Even though I haven’t written an article in nearly a month, I am pretty sure that I managed to un-retire myself…
As many of you know, I bought a website back in October to generate some passive-ish income and to help battle sequence of return risk.
Since the purchase, it has been a fast and furious learning curve and anything but passive.
I believe that I’ll eventually turn it into a passive endeavor, but right now there is too much to do!
So it appears that I’ve managed to invest my way into a full-time gig, and whelp, I think I have to un-retire for the next few months.
This is what FIRE is all about…
I knew going into this venture that it would keep me busy. In fact, I prepared for it – but I was a bit naive about how much I could lay back and let things be.
I am the type of person who becomes obsessed with every detail when I take on a new project, and I’ve spent the last two months trying to will my new website to be everything I want it to be.
And while obsession can only get you so far, this is ultimately what FIRE is all about:
- Exploring new opportunities
- Learning new things
- Obsessing about them
- Finding purpose
- Doing it all over again
One thing that FIRE is for me – it is not sitting around doing nothing.
There is no void in this house. Only more learning opportunities.
Un-retiring to learn
So while I didn’t intend on picking up a full-time gig, I believe that I have to lean into it to learn from it.
I own that I have managed to let my obsession and my drive get ahold of me too. It doesn’t have to be a full-time thing. But I also can’t sit back and do nothing either.
I’ve followed the path where it has taken me, and I own it. Here is my plan:
- I plan on learning as much as I can about running my new website. SEO, social media, writing, etc.
- I’m going to observe as much as I can about my obsessiveness, so I can do it in a more healthy way going forward, and take it into consideration when taking on new projects in the future.
- Then I am going to create a plan of action to begin to start outsourcing work and re-retire.
Everything is a learning opportunity. This certainly has and will be a big one.
So yes, I’ve “un-retired” for the moment…but maybe I was never “retired” in the first place?
Congrats on un-retiring, and best of luck with the website adventure!
I left my full-time job last year in June with a sabbatical in mind since we are somewhere between coast and full FI. However, shortly after starting my break, I started blogging and working part-time as a financial advisor (again). But the caveat here is that I am much, much happier; so much for taking a break!
Haha yeah. I think the ability to control your time is really the big one. Once you have that, it doesn’t truly matter if you are working a lot or a little. If you are in control and can dial things up, down, or all around as needed, then that is the goal. And I have that, even if I have dialed up my “work” quite a bit right now.
Good for you! I’ve both worked and not worked in my six years of retirement, never anything close to full time unless you count the volunteer stuff, which sometimes comes close, but I still consider myself retired. I think as a monetized blogger you can still claim you are retired. You are totally in charge of yourself and your hours and nobody is paying you like a contractor. You just have a fun hobby that happens to make money. Some people see real estate rental that way, they enjoy the interactions with tenants and I say they are fully retired too. But if you want to say you are unretired that’s fine too. Main thing is you are doing life your way. Like that Sinatra song. Keep that world class content coming!
Thanks Steve! Haha yeah, I don’t expect it to overrun my life. I probably should have also disclosed that full-time is more like 25-30 hours a week if that. I won’t be going around around claiming I am un-retired permanently, but for the moment, I am going to embrace the work.