We’ve seen that the journey to FI is a long one. In the interview with Barney Whiter, he said that it’s an 18-year journey if you save 50% of your income. So, for most of us, it’s quite a bit longer than that – more like 30 to 40 years. How can you give yourself the best chance of making it to the end and meeting your goals, without losing your mind in the meantime?
Everything You Need to KNOW
1. You Need a Vision
As Barney said, he had a clear vision from early on in his FI journey – he wanted to save £100,000, because at that time he reckoned he could live on £10,000 a year. At the start of this blog series, we looked at setting financial goals and translating those goals into daily actions.
It’s hard to overstate just how important it is to have something tangible that you’re working towards. Of course, the length of time we’re working over here can make absolute clarity difficult, if it’s 30 years in the distance, but even a broad-brush goal, dream or vision is better than none at all.
Actually, let’s separate vision from goals. Goals, as we've said before, should be measurable and time-bound. A vision can definitely be woollier than that, because it’s less about numbers and actions, but it does need to excite you. Really, the vision informs the goals, which then lead to the daily actions.
If you’re part of a couple, then the vision should be shared, to a large extent. It’s the lofty heights you’re working towards together, so you need to be on the same page. Discuss it over a bottle of good wine and relax into it.
Consider doing all the things you’re supposed to do with visions – make a board of images that reflect the life you’d like to lead and the person you’d like to be. What work will you be doing, if any? Where will you be living? What will an average day look like? Make it rich and vibrant – not a spreadsheet of numbers.
Whatever your vision is, if it is powerful enough it will act like a magnet, drawing you inexorably closer to it, and informing your myriad decisions along the way, but only if you keep the vision clear in your mind.
2. You Need Help
A lonely journey will always seem longer than it really is. Any long car journey is made easier with company, even if that company is virtual in the form of podcast or radio hosts talking to you through the speakers. For me, a good audiobook is essential for a long solo drive – the hours fly by and I actually find myself wishing the journey was longer.
Having people with whom you are sharing your journey is, I think, an important factor in staying the course. Obviously, if you have a partner, that person will be there, but I think there’s real value in having others of like-mind with you too.
Fortunately, there are more ways now to connect with your tribe than ever before, thanks to the internet. Seeking out Facebook groups of supportive people and even in-person groups which are organised online is a brilliant way to build connections and a support a network.
Events where like-minded people get together are increasing in frequency and also in geographical diversity – you no longer have to travel to London to meet people who share your interests. Having a mentor or coach can be valuable at different points in your journey, maybe at all points, though it’s a cost you’d need to factor in. Having a professional adviser can also be advantageous, even if you only use them occasionally.
Get help, seek out company, be sociable – it’ll help you when you need it, and you can be that help to someone else when they need it. Having a community around you during the journey will really help you to stay the course.
3. You Need Focus
One thing’s for sure, you’re never going to drift your way towards your vision. You’ll get there by being focused and driven. We do that by keeping our eyes on the prize and eliminating distractions.
Some racehorses wear blinkers to remove their vision to the side and behind, forcing them to focus frontwards. We could do with a kind of metaphorical set of blinkers so that we don’t get distracted on our journey. Obviously, if the vision is powerful enough it will draw your focus, but distraction can be powerful too.
In my conversation with Neil Bage about dealing with external and internal distractions, he said we must never stop learning about ourselves and our personalities and biases, to give ourselves the best chance of staying the course.
The longer I do my job, the more I’m convinced that self-awareness is all-important. All the practical stuff can be learned by anyone, but whether or not you stay the course will be done to self-awareness and self-mastery.
Pursue these things by continually educating yourself, questioning yourself, talking to yourself and disciplining yourself to stay focused. Nobody said this was going to be easy, so we need to whip ourselves into shape.
Ready for part two? Or would you like to read the previous post?
Leave a Reply