I would ask myself whether all the saving, budgeting, and obsessing during my journey to early retirement would be worth it. Instead of following the herd spending away on stuff of wants instead of needs. I consciously took the other path focusing on happiness and smart balanced frugal but sustainable lifestyle. A lifestyle that would ultimately define what my future early retirement life would be all about.

Believe me that I answered the question soon after my first retirement and YES, it was all worth it. What Early Retirement has taught me about myself is an ever-changing list of personal growth and the realization that the journey to get here prepared me to live a life with meaning and adventure. It is something that early retirement critics and over-consumerist can’t or refuse to understand.

I believe it is all about the journey.

My journey is one of many early retirement success stories. Of course the prize is reaching our financial independence goals and being able to start living our early retirement dream lifestyle but our journey is what prepares us and ensures we will have a happy and content life. I am not saying it’s the struggle that makes you appreciate the prize although I am sure there is some of that.

Instead I think everything we experience during our journey is necessary because we retrain our brain to a new way of living that is far from the mainstream and what we were taught to be the normal or standard lifestyle path to follow.

With the internet there is no end to information about personal finance, spending and debt control, budgeting, investing, and early retirement through financial independence. I am sure anyone reading this has read from many sources of information and taking what works for them as part of their own early retirement plan. Creating their unique and sustainable plan to guide them while on their journey to their prize.

What matters is how we put to work all the ideas we have along with adopting ideas and tips provided by others into a plan and way of living that over time brings us success without feeling deprived or wanting, however long it takes.

Basic Principles of the Journey to FI and Early Retirement:

Ditch the one-plan-fits-all guidebook

Look and learn from other’s early retirement success stories. But create your own unique strategic retire early plan.

Seek ideas from off the beaten track.

There is more than the information found from big banks and investment companies. Immerse yourself in different sources of information like FI, early retirement, investing, and other areas of personal finance blogs. There is a wealth of information from people sharing their ideas that actually work or has worked for them.

Create a sustainable budget

One that pushes your frugal threshold and ramp-up your savings rate. The more you save the quicker your journey to the prize.

Set an overall goal and stay completely open and flexible to how you’re going reach it.

For most people this is a journey that will take a number of years. A lot of life will happen during this time. Live your life, stay focused on the goal, and accept that your journey won’t be the straight line you may have initially planned for.

Learn from your mistakes.

In order to make great progress you may have to challenge and step outside of your comfort zone in ways of lifestyle and investing. You must be willing to make mistakes, learn from them, and then make the necessary corrections.

Be optimistic and be open to say YES to every opportunity that you can.

If you stay open to opportunity by believing that they will come your way you will be able to recognize them when they do come.

Be nice and share your knowledge, skills and experiences whenever you can.

Share with others on the same journey or to those wanting to join the FI/early retirement movement. Be someone sharing early retirement success stories, what is working and what isn’t. On the flip side be open to the ideas and receiving help from others.

You Will Receive Non-Financial Benefits

While on your journey you not only move closer to your goal but you discover so much more about yourself. You learn what it is that truly makes you happy, what is important to you, and you create what will ultimately be your early retirement lifestyle.

What Early Retirement has taught me about myself is that the journey is where I discovered my own meaning and established my own sense of self. It is something that must be experienced. It can’t be taught or learned from reading a book. This is exactly why early retirees who took control and planned for their dream life are the happiest and most content retirees.

What Early Retirement has taught me is the Journey continues.

Once my goal was reached and the prize was won my journey didn’t just end. It began a new adventure that I get to rely on all I learned getting here.

What Early Retirement has taught me about myself is that we are truly happy when we continually grow and change. When we can learn, stay curious and develop over and over again. By accepting this we are sure to enjoy the journey wherever it takes us next.

Do you see your financial independence journey bringing personal rewards beyond financial success?