14 Months To Retirement: Battling The Impatience Beast

This is a continuation of my monthly series that records what’s happening in my final stretch to early retirement. If you’re interested in previous posts, they’re here.

I’m trying to continue my habit of updating y’all monthly on what’s happening in my world and in my mind as I inch closer to early retirement in case it helps anyone on their path. In previous months we’ve covered the drama surrounding where we’ll be living next year, the sad decline of my current company in my eyes and reflecting on why I’ve felt stressed lately. This month we’re tackling an age old topic: My Impatience. Continue reading “14 Months To Retirement: Battling The Impatience Beast”

Why I’m An Unproductivity Advocate

I am sitting on my couch with a book perched on my lap and a YNAB blanket wrapped around my legs (#swag). Every 15 minutes or so I look up and out my apartment windows to see what new wildlife I can spot.

The usual suspects include a cute green hummingbird (I’ve named him George), blue jays, black-capped chickadees, ravens and squirrels. The Space Needle and the Seattle skyline chill in the distance. I’ve been in this spot for six hours and it’s been absolutely glorious. Continue reading “Why I’m An Unproductivity Advocate”

15 Months To Retirement: Exploring The Many Different Kinds Of Stress

This is a continuation of my monthly series that records what’s happening in my final stretch to early retirement. If you’re interested in previous posts, they’re here.

I’ve found myself slipping on my goals recently – specifically my food goals. I’ve been going over my calories, carbs and alcohol units and I started reflecting on why. At first, this reflection was actually more of an ambush with me berating myself for straying from the beaten path (which was dumb and I wouldn’t recommend to anyone). Continue reading “15 Months To Retirement: Exploring The Many Different Kinds Of Stress”

16 Months To Retirement: Discovering Cracks In My Favorite Company

This is a continuation of my monthly series that records what’s happening in my final stretch to early retirement. If you’re interested in previous posts, they’re here.

Let’s start with a quote from the documentary The Dark Knight:

“You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain.” 

This quote from Batman popped into my head not referring to myself becoming a villain (or am I?!), but in reference to recent discoveries I’ve made about my current company. I’ve been at my job for a shocking (for me) 2.5 years. My longest stint previously was 1 year and 11 months at one company though I had two completely different jobs during that time.

Continue reading “16 Months To Retirement: Discovering Cracks In My Favorite Company”

How Blogging Helped Me Appreciate My Profession

When I started working in ad agencies right out of college, I believed that their goal was to help get the word out about awesome products. How adorable. How naive. After attending my first focus group and seeing the kind of psychological information our clients wanted to incorporate into our campaigns, I learned 2 hard lessons: 1. the products aren’t always awesome and 2. the goal is to SELL, SELL, SELL (despite point #1). Continue reading “How Blogging Helped Me Appreciate My Profession”