The Release Valve of Meaningful Work
In a recent talk, I commented about how I don't believe in retirement. I could see faces in the audience shift in real-time. When we got to my favorite part of the talk, the Q&A, someone asked a question that delighted me. "Don't you ever want to actually enjoy your life?" This was a sharp and direct question. I could see many in the audience get uncomfortable, anticipating a potentially awkward exchange. Here's a paraphrasing of my answer:
I'm enjoying my life today more than ever…..while working harder than I've ever worked.
Work should add value to our lives, not impair it.
If I ever get to the point where my work becomes a negative, it's time to find new work.
"Enjoying" life doesn't directly correlate to a life of leisure. They aren't one and the same.
Speaking of leisure, it's important to periodically take time to rest, travel, and adventure. This should happen during our career, not held back until after it.
Here's the typical work-to-retirement path:
Find work that pays as much as possible (disregarding what fulfillment it could/should provide).
Hoard as much money as possible along the way.
Reach a certain level of hoarding success as quickly as possible (60 is better than 65, 55 is better than 60, 50 is better than 55, …….).
Quit work and finally try to enjoy life.
This path incentivizes us to cut back on spending as much as possible (so we can aggressively invest), while we endure a job we dislike or hate, so we can get out ASAP. In other words, live with a certain level of career and financial misery for as short a window as necessary.
Here's something to think about. Meaningful work is a release valve from misery. Instead of following the path above, here's an alternative strategy:
Always pursue meaningful work (even if it pays less).
Invest consistently over a long period of time. Since you have a longer investing window and compound, you can invest less along the way and dedicate those extra resources toward more fulfilling endeavors (giving, traveling, making memories, etc.).
Give yourself the freedom to downshift/upshift your career as life evolves, always ensuring it adds value to your life.
If/When your health/energy deteriorates, be financially prepared to care for yourself.
In the first scenario, we spend much of our adult life in some form of dissatisfaction (ranging somewhere between tolerance and misery), hoard resources instead of putting them to better use, and hope that one day, living a life of leisure is the ticket to happiness. In the second scenario, we find and sustain a meaningful life with far less time and financial pressure on ourselves.
Do I ever want to actually enjoy my life? Yes, as a matter of fact, I do. I want to enjoy it today, tomorrow, and down the road. I deeply desire that and have committed my life to the continual pursuit of meaning and impact. I desire that for you, too.