Introducing The Micro-Retirement

You are probably familiar with the mini-retirement concept popularized by Tim Ferriss in his bestseller “The 4-Hour Workweek”.

The idea is simple. Instead of enjoying retirement at the end of your life, why not break it into smaller chunks (one year, for example) and enjoy it during your life? Instead of work-retire-die, think work-retire-work-retire-….-work-retire-die.

Concept explained, what’s so nice about the promised land of retirement anyway? To lay on a beach drinking daiquiris all day? No, at least not for me.

For me, retirement means retiring from the work that pays my bills. It doesn’t mean not working. It means replacing the work that puts food on my table with the work that puts meaning in my life.

Now, an awful, sad truth…

Most people fear retirement. There, I said it.

Why is that?

For a simple reason: they don’t know what to do with all the time in the world.

Since we are born we are told what to do. You know the script: get good grades, go to college, get a job, get married, have kids, etc.

But is this what you want?

We can easily live for decades without thinking even for a minute about what we want. We can be always busy, but being always busy is being lazy in disguise. Instead of doing the important work — finding out what we want — we keep ourselves busy with unimportant stuff.

It is like when you have an important task to do in your job but, instead of doing it, you keep yourself busy reading unimportant e-mails or attending pointless meetings. You may look busy, but the truth is that you’re being lazy.

So, time to answer: what would you do if you had all the time in the world?

[dramatic pause]

Still thinking?

Let me help. Or even better: let the micro-retirement help you.

Introducing the micro-retirement

Retirement is like a guru.

Photo by davide ragusa on Unsplash

Slap! Slap!

With a bamboo stick, it wakes you up. It forces you to face those important questions you’ve been avoiding for so long.

There is no escape anymore. No more stupid meetings to attend. No more children crying. No more unimportant e-mails to read.

Just the void.

How are you going to fill it?

Traditional retirement means filling the void for decades.

Mini-retirement means filling the void for one year or so.

Micro-retirement means filling the void for a few hours every day.

Now, what’s common between all of them? Yes, the void.

The void is the key.

But knowing is not enough. You have to experience it.

How? How can you feel this void for a few hours every day? How can you escape the rollercoaster of everyday life?

Simple: wake up at 5 AM.

Wake up way before your wife, your kids, your colleagues. Wake up before the world wakes up. Wake up before the rollercoaster departs.

Can you feel this void in the afternoon or late at night? Yes, but it’s way harder. For most people, a silent morning still provides the best environment to feel the void.

Are you afraid?

I understand. The void is scary. Having 3 hours ahead of you of absolute stillness every day is scary.

“All of humanity’s problems stem from man’s inability to sit quietly in a room alone.” — Blaise Pascal.

Are you going to take refuge in Netflix? Maybe scroll on social media? C’mon man, you didn’t wake up at 5 AM for that.

Embrace the void. Let it sink in. Don’t buy the ticket to the rollercoaster yet.

What you’re feeling is just a glimpse of what older people feel when they retire. The difference is that you only have to “survive” for 3 hours each day, not for 3 decades in a row. That’s why I called it micro-retirement.

In case you’re curious, I’m writing during my micro-retirements. All my articles on Medium were written on these quiet, distraction-free mornings.

It’s on you now. Your retirement can start tomorrow, even if only for a few hours.

The sooner you face the void, the better.

As contradictory as it may sound, this void is full. Full of answers.

See it for yourself.

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This post was previously published on medium.com.

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