Thoughts and reflections about the past week or so from my own financial independence campaign.
Progress on my goals
Boat life
Snotty weather this weekend means we’re pretty much just hunkering down. I’m hoping that my weekend consists of guitar, video games and the England match, but Lady SierraWhiskyMike might have other plans for that time.
Fingers crossed!
Distractions and detours
Second family wedding
I attended my dad’s wedding last weekend. The couple had a brilliant day and I’m happy for them. It was great to link up with my brothers and sister again, and to see the extended family. A nice day all round.
We stayed in Canterbury and linked up with a friend while we were down that way. Canterbury is a trippy city, you wouldn’t believe it was in Brexit county by the multicultural, liberal vibes of the town and the volume of independent shops, bars and restaurants.
I kid you not: while waiting for Lady SierraWhiskyMike, I saw the local Morris group gearing up with the Hospice rock band for after the Pride parade had finished. That’s a lot to take in.
Anyway, the cover photo for this post is a bit of graffiti I saw there that caught my eye. It’s weird that the way to achieve your freedom from the financial system is to lean hard into it and become an investor yourself so that you’re no longer reliant on being given a job to do. Seemed like a fitting cover photo.
Caffeine detox
I’m now on Day 15 of having neither coffee nor tea.
You can definitely see a slight degrade in gym performance when you don’t get a coffee that morning. Strength is the same, but I feel a bit more fatigued by the end of the session.
My skin seems to be clearing up though and the usual coffee addict eyebags I usually sport around the office seem to have reduced. Wasn’t expecting that to be honest, but it’s a visible improvement.
The weird twitches I’d developed have pretty much stopped now so this was definitely a smart move.
Cravings are very real. Getting to work and smelling everyone else’s black americano is pretty hard going. I’ve discovered a mango and pineapple fruit tea by Twinings that is quite pleasant, but honestly it’s nothing compared to a rich espresso-based cup.
Not long until the end of the month. Woooooooaah we’re halfway theeere! Have some decaf Bon Jovi in your day.
Philosophy
Finished Marcus Aurelius’ book and wrote a post on it.
I’m probably going to dabble in more philosophy stuff, but in the short term I’m reading some trashy sci-fi to chill out for a bit. I don’t want my reading to turn into a chore.
Current gym listening is Be More Pirate: Or How To Take On The World And Win by Sam Allende. I’ve got some ideas floating around on that topic already that I’ll share when I’ve finished the audiobook.
Non-FIRE goals
My guitar rock god quest (AKA learning to play)
My teacher got the lurgies so no lesson this week. I’ll have a play around on my own stuff over the weekend.
Fitness
So even though the lack of coffee in my week left me feeling more fatigued, I still got a few cardio events and a solid weights session into my week.
I went for a run on Monday, cycled to work again Wednesday, did a weights session on Thursday and a bit of cross trainer on Friday as an end-of-week cool down.
I’ve been consistently running sub-6 minute miles on the treadmill. Obviously, even with a treadmill incline, I’d expect to be slower in the real world, but running a mile in sub-6 minutes and a mile-and-a-half in sub-9 minutes is pretty much where I want to be, and I’m dead happy with that.
I’m a lot slower over distance, but I’m not planning to train for distance really beyond simply enjoying the route. I’m happy with 8-minute miles over five. I’m a desk jockey in my mid-30s, it’s more than good enough.
Final thoughts
Last weekend was brilliant. Fitness is going well, guitar is slipping a little, but overall I can’t complain at all.
I’ve been thinking about the theme of gratitude after my reading of Marcus Aurelius. Thanks to writing this blog, I’m able to see how far I’ve come already in what has actually been quite a short space of time if you think about it.
Five years ago I’d left the military with just a house that was borderline uninhabitable and about to take a year of studying to retrain as a solicitor; today I’m living the dream on a boat I own, pocketing a big chunk of my take-home ready for the next adventure, travelling to see friends and family and if my financial life hit disaster today I’d be able to hunker down for a few years on the resources I’ve already got while living a pretty relaxed lifestyle until I find something else to do.
That’s a privileged position, and it’s one I’ve gotten to by taking action on my financial independence campaign for the past years. Past Me of five years ago wouldn’t believe what Present Me is doing.
I’m coming around to the idea that celebrating the wins is important, and until recently I don’t think I’ve done that enough. Feels like this is something to work on.
My financial independence campaign continues!
