My Experience of Retiring at Age 32

It was very overwhelming to believe at first even though I have planned for an early retirement for a couple of years.

The first full day of not-needing-to-wake-up-working-for-someone-else really hit me when I was enjoying my first cup of espresso on my balcony, staring out the glass at a beautiful and chilly winter morning. A huge wave of unbelievable questions scrambled in my head concurrently with my realization of such an unimaginable feeling of freedom.

I turned around and had a glance at my living room, telling myself "So, this is really happening. I'm free of responsibilities and no one is going to provide errands until I change my mind deciding to return to an enterprise...this can't be true." Well...it was, nevertheless.

After the first thoughts of the new reality, I had to make myself another cup of coffee which in fact, enhanced my mixed emotions even more because I had never had enough time nor energy to brew a cup of coffee during mornings before heading out to the office. Having an opportunity to complete such an ordinary task was such a luxury. I used to drink my first cup of stimulant 15 minutes after unfreezing myself at the office, by my desk because winters were, simply put - cold.

I had to admit, despite of all the planning for an early retirement, I was still petrified at the beginning. It felt like a wistful feeling of losing a part of a day because of lacking a basic daily routine. By that I mean going to work for an enterprise from eight to twelve hours a day, calling it a day and somehow feeling fulfilled because of working for something bigger than myself.

But after a while, I realized that it wasn't something that I have wished for the past 17 years. Don't get wrong, the past 17 years of working life has taught me tremendous amount of ups and downs, people's gratefulness and cold shoulders, colleagues and bosses making my life better or worse, and of course, a lot of beneficial skills and abilities for the rest of my life.

Still, I don't miss going back working for someone else, even a bit. I was just not built for it. For readers, who resemble themselves as self-employed, you know exactly what I mean.

I began to treat time decisively differently. After bumping into a couple of books and seminars related to self-employment and leadership, it occurred to me that I needed to use my time a lot more intellectually.

For instance, spending every minute doing something I didn't enjoy took away the time from things of the opposite.

I started doing everything my way - not a selfish way - but entirely a healthy way for my life. I picked up a new hobby which was walking around the neighborhood multiple times a day. My new routine dominated my pedometer easily with over 18 000 steps daily and even scarred away some body fat. Life became a lot healthier after choosing a brand new diet consisted of a lot of greens and fibers, and even started to visit my parents consistently.

If you have ever thought about giving up your day job for self-employment or retirement way before an appropriate time (according to a conservative perspective of many societies), and you know that your financial situation can cope with at least a year of non-existing income, then just quit your job and try to find yourself.

Seriously. I literally found my dream with which I can provide food on the table after quitting my day job and every other puzzle got solved in my life almost immediately. I encourage you to do it as well under a stable financial situation with properly calculated risks.

Thank you once again for spending time with me. See you next time!