We’re on Week 10 of quarantine in Seattle. Our first stay-at-home order extension was set to end yesterday, but unsurprisingly has been extended to May 31st (at least). So as I mentally prepare to see only my partner for a total of at least 3.5 months (even serious introverts have their limits…), I’ve been reflecting on the possible improvements to our world that could stem from this pandemic.
I know I’m a bit of a pessimist, but I’ve actually been surprised by what the U.S. HAS done in the face of the pandemic – it was not at all enough or appropriate based on the threat, but I was actually surprised when we declared a national emergency (I was expecting the current rhetoric of “you should die for the economy” to be our battlecry from the beginning…as I said, pessimist). I was also SHOCKED when we passed the CARES Act that provided $2 trillion to businesses and individuals (the latter sure sounds like a step towards Universal Basic Income 😉 ). So here are a few things that have been making me more optimistic about the future during this challenging time:
Kindness
I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the outpouring of kindness that’s happened in the face of this pandemic. If you want to see some examples of that, John Krasinski, of The Office and A Quiet Place fame, has created an absolutely sensational weekly YouTube show called Some Good News that presents all the kind things that are happening in our world with an injection of humor. Here’s one of my favorite episodes so far:
Innovation
I’ve also been shocked with the level of innovation and productivity I’ve seen popping up around me during this weird time. Businesses are completely pivoting to try and stay afloat. For example, in less than one day my favorite Mexican restaurant in Seattle created a takeout friendly menu, a new protocol for food distribution (they had previously not done takeout or delivery) and an updated website.
I understand that the sink or swim situation can be quite a kick in the pants for motivation, but just overall, I’ve seen actual quick changes happen in many businesses and that gives me hope. In comparison, to implement just one tiny change to a client’s website I’ve been in meetings for literal MONTHS. Humans can be efficient and get shit done and I’ve been very impressed with what people are able to accomplish even in the face of a pandemic.
This feeling extends to efforts taking place at home and in labs. For example, my sewing-savvy finance friends are making masks for others, NASA created a ventilator specifically for coronavirus patients in 37 days and scientists from different companies are banding together to find a COVID-19 vaccine (instead of competing against each other). Overall I’m in shock and awe with what we can accomplish together. It makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside.
A Brighter Future
I also see a lot of positive possibilities in our future as a result of this strange time that will make the world a better place. Here are a few:
Proper Appreciation & Compensation
The “your life isn’t complete until you have a child” crowd has been strangely silent lately 😉 . Instead of hearing similar platitudes, lately I’ve been hearing about how teaching children at home is a shockingly difficult task and that teachers should be paid a million dollars…an hour.
I’m hoping that we’ll come out of this pandemic with a renewed appreciation not just for teachers, but for the workers that are risking their lives to save ours and those that are keeping our world running, such as the front-line healthcare workers, the grocery store clerks, the food delivery drivers and many others that often don’t even make a living wage. It’s being proven that they’re the backbone of our society and I’m hopeful that this realization will lead to proper appreciation and compensation.
Remote Work
Many companies that previously said that a job “can’t be done from home” no longer have a leg to stand on because office workers ARE doing their job from home – even with the distractions of kids, homeschooling and a brave new world. It can be done. So I’m hoping that the uselessness of office ‘facetime’ becomes a relic of a time long past. It turns out people can in fact do their work without a boss looking over their shoulder like they’re a small child doing their math homework – who knew!
In fact, based on my own experience, I would hope companies embrace this remote work reality not just because it’s possible and we’ve proven that, but also because it (usually) makes workers more productive and less stressed. There is no commute to sap hours out of your day, no road rage to tamp down while fighting through traffic in the concrete jungle and no time spent smiling politely at “Karen” when she comes over to “chat” every 15 minutes. Instead, you can just get your shit done.
Even before the world turned upside down, I was starting to see more and more jobs that I had always been told could “never” be remote in my field of marketing being offered on job boards as remote positions. I have hope that this trend will continue and help us all regain more time in our lives and hopefully create a better work/life balance in this country.
Paid Sick Leave
It is BONKERS to me that paid sick leave is not mandatory in the U.S. I may make six figures in a cushy remote job, but I don’t have sick leave – not one day of it. If I get sick I have to either take unpaid leave or use one of my PTO days, which leads to…you guessed it…just working while I’m sick. Luckily, since I work from home, that means I don’t infect other people, but that is not the case for many others.
The incentive structure is fucked up. We don’t want to incentivize people to go to work sick or face the alternative of not be able to feed their families. So, I hope this global pandemic helps us realize why this should be mandatory as it is in 179 other countries including all developed nations (except the US).
Better Healthcare
With 30 million people filing for unemployment in the last few weeks this is also a great time to take in the lesson that it’s not a great idea to link healthcare to employment in this country. And not only that, but our overall healthcare system needs an overhaul. The U.S. spends more per capita than any other developed nation on healthcare AND it has worse outcomes.
Costs are through the roof and not at all transparent, which leads to people (even my dumbass self) not going to the doctor when they’re seriously ill. We have a lot of great examples from other countries of how we can be better and I’m hopeful this is a catalyst to do so.
So things are rough right now and mostly likely will be for a bit, but hang in there. I’m optimistic that there’s a bright future ahead.
MY RETIREMENT TO DO LIST
Alright! So in that same vein of optimism I’m still quitting my job in September. The only thing I can see stopping me is if we’re still in self-quarantine in Seattle at that time. I currently think that’s unlikely so I’m continuing to prep for my nomadic future, which actually will happen even if we are still in quarantine since our lease is up at the end of July. We’ll just be nomads in Seattle vs The World. So it’s full steam ahead on the to do list! Let’s see what I’ve been up to:
2020 Ongoing Monetary Goals
- Max my 401K ($19,500) – $6,651 SAVED!
- Set aside Year 1-2 Retirement money in cash – $9,110 SAVED!
- Max a Roth IRA ($6,000) – UNDER CONSIDERATION
- Overall save $52,000 before I quit in September – $15,761 SAVED TOTAL!
My saving goals are coming along nicely! As I said last month, I’m now planning to save my first 2 years of retirement expenses ($40,000) in a high-yield savings account with Ally instead of shoveling that cash into a taxable account after maxing my 401K. I’ll also receive approximately $600 of interest a year on that amount – that’s almost a month of my fancy Seattle rent!
Root of Good gave an interesting suggestion last month about still maxing my Roth IRA with $6,000, but investing that money into bonds so that I’m still ‘saving’ the money instead of investing it aggressively in stocks with the rest of my portfolio. I jokingly said that that would be a problem because I would have to update this post about why I own 100% stocks 😉 . I’m still considering his suggestion. Based on my current savings rate, if that is the way I decide to go, I can max a Roth IRA in my last 2 months of work.
2020 Ongoing Life Goals
- Start reading books that have been sitting on my shelf forever before I donate them – IN PROGRESS
- Play PC video games – IN PROGRESS
I’m reading books, but not the ones on my shelf (oops)! The impetus for reading my shelf books was to slowly give them away in the Free Little Libraries around our neighborhood and that urge went away because I assumed no one would want to take free books during a pandemic.
It turns out I was wrong though. The Little Libraries have been as active as ever and we’ve even seen people just leaving books for neighbors to take in boxes outside their house. So, I need to hop back on that and just wipe down the books like I do before selling something online.
What I have been reading lately is How To Invent Everything, The Last Wish (the Polish book series that The Witcher Netflix show was based on) and Recovery by Russell Brand.
I have also been getting back into my video games and enjoyed live tweeting my Sims sessions again this month (latest thread below). Felicity from Fetching Financial Freedom and I are also going to re-start Our Twitch Channel where we play finance related games together and stream it. Previously we’ve only done Sims games with Personal Finance icons as the Sims. Next up is Stardew Valley, which my partner has been OBSESSED with lately. I’m excited (and a little scared) to jump in. I hope my productivity doesn’t take a serious hit 😉 .
It's time for another #TheSims4 gameplay thread🎮. Prepare yourselves. This time we're starting with a randomized female Sim…who is apparently hot with the traits of a Cheerful😄, Genius🧠, Bookworm📚…weird. She wants to be an Author✍️🏾. Let's do this!
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) April 25, 2020
April To-Dos
- Start cleaning out our apartment and giving away/donating/selling items – IN PROGRESS
I finally sold that Aria Scale I mentioned last month for $30 on Facebook Marketplace. I was unsure how to do a product and money exchange in the age of social distancing so I did my new favorite thing: crowd-sourcing answers on Twitter! It ended up going really well and I learned awesome new techniques for how I can approach getting rid of the rest of my stuff in a quarantined world.
Someone wants to buy a scale I'm selling on Facebook Marketplace. How do we make the exchange while social distancing😬? I place the scale on the floor and slide it over like a briefcase in the mafia film while wearing my mask & gloves? Do they do the same with the money🤷🏾♀️? #Help
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) April 12, 2020
May To-Dos
- Start buying nomad gear – IN PROGRESS
I continued with my nomad preparation purchases by buying a new eye mask. Previously I had always used the eye masks I’ve received during my travel hacked first class flights, but after a year or two of nightly use, they would each become unsalvageable.
So, I got a fancy new Silk Sleep Mask, which was only $10, but it’s so soft and comfortable that I feel like a fucking princess. The only thing missing is the pattern from Matilda on the front:
I’m now debating getting Bose QuietComfort 35 or equivalent headphones, but don’t want them to be bluetooth only (like the 35s are). It sounds like I might be able to use with a cord with those, but I’m not sure I can stomach the cost.
If you have any recommendations for over-ear headphones that are comfortable and block out noise for less than $300 let me know 🙂 . I’m currently planning to get some COWIN E3 PROs based on some Twitter suggestions.
Hey Audiophiles🎧! I'm looking for over-ear headphones that have the squishy ear cushions, noise-cancellation abilities and sound quality of Bose QuietComfort 15s (which I used to have). Any suggestions? The Bose QC 35s look like they're Bluetooth only and I like that cord life!
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) May 2, 2020
I previously had Bose QuietComfort 15s for 5 years before they broke and couldn’t be fixed and I absolutely loved them, but spending that much again on headphones might be my current frugal sensibilities:) .
June To-Dos
- Renew my driver’s license and get the new extended version that’s required in Washington state starting later this year – COMPLETE-ISH
- Get a Charles Schwab account for free international ATMs
- Set up Traveling Mailbox
So I don’t know if it’s as a result of this pandemic or just Washington State becoming even more awesome, but I discovered that you can actually renew driver’s licenses online in our state. That’s great since I had assumed the office was closed and also non-essential travel is not allowed in Seattle right now.
I was able to renew my license online in about 5 minutes for a $54 fee. Washington was previously requiring that we all get Enhanced IDs to be able to use our driver’s license to fly to other states as of October 2020, but that order has been pushed back to 2021. It sounds like the only way to get those licenses is to be in Washington in person so I might have to forgo it if I’m chilling elsewhere. Luckily I will have my passport on me at all times anyway (#nomadlife) so I can just use that to fly. Phew – one more thing off my checklist!
July To-Dos
- Get rid of basically everything I own 😬
- Cancel my WiFi service and return the modem to the store
- Transfer from Republic Wireless to Google FI – UNDER CONSIDERATION
- Set up IMG global expat health insurance
My annual plan with Republic Wireless ends in June. After that I will be using $40 of credits that I racked by with them by changing my Sim card at their request and answering a survey. Those credits will take me through July to finish up my time with them. Then I was planning to switch to Google FI and have my new compatible phone shipped to our apartment before we move at the end of July.
However, the reason behind the switch was so I would have data and service in other countries. If global borders remain closed and I need to reschedule my travel plans (which is looking likely – see the below tweet) then there is no reason for me to switch to Google FI in the coming months. That change can be postponed months or a year based on what the future holds. So once we know what’s up I’ll decide if I’m pulling this trigger or not.
One of our October AirBnBs in #Australia🇦🇺 just cancelled our reservation. So it begins…
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) April 28, 2020
August To-Dos
- Live in an AirBnB for a month! – POST-CORONA CONFIRMED!
- Decide how I’m dividing money across my bank accounts in retirement
- Sign up for an absentee ballot so I can vote online for the presidential election
The other day this happened:
Our lease is up in July and the AirBnB we were supposed to stay in for the month of August reached out asking if we are still coming because someone wants to lease their space for a year starting in August😬. Yes pls – we need a place to live! Time to make Plan Z just in case…
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) April 29, 2020
Luckily the AirBnB owners checked with us instead of cancelling like my Australian AirBnB above. We at least have somewhere to go right after leaving our apartment. If our September AirBnB falls through for some reason we can try to find another one (they are currently more abundant and cheaper than usual – I assume because of other cancellations) or we can just start our nomad travels right then and there. It’s truly wonderful to have that kind of freedom and not worry about the financial consequences of having to buy a flight semi-last minute or change our lodging plans. The benefits of nomad and FI life!
September To-Dos
- Give my notice at work!
- Live in a (different) AirBnB for a month!
- Change my taxable dividends to go into my checking account instead of being reinvested
- Research the history and culture of all the places I’m traveling to this fall (if health and travel advisories allow)
- (After my last day) Transfer my 401K away from my company
Conclusion
In addition to all of the above I have one other piece of news: I dyed my hair based on a Twitter poll! #QuarantineLife am I right? Gotta get my jollies where I can.
The people have spoken!…And also I ran out of blue so 78.5% of voters get what they want 🤣. I give you: Turquoise AND Purple! https://t.co/f0JCOWPvPb pic.twitter.com/W1xhlB9Sjb
— A Purple Life (@APurpleLifeBlog) April 29, 2020
And that’s it! I’m still here and moving toward my September quit date and August nomad life. Let’s see what the next few months hold. 20 Mondays left…
How has the last month been for you? Did you accomplish any of your goals?
Cool to see your progress! I’m really in a conundrum regarding my travel plans. On one hand it does look like things are opening up (in the EU at least) but I’m still not confident enough to start booking stuff.
My current thinking is that only towards the end of the year international travel will go back to normal. Hope I’m wrong though.
P.S – I have the Bose 35 and they are badass. The only VERY big downside to them is that they are freakin hot as hell during the summer.
Thanks – glad you enjoyed it! And that’s totally fair on international travel. All of my travel from September through February 2021 is already booked, but I’m planning as if it isn’t going to happen (though we haven’t officially cancelled or moved anything yet). I don’t think I know enough to make any kind of prediction, but given how the U.S. COVID numbers are spiraling out of control I would be surprised if other countries let us into their borders soon…or maybe that’s just my pessimistic side talking 😉 . I guess we’ll see.
Cool on the Bose! I don’t usually wear over-ear headphones when it’s hot, but that’s a good call. I’ll see if other models allow for extra airflow in those situations.
Hi Purple,
Thanks for sharing on the upside of the pandemic. My big gripe about Hollywood’s view on this kind of thing is they mostly miss showing the humor and heart that gets demonstrated in abundance during times of crisis.
One small side note: I don’t get your gripe on PTO. If someone has 10 paid vacation days and 5 paid sick days, OR gets 15 days of PTO, isn’t it just a matter of semantics?
Hi Kathleen,
Fair on Hollywood’s take. That’s why I’ve been enjoying that YouTube channel – it highlights the good things that are often overlooked in dramatized retellings. As for PTO, I personally use all my PTO for travel and book it 11 months in advance so if I fell ill I would have to cancel trips to use that time as sick time.
I also think that 2-3 weeks is an abysmal amount of time off out of an entire year and doesn’t allow me enough time to actually regroup, which would lead to more productivity. To it’s two fold: I use all PTO as actual vacations in advance and overall I don’t think it’s enough especially compared to other developed nations. We should have time set aside just for when we get sick like other countries do and get more vacation time so we don’t slowly drift towards burnout all the time.
I agree with almost everything you said. I do think, that some of the opposite might be true about working from home. While I do think it’s shown it can be done, my guess is people will see the benefit of going into an office each day: the socializing, less distractions?, less children lol, having an IT person walk directly to your desk to fix your computer…of course I work from home so what do I know? lol! But, maybe they will loosen the policy so you don’t have to go into work every day.
Totally fair. I was talking about for myself – I am so much more productive and happier with a work from home situation, but I know even others within my own company get more done if they go in so they do so. Haven’t the option everywhere would be amazing.
it’s been a good money month for sure. the smidlap misguided portfolio is up double digits for the year and every other week there seems to be some free money showing up. all that being said there is only so much baking a person can do. i just about have french bread sleuthed out. it doesn’t look like air travel on your schedule is looking too promising but you never know, eh? we’re supposed to be on the beach in n. carolina in 2 weeks. we’ll see what happens there.
Sounds like y’all are rocking quarantine life over there! And there’s only so much baking?!? I have only baked 1 thing, but feel like I would disagree lol. Gimme all the baked goods! And yummmm french bread! Yeah on the air travel. I think next month’s update will including my contingency plans in case my travels are not possible. Worst case scenario I push them back a year or two, which isn’t that bad at all 🙂 . Yeeeah let’s see what happens with that beach vacay.
Your hair looks good. I’m an optimist, but I don’t expect changes either. There is too much inertia and too many rich people profiting from status quo. I guess we’ll see. I guess I’m optimistic and cynical at the same time.
I hope lockdown will ease us gradually. WA and OR are pretty conservative so we’ll probably start to open up in June. As for school, I hope it opens in September. I can’t take much more of homeschooling. Actually, it’s getting better. We skip some assignments now. It’s better to stay sane than try to finish everything.
Thank you! And that’s fair – I’m a pessimist most of the time myself, but these are just some possible future positives I hope will happen, but yeah – greed and inertia are powerful forces.
I’m glad homeschooling is getting better – great job figuring out what you can cut…it seems like a good life lesson for corporate life 😉 . I skip the political nonsense and focus on the real work 🙂 . Hang in there Joe!
I work for a Seattle company (although don’t live in the city) and recently we switched from a PTO to a vacation/sick program because of city law requirements around having sick time. Maybe it was only for larger companies?
I really hope the remote thing becomes more of a thing. I’ll be moving into a partial managerial role soon and while a good chunk of it is remote, there are quite a few meetings that require in-person presence and I live about an hour and a half away on a good day for commuting to Seattle (my main work is only 15 minutes away). I hope to be the squeaky wheel once I get settled after a few months if they decide to go back to required in-person meetings after Covid-19. It makes no sense for me to drive 3 hours minimum for a 2 hour meeting /facepalm
Your comment made me look into this and it appears my company might be breaking the law…oh mylanta (https://www3.swipeclock.com/blog/seattle-paid-sick-and-safe-time-ordinance-increases-need-for-employee-tracking/). I need to look into this further.
I am with you! That’s a ridiculous amount of commute vs meeting/facepalm time. I wish you well on your journey as the squeaky wheel and hope they listen to you!
I am hoping for some of the positive changes you mentioned.
For me the big change is my appreciation of teachers and classroom aides! I plan to double my gift next school year, assuming things return to normal.
That’s so awesome!!!
I’m right there with you on reducing the amount of in-office time the working world requires. I’m a nurse, so that’s not going to happen for me, but I guarantee we’d see the effects reverberate through the health care system if we reduced the amount of time people spend in cars and the office. People would have more time to cook and take care of home stuff or even workout, and they’d waste less time sitting in traffic and generating road rage. Plus, think of the environmental impact!!! A fellow nurse and I had this discussion this morning. We see a total improvement in overall health by reducing office time – not necessarily doing away with it, but decreasing it.
Also, I agree that health care should NEVER be tied to one’s job, and I have amazing benefits, better than nearly anyone I know. But it’s not fair that I have stellar benefits while others have crappy ones or none at all. Not good! I have little to no stake in the game. We need an open market to help drive costs down – that and a much healthier population. And working from home could impact that!!
Anyway, glad to see you’re still on track for September! I still need to cancel my travel plans for next week…I’ve held out as long as I could. Hopefully your plans remain intact for Australia!
Those are all great points! The benefits of letting people who can (and want to) work from home seem to be immense across their health and the environment. Awesome to hear a healthcare professional is with me on the silly link between health insurance and employers.
Yeah September here I come 🙂 . I’m sorry about your travel plans – we’ll see about Australia, but I won’t hold my breath 🙂 . And being in a position where the worst thing is having to make a few calls to push everything back a year isn’t a bad place to be at all 😉 .
Love the update and very excited to follow your plans for September! We’ve also been digging “Some Good News” in the Hippie Household as well 🙂
The new hair looks incredible, by the way!
Yay! So glad y’all are enjoying SGN as much as I am. And thank you for the compliment!
Balanced piece but definitely some optimism for you!
Glad to hear saving has gone so well and you’re sticking to your plan!
Best regards,
J
Yeah I’m trying to fight my pessimistic tendencies 🙂 . Thanks!
Pessimistic through and through here, so like Joe, I’m doubting any real serious changes will happen but I am glad that so far, the dire “you need a gun because in 2 months when the food supply is disrupted, people will start breaking into homes” predictions haven’t come to pass yet.
Point of curiosity – how come you want a cord with the headphones?
Yep – this post was mostly something I can look bad on when my pessimism is at an all time high 🙂 . I expect no changes and that the world will burn so if anything less than that happens I am pleasantly surprised lol.
Y’all made me think about my cord preference and I realized it’s mostly for planes. All of my flights are at least 6 hours and I intentionally pick planes with seat back TVs and I can’t use them if I have a bluetooth headset. I have to buy some attachment or something and I’m not about that life. I’ve never minded cords personally so #Cords4Life!
Thanks for sharing your plans! It’s hard to think about how life would be post-corona, but I love how optimistic you are in looking for the silver linings. Kudos to you for pushing through with your FI plan on September despite everything going on!
For the first few weeks of the lockdown, I just played Animal Crossing every single day 😅At one point, I started to feel guilty and told myself that I should at least start some sort of project. I’ve always wanted to make my own website, but I’d have tons of excuses to push it back I got inspired from reading your blog that I’ve decided that it was finally time for me to start one too! Cheers to productivity, I guess!!! Haha
Of course and thank you! Those first few weeks don’t sound bad 😉 I’ve heard great things about Animal Crossing. That’s awesome you found your motivation though and welcome to the blog-osphere!
Good for you for sticking to the retirement plan, even as the world, and the financial world, are more than a little uncertain. It just goes to show that sometimes you just need to pull the trigger and do what you need to do. I mean, who could have predicted that the stockmarket could have bounced back so quickly? Anything can happen, so I’m glad you seizing life by the horns and dictating your own terms.
Thanks! I’m surprised I’m doing so, but the math works and the (more financially conservative) people close to me say I should still go for it so here I am 🙂 . Indeed, let’s see what happens!
20 Mondays feels doable eeeeek!!!! I love the flexibility in your planning and am enjoying watching your decisions on a detailed level around these final steps. Hard to believe your next one of these is going into the 3-2-1 final countdown 🙌!
Right?!?!? Glad you like the flexibility and find my to do list interesting lol. It started just to keep me accountable so I’m happy someone else is liking it 😉 . And OMG you’re so right 3-2-1 HOLY SHIT!
No idea how I’ve been missing out on this gem of a blog, but I’m quickly catching up!!! Quick question(s); with the selling of everything you guys own, what are your “must keeps”? What will you be using on your nomadic travels? I’m so excited to follow your journey and celebrate with you! Congratulations in advance 🥳🍷🎊
Aww thank you!! My current ‘must keeps’ are just practical stuff like an eyemask, noise cancelling headphones and earplugs 😉 . I document in my 5 months to retirement post what I’ve bought so far for nomad life, which is basically a travel towel, packing cubes, a 40L backpack and a foldable daypack. That’s it so far! Thank you!!
Hey Purple!
I subscribed just after I heard your interview on ChooseFI. I am so excited for you.
This post particularly grabbed my attention because I also have been amazed at all the great things happening during this pandemic. My daughter (23) and I watch SGN religiously and “ugly” cry every time.
I can not wait to read how you give your notice at work. I wish I had started as young as you did.
Best wishes to you and yours
Samantha
Hi Samantha! Welcome and thank you! I’m glad you’ve been amazed at some of what’s happening during this time and that y’all love SGN as well! It’s a bright spot in my week for sure. I am familiar with the “ugly” crying during episodes as well 🙂 . I’ll definitely be documenting how that notice conversation goes so stay tuned 😉 and thank you! I was really lucky that I discovered FI early and was able to start down this path. Best wishes to y’all as well!
Thank you for writing this blog:)
I remember when I left one corporate job for another and a coworker told me, Nicki, it’s great that you have another opportunity–but remember, all jobs are very similar unless you are genuinely helping someone or being creative, in a unique way, to your talents.
He said this when I was 23, 17 years later I find it 100% true.
I think dream jobs are developed, not found on job boards. My husband is an Artist, his income covers his bills. It took him 10-15 part time years to create that job.
I am a tarot card/life coach/writer at heart, it pays about $100 a year. Hence, why I found FI and can now invest 10-15 years of fun time to create a role/calling, I love one day.
That being said, some people truly love being Doctors, Teachers or other pre-packaged roles…but for many of us, our optimal roles, don’t come pre-assembled:)
Thank you for reading it 🙂 . That coworker sounds like a genius!!! I wish I had gotten that advice – wow. That’s amazing. And “dream jobs are developed” is another interesting nugget that rings true with me. That’s awesome you found a way to pursue your dream job 10-15 years in the making. That’s a great perspective to take. I guess even this ‘dream job’ of mine was 5 part-time years in the making (and maybe in another 5-10 it will pay for itself haha). “For many of us, our optimal roles, don’t come pre-assembled”: You need to put all these quotes on pillows seriously. Fantastic point of view! Thank you for sharing.