People seeking financial independence are dubbed as nonconformists. We seek ways to be financially free and a few seek to retire early, which goes against the norm of what majority of the population are used to: go to school, get a degree, get an advanced degree maybe, get a job, work until you’re 70, then retire! You’re finally free!

Ever since I found the financial independence movement 5 years ago, I began reading more about productivity, effectiveness, optimization, and money. This is all for the sake of having more time in my life to do things that matter to me: spending time with family or friends, and experiencing life in its raw form.

The Dilemma: The Nonconforming Nature of Financial Independence

Everybody knows that we still have to work at one point in time. Not everyone can be so lucky and not have a job at least one point in your life: you could have been a part time grocery attendant, or a server, or sold your soul to the cubicle, a cog trying to move the wheel that tries to make money. We have all been there.

But the thing is, as you work your way through financial independence, the hierarchy sometimes doesn’t matter as much. Your eyes get opened to this irreversible fact: I don’t want to be doing what that director is so and so doing when I am 40. I don’t think I want to start blasting people on emails because I have nothing better to do and I’m just trying to not be laid off from work by grabbing people’s achievements and making them my own.

The Moment of Realization

Now that you realize that you don’t want to be in a certain position x years from now, or do things that don’t matter to you then what do you do? Do you carry on with life because you still want to keep that steady paycheck, if it is even steady at all? Or do you take matters into your own hands?

You start with the following questions:

What can I do to improve this? How can I NOT be that person x years from now?

Then you come up with a plan, which could be any of the following:

• Move to a different department and start anew within the same company: you get another few months or years to think if this is something that you want to do in your life while still being paid. If it isn’t, then you move on to the next department until you reach your FI number and tadah: I’m free but I still want to learn new things and go to work!

• Look for a different job externally: surely the pay may be worth the move? That will make my numbers go up a bit quicker and I don’t have to deal with this crap anymore.

• Start a side hustle: start freelancing to make more money to help make your financial independence date faster. This may lead to growing an income without going to a cubicle everyday and can even lead to better opportunities.

• Start a business on the side: maybe it will grow to epic proportions, maybe it won’t, but the point is you at least started something you could be proud of or could be a valuable learning lesson.

• Take a mini break: you may be burnt out and just need some time to not think about the work environment or the politics surrounding it. Call this a mini retirement if you will.

Know Who You Are and What You Want

By being a non conformer, the majority of society may be against you. The questions all start: You’re going to quit? Why? What are you going to do when you retire early? Why can’t you stay and we can try to make things better for you?

But the most common thing you will hear is:

I wish I could do that too but…..(insert excuse here)

The book The Power of Moments by Chip and Dan Heath mentions that moments of realization like this hit you hard, and hit you fast. It is not a pleasant moment to experience, but it is one that can drive you to action. In fact, moments of realizations are ones that actually changes your life the most!

In his book The Little Book of Lykke, Miek Wiking explains that people living in OECD countries tend to seek the approval of their peers and other people, which drives conspicuous consumption. That’s one reason why people are not happy:

We spend our time buying stuff we don’t need trying to impress people we don’t even like.

Let’s Strive to Make Ourselves Happy and FREE

The example above mostly deals with cubicle and work situations because this is one of the hurdles I am going through every single weekday while chugging along on my course to Financial Independence. I think differently from most people that I deal with except for very few who understand me, and it can be quite hard trying to fight against the crowd to clear your own path when they are all going in a different direction than you.

It’s not hard trying to go in a different direction, but with people pushing you all over the place as they try to get their agendas first within the corporate world, it can get tiring. It can get boring. It can get annoying.

Is it really worth all the trouble dealing with this?

We are striving towards financial independence so we can be happier and free. A quick look at your finances may show it growing steadily or may show that your debts are reducing at an accelerated pace.

There’s a light at the end of the tunnel. Are you ready for it? Share your nonconforming stories or moments of realization in the comments – I would love to read about your particular situation.