Have you ever thought about what your life might be like if you were able to retire young and retire wealthy? What if you could have all the time, money and freedom to do what you want, when you want for the rest of your life say in 5 or 10 years time, or even less?
Is this even possible? yes it is!
How do I know? Because I did it in 6 years.
Why Retire Young or Quickly?
Well, that’s really a matter of personal preference. If you’re like me and you don’t want to wait until your 65 to enjoy the freedom to live your life as you see fit, then this is for you.
Most people don’t think about retiring until it’s almost too late. Or, they plan on retiring once they have finished their working career, which for most is around 65, health permitting. This was never attractive to me because I wanted to get the full benefits of a retired lifestyle while I was still young enough to enjoy it.
Why spend your whole life working to pay bills when you could be travelling all the time, having fun, pursuing hobbies and leisure activities you love, or simply giving back to your community? I see so many people whose bodies are either worn out or broken down by the years of working hard for a living.
And all to often their reward for all their efforts is to spend their days, weeks, months and even years going from one doctor’s appointment to the next, which means their quality of life sucks.
Wouldn’t it be better to have a plan to retire young and wealthy and get the most out of life while we can? Let’s face it, it your a workaholic and don’t have a real life, then the idea of retiring early probably is of no interest to you.
That’s okay, as there are many business out there that need worker drones, so there’ll always be a place for you as long as your health hangs in there. But for those of us that want to have fun, live with purpose, follow our dreams, and be free to enjoy a rich and full life, we want more than an early death sentence.
4 Steps To Retiring Young
1. Plan for it.
Like anything in life,if you don’t plan for it, it will most likely never happen. Writing down when you want to retire by and how much income you will need to have to be financially free is the first step. Also write down what your ideal lifestyle would look like to make it more real.
At this stage it’s just an idea but it gives you something to focus on to begin with.
2. Believe in yourself
The biggest limiting factor that could hole you back from achieving the plan that you have made in step 1, is your self doubt. You will need to be willing to constantly be living outside your comfort zone if you are going to have any chance to make it happen.
Your doubts and fears are the only thing that can prevent you from succeeding at any goal. They are fueled by years of conditioning that limit your power to be, do and have anything you focus on. They cause you to give up before you even get started in many cases, or quit when the going gets tough.
To succeed at retiring rich at an early age you will need to push through any limitations you may come across that might tell you that your not smart enough, or your too poor, or it’s not possible. They are all self defeating beliefs designed to keep you small and powerless.
Life rewards people who are risk takers and action takers. It doesn’t reward those that are lazy or unmotivated. Laziness and lack of motivation simply comes from limiting beliefs about yourself. Be willing to face them and break through them if you want to have it all sooner, rather than later.
3. Know your why
One of the biggest factors that will help you mentally, physically and emotionally to achieve financial freedom early is to have really compelling reasons why you must change yourself in order to make your plan work. To find your deepest ‘why’s’ or reasons for changing your life you need to dig down deep inside.
And by digging down deep inside I mean hooking into the most powerful and compelling reasons you can tap into that has your strongest emotions attached to them. From your kids and spouse, to your need to feel like a success or never be financially dependent again, they have to matter to you.
My very first ‘why’ was to never have to work for someone else again. It didn’t even matter at that time if I became financially free or not. What really mattered was that I hated working for other people so much that I was willing to do whatever it took to get control of my life back.
That’s all I could think about day and night. It was like a fire that raged inside me and it gave me the ‘juice’ I needed to power up each day and do what I had to do to make it happen.
Then, when I finally got back control of my life, I realized that I wanted to be completely free to be, do, and have whatever I wanted. Then my ‘why’ became about proving to myself that I could do more with my life than just being average.
4. Figure out your ‘how’
The how is actually not as important as your why. Your why is the fuel that will keep you going long after your resolve starts to wain or things get challenging. There are an infinite number of ways to become financially free but at the end of the day they all revolve around:
- Improving your business skills
- Learning how to effectively manage your money
- Become good at investing
Whatever ‘vehicle’ you choose to be your path to financial freedom it will require you to get better in these 3 areas. Do that, and the world will eventually become your biggest playground to have fun in.
