve all your problems like you think it will?

Don’t be in such a rush to financial independence if it is harming your current self. Financial independence in itself will not make you happy. You still need to design a life that you enjoy. Financial independence only makes that easier, but you still need to set it up.

Let’s use your job as an example. You may be thinking if only I didn’t have to work here I’d be so much happier.

By making such a statement you are building up a future life that is somewhat imaginary at this stage, and you are degrading your current job.

It doesn’t have to be this way though. You can enjoy your life now and still keep the same ambitious goals.

You just don’t need to denigrate your current job/life to do it. Instead, you can be grateful for all that you have so you can enjoy the journey a bit more.

You may think you have a job that is terrible, but if you look deep I’m sure there are some positive aspects. You get paid, right? You get holidays and sick leave? Some companionship? Maybe a sense of accomplishment?

I bet there are even people in the world that would love to have your job.

Don’t idolise your future

It can be a worthwhile exercise to try and counter some of that magical thinking you have of your future.

Magic is much better if we actually experience it.

The only way to experience magic is in the present, not the future.

Reading and learning about financial independence initially stole a lot of my current joy. I was previously pretty happy with my job, but learning about financial independence made me feel like I was missing out and the little annoyances at work started to become bigger and bigger annoyances. I’ve since started to pull back from this line of thinking, and started to enjoy the goodness of the journey again.

Thinking so glowingly of the future can make your present life seem much worse by comparison, even if things are actually pretty good. Thinking this way puts the emphasis on needing more, instead of being happy with enough.

It can be dangerous to set such high expectations for the future too. I learned in one of my Marketing papers at university that customer satisfaction occurs when experience exceeds expectations. Shock horror, right? Nothing ground-breaking there. Then why do we build up the future so much? By setting such lofty expectations we will only end up disappointed.

After working so long and hard to achieve financial independence, the last thing anyone wants to be is disappointed.

Final thoughts

When I retire I have a massive list of things I’d like to achieve:

• 1 year of living in a remote location with the family

• More bike riding

• Picking up tennis again

• Writing more

• Volunteering more at a budget advisory

• Helping the kids with homework

• Attending all the family sports events

• Providing financial advice for kiwis

• Fixing things around the house

• Travelling our beautiful country

I’ve learned from a few retired people that my list will only get longer too, not shorter. And even without a job I still won’t have enough time for everything,

I also tell myself things such as “I’ll get in the best shape of my life”, or “I’ll never feel stress again”.

But I realise that I will have days where I will still blob out and not achieve anything. Of course, I will still experience stress. I’ve realised that the building up of a financially independent future hasn’t been entirely accurate and have adjusted my expectations accordingly.

Not only will this result in me not feeling disappointed once I reach financial independence, but it has also allowed me to enjoy my current life much more.

If you need help with your personal retirement planning, then get in touch today.

The information contained on this site is the opinion of the individual author(s) based on their personal opinions, observation, research, and years of experience. The information offered by this website is general education only and is not meant to be taken as individualised financial advice, legal advice, tax advice, or any other kind of advice. You can read more of my disclaimer here.