Why Most People Die Without A Happy Ending

Last week I got a massage.

It was different than any massage I ever received (which is why I am telling you about it). It reminded me of a key distinction between my most successful clients and those that seem to continually struggle.

The masseuse (I’ll call her GP for short) discovered a big knot in my shoulder and asked me if I work in front of a computer. I said I did and I’d been spending a lot more time typing than I usually do.

(The reason for my recent marathon typing sessions is the new report I’m working on. I’m sure it will open people’s eyes just like the Internet Business Manifesto did last year. More on that later…)

The conversation with GP drifted to how many hours a week I work, what I do, and what I do on the weekends.

When she heard how much time I took out of my schedule for fun and time with my family, she was surprised at how I’m able to squeeze in everything.

Her response was not unusual at all. In fact, whenever I explain my schedule I’m always greeted with envy first, followed quickly by confusion, then wonder at how I’m able to live my life so well.

Being polite, I asked GP about her schedule. Her answer absolutely horrified me…

GP had been working seven days a week for the past 6 months with no days off and no vacations. At first I thought I had misheard her, but I hadn’t. Six massages a day, day in and day out, for over 180 days straight.

She making six figures – but she’s living her "life" based on a faulty assumption I see entrepreneurs making far too often.

Look, even though I’m only 36 years old, I’ve already retired twice. Yet, today I am typing this note to you from my office surrounded by 12 exceptional employees. What happened?… Why the hell am I still working?

The reason I work today is: the whole concept of ‘Retirement’ is fundamentally flawed.

The idea that you should sacrifice the best years of your life hoping to discover magical happiness in your later years doesn’t prove out at all. It’s just an old-fashioned theory you’ve been sold – and all you have to do is look around to prove to yourself how unrealistic it is.

In case you didn’t know… only a very small percentage of seniors can actually retire. Nowadays most are forced to work to supplement their income. And the trend is only getting worse. With the recent collapses of private pensions and the continual decrease in purchasing power of social security, many experts have come to the same conclusion…

“I don’t think were going to see another generation that’s going to fully retire. There’s going to be a lot of people that are going to continue to work for the rest of their lives.” Doug Lockwood, Retirement Specialist, Harbor Lights Financial Group.

But what’s even worse is this sort of “hoping it will be better later” dramatically decreases the likelihood you’ll ever achieve the success you desire.

Soon I’ll tell you why this is. But for now you need to think about the answers to these two questions as you go through your day:

What if you could never retire?

What if the way you choose to work today would set the pattern you must continue until the day you die? What would you be doing differently?

Let me know your answers to these two vital questions by posting your comments here:

And if you think you know why this reduces your chances of overall success, tell me why.

Then be on the look out for another message from me… because I’m going to tell you how to dramatically increase your chances of success AND at the same time enjoy your life a whole lot more than you do now.

Interested?… Stay Tuned….

To Higher Profits

Rich Schefren

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Comments:

http://www.dougalco.com Dougal

The whole concept of “work” and “retirement” is outmoded. I comes from a time when most people worked for large corporations in factories and offices. That is no longer the case. If you are you enjoy what you are doing to make money then you could either say that you are working all the time or none of the time.
http://www.GoalGuru.com GoalGuru

I just wrote about this yesterday Rich. Our days should be planned around our deepest desires and Goals, which ultimately are inspired by our family and what we want for them. What your family ultimately wants is you, your presence.

Live Your Dreams,

Jill Koenig
Author, Coach, Motivational Speaker

http://www.GoalGuru.com
Valerie Sykes

Very interested in what your program is. I can relate to several of these stories.
Dawn

Rich,

This blog really hit home for me. I know in my current situation, I will never be able to retire completely. My husband and I both work, have two kids, and we barely make ends meet. My husband does have a 401(k) at work that we are saving into. However, we are not saving anything else otherwise. I’m scared to quit my job, because without it, we would drown in bills, but I hate my Job.
I’ve tried a few online “money making” things at no avail. Also, I tried doing surveys, but those are just a laugh. I had one site where I answered every email they sent me, and after 6 weeks, only made $10. No, thanks.

I really have no faith in finding work at home internet job that works for me. I’ll just work and pile on the debt until the day I die.
Ruth MS

So, I’m thinking: work is what I do and I love it. Retirement for me is just working a bit less, with more leisure, fewer financial worries, more time for gardening, visiting the kids and grandchildren, etc. So, the secret that I need is HOW do I do it all?

I am one of those over 60 folks who will ‘semi retire’ probably as long as I can. What I need/want is a bigger nest egg so I can do it sooner, and with more comfort.

Ok, now I’ve hit the ball back to you. What ‘magical formula’ do you have?

Thanks,
Ruth
http://spyglassgreenmarketing.com Jim DiFrangia

Rich,
Interesting points you raise. I don’t think that I will ever quit working. I enjoy being involved somehow in a business venture. It’s too much fun and it beats the alternative….that is to totally retire and spend your day on a hobby, chores around the house or engage in some physical activity. All good, but you need a reason to get up in the morning and I find that working my buisness is my avocation. As long as the work is not physically demanding, you can enjoy a lifestyle that combines work and play forever.
http://acornservice.blogspot.com Jim

Rich,

Yes I think it’s quite likely that the current baby boomers will never actually fully retire.

That said from the feedback you’ve already got it seems obvious that we all want to work because we actually enjoy it.

Where work becomes “hard work” is when we have to make a living to keep our house or car. There is the problem, it’s keeping an income level you need for the lifestyle you want.

Jim
Pam Shannon

Rich,

Some of us get it. I’m writing this from the salon of my boat, a 43′ Privilege sailing catamaran on which I’ve sailed over 17,000 miles in 5 years in the eastern and southern Caribbean. This is not a megayacht, simply a sailboat that can take me, my partner Charlie and our cat Sunny anywhere in the world we choose to go. I’ve lived aboard for over 6 years and have no intention of being land based for a long while yet.

The only reason we returned to the US last year was to replenish the cruising kitty. I was attracted to your program because it’s the only one I’ve seen that concentrates on building a business with value to it rather than throwing up a web site and thinking you’re going to be the next internet millionaire.

I need some money not only to continue cruising but also to be able to give back to the people in the various places we stop. For example, in Trinidad I was involved with a tutoring program that helped students pass a major exam which would determine, at age 14 or so, whether or not they continued their education. Opportunities like this exist in many places. If they don’t exist, cruisers start them.

As you have gathered, for me the concept of retirement is meaningless. My father worked for one company for 47 years, hated every day of it, then did absolutelly nothing for10 years until he died. I vowed a long time ago I would not follow in his footsteps and I believe I’ve succeeded. I’m positive I can my internet business to generate the income I need in the next year or so, then it’s off to the Western Caribbean and then maybe across the Pacific. Wherever we are, I’ll be enjoying every minute of it.

Pam
http://petunin.com Andrei

Work smart – not hard. If money is what you want, then do more of the stuff that directly makes you money. At the end of the day, you have to enjoy what you do & if you do, then money will most definitely follow. Should be ethical though & preferably making peoples lives better, as well as yours. (Not talking from experience yet)

:o)
http://www.results-marketing-services.com Ravi

1. Start your own business
2. Plan to Build Your business to work without you! (When you build “commercial, profitable enterprise that can work without you” – You have buiilt a Passive income asset!)
3. Work on a strategy to make you !replacable!
4. Retire to something (as opposed to from something)
5. Have fun all the way.
http://www.marykay-sweetallure.com Amal

Hi Rich,

For me, I don’t have kids and family to worry about. So, I’m not going to tell you, I need to work to support kids and family and to meet daily needs. But, the reason I work is because I love doing interesting things and trying new adventures and feel my blood moving. I love taking risks and getting out of my comfort zone. I like to see how far I can reach and discover what I am capable of doing.
Money brings power and security and nowadays the world is once again moving towards classifying people and living the categories game that did exist in the past, long time ago. This is how I view the world today.
I however don’t necessarily need to work hard to reach far. I like to work smart. I do balance between my work and my life. I do take vacations every year and go somewhere away from everyone I know to feel that I changed the environment around me. I need that to re-energies. Because people who work work work non stop, burn out at one point and won’t be able to carry on after. I don’t like to fall in this trap. I take good care of me. I workout 6 days a week for about 1.5 to 2 hours a day. I spend quality time with my family (brothers,sisters, parents,cousins,..etc) and friends. I have money for myself and I do give money to charity. Retirement, is out of the picture for me for one reason only: I hate to sit down and do nothing.
In short, the secret is work smart and manage your time. Get a healthy lifestyle. You will live longer and stronger and will be able to carry on walking on the pins until you die. And that’s the beauty of life.

cheers
Amal
P.S. I might sound too wise here, but believe it or not, I’m younger than you Rich:-)
http://www.internet-empire.com Internet Empire

Nice story Rich. Apparently there are too many people who can’t figure out what they’re selling their soul for.

Cheers
Edmund
http://www.bargaintravel.com Stormy

The secret is to make money doing what you would be doing anyway if money were no object and then you never have to work a day in your life. ;^)
Walt Broadbent

Boy do I agree with you. I am a psychologist and haven’t had a vacation in years. I am still trading time for money just like I did when I worked at the grocery store packing boxes! It’s just that now I am trading a lot more money for a lot more time. Have you read any RichDad PoorDad? Kiyosaki wrote about this condition, that of working hard for less and less time, in his book, “Retire Young, Retire Rich.” I am 60 and wish that much of this spiritual/psychological/business technology existed when I was much younger. I am still seeing clients, but am now currently constructing an e-business that will help me create passive income. When I do coaching with some of my clients, I am amazed at what most of them must do to make a meager living, even though we are speaking about incomes that are often 6 figures; they may be earning lots of dough, but they’re spending quicker than they make it. Some estimates suggest we spend at 107% of income and we don’t save much. I have followed your latest efforts with serious interest. Keep up the great work. Maybe I’ll work myself around to the place that I can actually hire you! Thanks for your ideas and encouragement. Walt Broadbent
Chuck

Scarey thought. I work in a high stress business. I own the business. It is an auto body repair business. A small shop that is and always been under capitalized. We are always struggling to keep enough work to survive and be profitable. I can not imagine keeping this up until the day that I die. I simply refuse to allow my spirit to break. I have been searching for a better way. Spent a lot of money looking at many things that simply have not worked. In what I am doing the margins are way too small. You work your but off for months on end and a few short weeks when business is slow you are in the red again. On top of that I can take no time off. I am simply burned out.

The different thing to do is to replace my income with something that does not require my CONSTANT CONSTANT attention and gives me the time and money to enjoy the things that I want to do. I really don’t mind hard work. IT JUST NEEDS TO BE SOMETHING DIFFERENT THAT I HAVE NOT BEEN DOING FOREVER AND THAT I DON’T HAVE TO DO 12-14 HOURS PER DAY.
http://petunin.com Andrei

Also, just to add to my comment above, I believe that if you are not making money after about 5 months of doing what you do, then you should probably consider doing something else instead. – I mean, if you are not making money now, what makes you think you will do later on in your life?! You will likely live a harder live than you could have, at the end of which you will barely have enough cash to pay the bills – just like 99% of people on this earth. – Right? And the power to change that is in your hands, most of the time, and you would want to do it while you are young.

For obvious reasons.

:o)
http://www.internet-security-products.com John

If I had to continue the pattern of how I’m working now, I’m afraid that it would kill me in a very short time. I really don’t like what I do for a living and if I knew I had to do it for the rest of my life would most definitely send me into a state of depression that I could not escape.

What would I do differently is find something that I can put some time in and see a bigger return for my time and effort than what I see at my present job. I love to work but I would love to be doing something that when I work hard the rewards are a more comfortable life style and more time with my family. I’ve started on the path with getting involved in trying to earn and income online. I feel that I will be successful at if someday but the path is full with smoke and mirrors sometimes…
http://www.paulhardingham.co.uk Paul Hardingham

Hi Rich,

This is the sort of questioning I would like to see more people make of their lives. I quit the rat race to work for myself in early 2001 and I can hardly believe the life I live now. We are expecting our second child any day now, and it’s just brilliant knowing I’m not going to have to “book” time off work. I will simply reschedule my work. The joy of not running the risk of being fired or having to work every hour God sends me is great.

I’m not sure if I’ve already retired or not, as I don’t really regard my work as “work”, but to friends, family and neighbours, it’s easier for them to understand it if I call it work.

Looking forward to more of your wisdom.
http://www.rightchange4u.com Sean

Well let’s see I think about this EVERYDAY and I am 29. If I continue doing what I am doing I will not see my family, miss out on my daughters life, not support a “healthy” relationship with a wife…. basically work untill I am 42 and retire from the military. I have been on 3 deployments in 6 yrs. Underway, I would get between 2-4 hours a sleep, rotating shift work…. sleep is for the weak they say.

Grant it I don’t have to raise my daughter (sad about that), I do not worry where my food comes from, I have horrible socialized medical care, I have a place to sleep, and money in my pocket. So what else would I do….

Have my own business where I could have other employees. Work 8-10 hours a day. Weekends off, holidays, time with relatives, activities with a future family I WANT to have and money to for the essentials, food, clothes, roof, and medical care when I get older.

I WOULD ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO WORK ALL OF MY LIFE IF IT IS WHAT I WANT TO DO………WOULDN’T YOU?

Sean Burton
http://www.3dragonenterprise.com Daniel

Hellooooooo Rich,

I am selfemployed. I buy older homes in need of TLC and repairs. Then flip them out for a reasonable marketed profit. I live in east TN and my time is my own as what I do is hard work and the market is soft. I have been in the internet for about six months and have yet to make a red cent.

I think my website is pretty good for what I know about the internet marketing. I have a Google ranking of 2 on most pages after just 5 months. As for a mailing list they all just seem to opt out after I give them something for free. The list never builds because of it.

Anyway when I work I work my butt off and when I play I play and I would really like to get this internet marketing off the ground and make the bucks. As I said the house flip is a tuff market hahaha also when it is cold in east TN I for one don’t want to be outside working on a home.

All of what you say is so very true about the way life is today as well as internet marketing and now in this world we live in. Thanks for all your wisdom and I am looking forward to more in the future. So until next time.

One Question:
With the information I already have and this I still don’t have the answers to make just $100 bucks a day from my website.
Hell I would even take $50 a day just to cover me and my expences.

I have been scammed more times the Heinz got pickles and cotters got pills.

Nothing seems to work and all I get is more and more emails to buy buy buy.

Sh*t I am sick and tired of the buy my sh*t crap. I want to know how to make some money as I feel I have all the tools to do so and no one will lead me in the right direction. LIST what list, that too is a joke.

Give until it hurts, well that is what I have done to no avail. Hell all they do is sign up take the freebie and opt out all in the same stroke of the keys. Sh*t I don’t even get the chance for the second email to them.

Who else gets and wants that crap all the time is what I want to know?? We all do I would say and I am sick of it, and if it weren’t for the good information that comes with it all I would just opt out of all of it.

Sh*t I at least give the person a chance to get a point across to me to some fair level before I do opt out if and when I do.

I better stop before I really get going as help is a bad subject with me.

I hope you get a chance to read this and not just the support team as that is another BALL BUSTER with me. Meaning MR BIG never reads the emails or Blogs, well that as I said is BULL SH*T TOO.

Note to all who read>> DON’T PUMP GAS ON May 15th,>> United We Stand.

Up and Over the Top,
Daniel.
http://www.3dragonenterprise.com
http://imatech.veretekk.com Randy Baldwin

Hi Rich, I have been telling folks for the last 8 years work smart not hard. I grew up with the same belief as most, work hard, do good and when you retire, easy street.

Well I woked for 30 years as a Cable TV journetman, generally 16 to 18 hours a day seven days a week. And still getting nowhere. Then 8 years ago this month I was injured on the job. Till this day I can not use my left arm, which is hard to explain to the so called specialists. I am left hand dominate, they are right handed so they figure whats the problem.

I was on compensation up until 3 years ago when they retrained me as a network and internet security specialist. Now I told them they were special to their MOM maybe. That is why I wanted this specialist diploma.

So they dish out 85,000 to train me and wages. I graduated and they cut off my cheque. The reson was that I am now a computer programmer and it pays more than cable so in your ear.

I tried for the first year trying to re-educate them and explained that I am not a programmer. I should just talk to a tree. Then 2 weeks before Christmas they phoned me and said they made a mistake 3 years ago and misdiagnosed me.

So now I am back at square one with no income and when I went to the specialist he said I have zero rotation of my head. On top of all this crap for 8 years I have been leaning on my right arm to get away from the pain in my left one. Now they have to operate on my right arm as there is a nerve that runs along your arm, know as the funny bone. Well that nerve is fried, so they will slice my arm and move the nerve to the front of my arm.

What really chokes me is that they want to operat on the arm that has bothered me for the last 6 months all in a hurry. Not the left one that has been useless for 8 years. So I seen the specialist today and told him this is caused my my work related injury 8 years ago. Put that on paper or you can not slice my arm.

He agreed so there we are folks bust your balls work hard and if you get hurt. Out to pasture.

Now I work out of my home and I am at the point where I can hire some sharp lawyers and they are serving papers this week. I am the midas man pay me now or pay me later.

Athought for others slow down don’t bust a gut to the boss you are a number that is all.
http://GeorgesOnlineWarehouseSuperstore George L Thompson

I feel just like Rich . I have a nice website, and yet to have a sale with
about a 1500 mail out list, sent out twice .
http://http:www.keepyourhomesecure.com Linda

If I keep doing what I am doing now I will never be able to retire. I can’t make ends meet now and it only looks to get worse as things keep going up. I want to work less hard and less hours. I think about this a lot and frankly it scares me. I want to have money to retire on with no worries I would like that now. I am not ready to retire but I am ready to work less,because I am just plain tired. I am not great or even very good with computer ansd designing my own web site is out of reach. I have brought more books and ready made sites but all that has done so far is make me poorer. At this rate I will die a sad person instead of the happy person I really do deserve to be. Linda
http://www.honest-homebusiness.com John Adams

You opened my eyes some time ago Rich.

Great post â€“ Absolutely right too. The video seminars you gave for free opened my eyes to your teachings.

You have to grow the business and let others (more skilled) people build the business for you. It makes so much sense, yet the majority of us will never see the sense in it!

I am convinced you are right. I have completely altered my business ideas â€“ thanks to you, and good things are beginning to happen.

I am not a student. This is not a plug for Rich.

However, I honestly believe this is the only way to combine a successful business with a happy like. It is the main reason you get in to this crazy business.

I am looking forward to the next post. Try not to keep us waiting too long!

Sincerely,
John Adams
http://www.robdiamond.net Rob

I just spent 30 minutes reading the responses. Was that a good use of time? No, why did I do it? Don’t know. What I do know is that most people are just flat out too lazy to do what it takes to succeed in business, etc. I’m sure Rich did plenty of overtime and long hour days at some point. He’s not going to talk about that now because he’s a coach and you wouldn’t want to get your students down. The point is, there’s opportunity everywhere but you have to have ambition, drive, desire, and on some level you need to be smart. Not always book smart, but common sense smart. Unfortunately there are a small number of people that are genuinely wired that way. Just my two cents.

Rob-
Arlie McDaniel

I love what I do as a seme-retired Marriage and Family Therapist. I work as much as I want to and play golf, ride my motorcycle, and hang out with my wife. I’ll keep on doing these as long as I want to and my health remains well.
http://www.allaboutchi.com john william johnson

Hi Rich:
I recently had triple bypass surgery, out of the blue. The genetic piece is very powerful for those of us who have a lineage of heart conditions.
The reason i bring it up is that my thoughts afterwards have not at all been about smelling the roses more. I spent most of my life doing what i love, and money in the bankwasn’t a priority. I agree with Rich, no one is going to take care of me in my old age.
So i’ve taken my creative energies and put them into the Internet. So at the end of the day, i don’t hear a lot of applause, but my bank account is a lot healthier!
We don’t have much respect for history. Retirement was an idea that came out of the ’20′s, when peope only lived to about 45 years old! So very few people would ever actually get to enjoy their pensions. Retirement is an idea, and it’s value in the 21st century is minimal. The statistics on people who retire and die are common.
Here’s to living a healthy, happy and fulfilling life, giving service to others and keeping enough cash in the bank to buy a nice fudge sundae at the end of the day! And then one day we know it’s been a good life; we gather our loved ones together, dance one final dance, and then drop dead!
http://www.michaelonmemory.com Michael Tipper

Hi Rich,

I think the concept of “retirement” is as you say outdated, I also think it is pretty lethal. I think I have lost count of people I have known, or have heard about, who have “retired”, usually at 65 and then within a couple of years have passed away.

Life should be about having meaningful and fulfilling interests, maintaining good health and an appropriate level of physical fitness funded by a permanent and passive income stream that will at the very least pay the bills, certainly support your interests and aspirations and ideally be excessive enough to pay for whatever you decide to be your level of luxury.

Maybe too, the concept of “work” will become outdated and that we should focus on our passions, do what we really love to do and find a way of getting paid for it. WOW! Who’d want to retire from that!

Keep it coming Rich, even your free stuff is changing lives.

Michael
Rob Barnes

Retire??? That’s for others, not me. I plan do die with my boots on and still attempting to go at least 60 mph.

I haven’t worked for wages for over 50 years…I’m 67 now. And while I made a job for myself (as a doctor, computer manufacturer, commodity trader, CEO of a publishing company and ad agency, etc.) for many years, I sold all these interests in 1990. I am now mostly a TV producer….and having a blast. And I’m doing a lot of selling on the internet. Guess I still haven’t figured out what I want to do when I grow up.

I own 3 homes and am moving to one in Panama where “the livin’ is easy”. But I consider myself a “citizen of the world” so my wife and some of my family can light for a long as we want, where ever we want.

3 cheers for self-employment.

I tell you all this bit of info, not to brag, but to stimulate you to consider making your dreams reality…and NOT focus on money. I’m not rich and live modestly, and tread lightly on the earth. I invite you to try it too! It works for me…maybe it will for you….
http://www.articlenorth.com Inger Nilsson

You asked:
“What if the way you choose to work today would set the pattern you must continue until the day you die? What would you be doing differently?

The 2 questions above are contradictive in a way, as I see it – since I would not be able to do anything differently if I MUST continue in an absolutely same pattern that I had set with the way that I had chosen until the day I die. BUT it depends – IF it would be possible to do something differently WITHIN the frames of that pattern, and the way that I had created of my own choice, then I would be do the following differently…

* Be more exact in my planning of my work.

* Be structuring of my work in real detail, (it is a process over time though, not a one time shot)

* Be building a strategy

* Be spending more work time offline, really taking the time to THINK about the strategies of what I was doing, and what I was going to do.
This can also be done while you do other things, not even working, even in your time off work. For example:

Once there was a famous author a long time ago, who was lying on a bench in the park doing absolutely nothing, just lying there with his eyes closed seemingly just passing time, resting and taking it easy. Then, his friend came up to him and said:

“Why, you are lying here, doing nothing? The author opened his eyes and replied:

“Dear fiend, I am writing on my next novel.”
He was composing his book in his head, seemingly doing nothing to others, but working feverishly away on his novel in his mind.
(That is one off line way of working)

I would also â€¦

* Be applying a “less is more”- attitude to my work. That comes down to what really is important and not important, and not dealing with the not important stuff. Personally I call it a “Japanese philosophy”-approach and then I think of their simplistic style in architecture and design, free from clutter. It’s all about being effective and pragmatic.

I would also …

* Be developing an iron mask in discipline.

* Be totally rigid in my prioritizations.

To be able to realize the above I would…

* Be starting with fencing (the sport) or something similar, since it will develop my concentration and preciseness. I will then be crystal clear at work. This is for time management purposes, to increase time.

* Be starting exercising more regularly, since it will strengthen me both as a person and at a work level. For example regular workouts, yoga and meditation exercises.

And – because of the above, I would…

* Be taking”holy” and “do-not-touch” “RR day’s” off.
“RR-day’s” stands for Rest and Recreational days. The expression comes from Jack Canfield (Author of â€The Success Principlesâ€ among others). He suggests 160 RR day’s/year, when you do not work at all, not even on a thought level.

_______________________

If I would be applying these “within-the-frames-of-the-same-pattern-in-the-same-way”- differences that I have proposed above, I would be able to live a wonderful, fruitful and abundant life both online and offline, with a certain type of probability, be serene, focused and clear until the end.

Thank you for reading this comment,
from Sweden
Frank Bulalacao Jr.

On question #1 it seems to me referring to my situation now as a salesman which is the “no work, no pay”. That is, if I will not work today I will not be paid for today and this situation goes on and on everyday and unless I won’t do something now to remedy the situation I will end up doing the same thing over and over again in the coming days. So on my free time now, (question #2) I find myself in front of my computer usually in the early morning or late at night searching for the right stuff to transform the program of my daily life into a new and updated program which I am free to do what I WANT, not to do what I have to do and at the same being paid for it.
I still dream that someday I might be able to do what I want in my life that is my love for painting, photography and writing which my current situation doesn’t allow me because I am tied to the task of bringing food on the table for my family and their well-being.
It’s nice I’ve read your post today and eager to read your next post soon!!!
http://FrankBauer.name Frank Bauer

Hi Rich,

The real question is… do I want to retire?

What does retirement mean to me? I can’t do anymore what I love to do… build my online business. I enjoy what I do and don’t want to stop doing it.

What I wouldn’t mind to change is the amount of hours I put in do get the income I desire. But for that I don’t need to retire… I just need to FINALLY jump over the “knowing / doing gap” and start to outsource some of my work instead of doing 99% myself.

Best Regards,

Frank Bauer
http://www.Add2it.com
Solwazi

WOW!
I am over awed with the ideas put forward by evey-one and am learning from every comment. I want to be better focused, clear of thought and decisive in all areas of my life. All your comments are making me rethink my thought processes all over again, with the aim of improving every day.
http://www.activitywales.com Matt

I think people are confusing working long hours with working hard. We work to deliver an output that satisfies a set of goals. As long as these goals are achieved then you are delivering. I know people that work 12 hours a day and churn out about 1 hours real deliverable quality.

Once you work out what you are trying to achieve and break the job down its a lot easier. Also a firm believer that if you enjoy what you do its not work, and so many people think they have to justify jobs by saying their work is hard!

If I had to do the same thing for the rest of my life I would ensure that I incorporate my personal interests into my work. By doing this it becomes more enjoyable, not hard, and because you enjoy it, you’ll probably be better than most at it and make lots of money!!
http://dicfrancis.co.uk Linda Corby

I cannot ever see myself ever actually retiring irrespective of what my finances are or become.
No one can even be sure that they wll even make it to retirement age, I lost my son to a cot death in 1976, my 12 year old daughter to cancer, my Dad died at the age of 63, my sister died at 57.
I say live for today, we don’t know what tommorow will bring. Do a job you enjoy whatever that might be?
Timothy Paul Opp

I HAVEN’T THE SLIGHTEST IDEA. Actually I was injured early in my life on the job. I was 25 years old I was married and had three children at that time. (Another one my boy was my last child.) I have had to go through alot of different things the last 27 years and none of it made me a nickel. I have had to deal with Worker’s
Compensation Board here in Canada and you wouldn’t believe the horror stories that can happen in a persons life. I won’t bore you with details but suffice to say it hasn’t been a very profitable or pleasant journey. If not for my wonderful wife and my four great children I am not sure I would even be here today. I have checked into so many different internet opportunities but haven’t found anything that a internet virgin can sink his teeth into and make any real money.
Evan

The whole concept of retirement is a phrase coined by those who hate what they do- or cant imagine themselves doing it forever. I truley believe that it means: I can finally quit!

If you love what you do, why retire?

Does that mean you will be in the same postion or business the rest of your life?

Of course not.

As you evolve as a person you discover what it is that truley makes you happy and you adapt. Why? Because it makes you happy!

Why on earth would you ‘quit’ doing something that gives you so much joy?

For some people, running a successful business makes them happy, for more reasons that money. Their freedom is their business. Those people will never retire, nor could they imagine it.

I hope that I will never retire, because that will mean I have found something that I truley love and have a passion for.
Ranj

Hi Rich

A very good question – it makes you think what is your purpose and to live the purpose and desire you choose to live your life. To live in the present, not yesterday and not tomorrow.
I don’t particularly go for the word “retirement” it can conjure up some negative images. The masses will go through the system and the conditioning and go through retirement. Selling time for money without negotiation, and where money doesn’t run out but time on earth does.
Time the most precious commodity in the world and how we spend it is our choice, and what we leave behind.
Therefore I choose to live in purpose and integrity. This would allow to give a meaningful and fulfilling life, and easier to attract what you desire.
http://www.muscatproperty.com JJ

I’ve been thinking about this question for some time now as I used to work in a high pressure, emotionally stressful job often requiring 12 hour days and interfering with my weekends. My biggest question was how can I have a family and enjoy them if my work is like this.
So, gradually I started backing off on the commitments, scheduling in lunch time walks in the park or chats with colleagues or friends and generally trying to say to myself “if it’s not done by 5:30pm then it will have to wait until tomorrow”. Although this sounds nice and partially worked, you don’t get a great record and higher pay by saying No in the high pressured society we live in. Everybody wants delivery cheaper and faster.
I’ve now ‘retired’ so to speak, but really I’ve just retired from working for others, and I am now working for myself. I say that because in reality I’m still faced with the same issues. I can be more flexible with my time and definitely have a new focus on ‘living for now’ and ‘not letting life pass me by’, but I still have to make a living and it costs me a lot more of my time than I would like.
What is the real solution?
Igor ferluga

I would work for 10 hours a day, writing, and spend 14 hours on what ever else, including sleeping. I would definetly spend less time waisiting time, and second guessing the roads of life I need to be going down right now. Should I write more, or try to make money a different way, and so on. There would be alot less time to waste.
http://www.ThriveAgainstTheGrain.com Laura

It’s heartbreaking to hear people say they would drop dead if they had to continue as they are, because it is likely that they will continue unless they stop sleepwalking through life and start making some choices. Thank you, Rich, for giving us the gift of this kind of self reflection with your questions.

I agree with Evan who says that “retired” is a word used by people who can’t wait to quit what they are doing. But daydreaming about when you can retire isn’t living! I did this too until the boredom and hunger for “something more” became so great that I left my corporate job and made some hard choices about what I really wanted in life. Now I have a new definition of success: I NEVER think about retiring. I love what I do so much that I can’t imagine stopping. Of course it means making some trade offs, but the value of day to day fulfillment is worth a lot of salary.

That said, I agree with those who argue that it’s not that easy. People have responsibilities and lifestyles to support, but that is part of the choices we make. The key word here is choice. For example, JJ has gradually made choices to back off on committments and then become self employed, bringing more focus on family and living in the present (and I bet more fulfilment than 12 hr days working for someone else.) A habit of making choices in alignment with your values/passions will eventually lead you to the opportunities that you will never want to retire from.

I hope to see you all soon in the “Never Want to Retire” Club!

Laura Koehne
http://www.gmsimmons.com Michael

Rich
If you live to work, you will never “retire”. My father was a prime example, to him life was get up early, go to work, come home and do it all over again the next day. By the time he died, life and work had so morphed themselves together he nor anyone else could tell where one stoped and the other began.
However, working to live gives one a perspective on the why of the equation. I always try to keep in mind the reasons for my labor, and keep my activities focused on a final outcome. That way I am not chaising a rabbit down a long, dark hole.
http://www.debtblitzkrieg.com db

I think a big part of the question is are you working so hard because you HAVE to be working, or are you working because you want to do it? I know that must seem like a blatently obvious question and others here have addressed it as well, but it’s really the root of the issue.

Now, right now I don’t have any choice in the matter — just like a lot of people. I HAVE to be working, because my net worth just isn’t there it. And so that means that I have to do what it takes.

My goal isn’t early retirement and I don’t really think about “retirement” so much as “planning for when I can’t work”. My goal is to be at a point financially where I can walk away from any work that I don’t want to do. To that end, I’m working to establish passive income, to be debt free, to define well what “having enough” is, and to have an adequate financial cushion.

I’m aiming for true financial independence, but my freedom to truly choose only work I WANT to do (and also how much work I do) can come well before that point if I stay the course.

db
http://N/A Roy Samuels

I think I would begin to start making time for doing the things I enjoy. What I mean is the hobbies that I have. People share my hobbies to one degree or another and what makes it interesting is that others would like to share my sucesses and failures and work out how I changed things around.

For ages now I have always promised myself that I would not do for a living what I did for my hobby. Then I asked myself, “why not, why should I not make a living from something I enjoy doing?” There was some mental block that has prevented me from being successful at this and I feel its “feeling guilty” about having fun and still earning a good living at the same time.

My parents were of the old school where they worked hard most of their lives to better themselves. To some extent they have done that, but have they reached their goal? Not really! They feel that there was just not enuf time to cram it all in in one lifetime … enough said?

RJS
http://derlinde2successuniversty.com dave

Hi Rich,

I have been looking at your site now for a couple of months, and i must say, your questions is a challenge to me. I am working for a boss and i am sick of it. My experience is that when one does well, you get appreciated for a day, and then you have to keep it up, otherwise they look at you with the attitude “what is wrong” or why are your sales so low”. In the mean time, i have spent all of my days working for somebody elses dream, and i sit with a handfull of nothing.

I recently joined a internet network marketing company, and their concept is good. However, i still feel something is missing in my life. It’s like i am supposed to do something with a great result, but i don’t know what. Maybe i still need to find the business that will lift me out of this uncertainty that i daily face.

My desire is to become financially free, and if i could, i would like to accomplish the dream that God gave me.

Regards

Dave van der Linde
Pingback: DoWhat!?
http://1stvortex.com Tom

Life is short. Who knows what will happen tomorrow?
Make full use of today, including entertainment/rest/etc..
Every today should consists of making your dream to come true and enjoying your time…
Life is an experience…
http://www.thewritersinterface.com Strephon Kaplan-Williams

This opinion is different from most of the others posted. Maybe retirement is not the issue? Maybe working less and earning more is not the issue? Maybe taking vacations is not the Issue?

What is the Issue then?

As a personal aside I live at the poverty level in the Netherlands, supported by government funds. Do I feel stressed out? Not anymore. Why?

Because I am doing what seems most important to me, which is developing my inner awareness of myself and life. I have a small team. We help each other. We work building something of value on the Internet, but the goal is not money or improved conditions.

What is more precious than money or vacations?

These are illusions. What is more precious than money and vacations is the quality of you and your life lived now in the moment of your day.

What is most precious is the time you have in this existence, at whatever age you are at. If you are in your twenties, with whom are you associating? What or who is most valuable to be with? What do you share about? What do you create together, if anything? How are you developing new insights about yourself and life?

This whole long list of responses here shows me people who have focused on money and houses and time for recreation as somehow the goal-motivations for what they do with their existence.

Have you never looked at these things as distractions?

The one thing you cannot avoid is the limited time you have here on earth. It is not just for older people to consider, such as myself at age 73. You don’t have your act together if you are boasting still about income, how you generate money, how much recreation you can put into your day.

People like Jack Canfield, and other marketers, are able to seduce you with these temporary and illusionary goals and make money off of you.

One question only, and it is the question I live by, what in your day of yourself has been truly valuable, truly meeting your next personal challenge, truly a change in yourself for the better?

Do you live a centered life regardless of being rich or poor, working for someone else or working for yourself, working hard and long, or working short and brilliantly?

You donâ€™t need to make external objects and goals your motivation in life. If your tendency is to be rich, then make yourself poor. If your tendency is to be poor then be rich in whatever ways you can. If it is not with money, be rich in the sunlight you absorb in that day, in the flowers you see, in the smiles you encounter, in the pain you feel from the suffering around you.

Be rich in spirit, in how you see and respond to life. This is what I teach. This is what I mostly practice.

Have the intelligence to see beyond the surface of things. Just a suggestion. You will of course do whatever you damn well please!
Tom

I am not “employed” today. However I know of the woes of the little income called Social Security. I must “work” for myself to supplement my income. If I did not I would end up literally starving to death. I really mean that. I would not have enough food and I would not be able to pay for my shelter.

Social Security is not correctly named. It needs to be renamed Slow Starvation Insecurity. If any of you are planning to retire on those benefits…YOU WILL NOT MAKE IT.

What I am planning to do is write a “How To…” e-Book and market it on the Internet. This e-book will allow me to generate an income much larger than I presently receive. Futhermore the book will teach people how to profit from a market with a minimal investment of their time and effort. It will instruct people where to sell what I instruct them to buy at a price below market. Then the people whom read my book will profit from the information which I provide. I believe that there already exists a demand for this information which is not readily available anywhere. The e-book will be easily reproduced without much overhead (The overhead will be just the hosting costs for the website that I will develop)

Selling useable information is the “New Wave” for the business spectrum. I think that I’ll catch this wave and make my years of experience readily available in a readable medium.
http://www.eftexpert.com Rebecca Marina

Hey- my massage therapist works like that too-
I come up with all kinds of ideas for her to make extra
$while I am lying there but she never puts them into action.

I personally never work- my work is so fun, deelightful and rewarding- it never feels like work.
I can’t imagine not getting to “play” anymore- life is good! When you trully enjoy your calling and are passionate it fills a yearning in your heart and you LOVE doing it.
This is my dream for everyone- to find something that makes your heart SING and then find a way to make great money playing- that is what I do and I LOVE my life, I LOVE my clients- they are the best in the world!
Thanks for the great post!
Rebecca