Image shows a smouldering volcano
Recently, I posted about why FIRE isn't necessarily the best financial focus. In that piece, I introduced a sustainable, lower-paced replacement for FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early), SMOULDER (Simple Mindset, Ongoing Usefulness, Life Direction: Employed Restfulness.)
Following on from that, I decided to do a series alongside the main Masculinity Mondays focus of this blog, going into a bit more detail about SMOULDER, what it could look like, how to make it work, rather than risk it being a glorified form of un- or underemployment, how to respond to the finance bros (of all genders - hi, Chelsea Fagan) when they go on about FIRE from your SMOULDER position. As the title of this piece suggests, those will be weekly, landing on Sundays, under the title SMOULDER Sundays.
The most obvious start is to explore the core concepts of SMOULDER the way the attitude itself demands; slowly, over time, never knowingly overloading.
So, let's start with the first concept: SIMPLE MINDEST
Simple doesn't have to mean basic. That's part of why FIRE isn't sustainable for many people - FIRE demands that life be reduced to its absolute bare, essential-for-survival basic minimum, so you can "maximise your investment potential", sock away as much as possible in a high yield savings account, store up 98% of what you have now for some very vague and entirely unguaranteed future.
FIRE demands basic.
SMOULDER embraces simplicity.
A simple mindset is one which is focused on a small but relevant number of things, and a small but relevant number of ways to achieve those things.
Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich asks his guests what their "rich life" looks like; what do you genuinely imagine yourself doing, if money were no object, that would consistently make you feel happy, satisfied, and as though your life was complete, and rewarding for you? That's actually a pretty good place to start for SMOULDER, too.
I'll start with myself, because I'm here, and I know my answers - please do feel free to reach out by email to theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com with your answers, as I'd love to have a wider field of exploration for SMOULDER.
My "rich life" would be one in which I worked 2-3 days a week, and had a chauffeur (I'm legally blind, and being banned from driving because of that is one of the few things that frustrates me).
The most obvious start is to explore the core concepts of SMOULDER the way the attitude itself demands; slowly, over time, never knowingly overloading.
So, let's start with the first concept: SIMPLE MINDEST
Simple doesn't have to mean basic. That's part of why FIRE isn't sustainable for many people - FIRE demands that life be reduced to its absolute bare, essential-for-survival basic minimum, so you can "maximise your investment potential", sock away as much as possible in a high yield savings account, store up 98% of what you have now for some very vague and entirely unguaranteed future.
FIRE demands basic.
SMOULDER embraces simplicity.
A simple mindset is one which is focused on a small but relevant number of things, and a small but relevant number of ways to achieve those things.
Ramit Sethi of I Will Teach You To Be Rich asks his guests what their "rich life" looks like; what do you genuinely imagine yourself doing, if money were no object, that would consistently make you feel happy, satisfied, and as though your life was complete, and rewarding for you? That's actually a pretty good place to start for SMOULDER, too.
I'll start with myself, because I'm here, and I know my answers - please do feel free to reach out by email to theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com with your answers, as I'd love to have a wider field of exploration for SMOULDER.
My "rich life" would be one in which I worked 2-3 days a week, and had a chauffeur (I'm legally blind, and being banned from driving because of that is one of the few things that frustrates me).
I would have physical space around me, and the ability to commit my free time to both active rest - which for me is walking, hiking, bodyboarding, shopping for antiques, and creative endeavours - and to true rest; both genuinely "doing nothing", and doing very low-level activities, in my case, reading (or, increasingly, thanks to my sight loss, listening to audio books).
My home would be a bungalow, with a reasonable size garden, which itself would be split between a hardscaped rock-and-alpine designed space, and grass for chickens.
Once you have your rich life - which should be no more than one paragraph; remember, we're keeping it simple! A good focus is to ask what you would be doing, how you would be living, and where you would be living, with "where" covering location and/or type of property - look at ways you can achieve elements of that now.
Taking my own case again:
I want to be working 2-3 days per week, but to feel comfortable at that level: my current freelance contract is 3 days per week, but at a very low rate of pay. It's also due to end in December of this year, which is causing me significant anxiety - and anxiety is not part of my rich life. So, I need to work now on bringing in more contracts; ideally two full day commitments that will be a more or less ongoing concern, and maybe 2-4 lower commitment gigs which between them could fill a third day, and which, while short-term in nature, can be consistently replaced with similar gigs. Initially, that's going to mean working more than the 2-3 days I want to be working in my rich life, in order to make the connections and create the awareness that will bring those kinds of contracts in. That's okay, as long as I recognise that those 4-6 commitments are enough.
To maintain SMOULDER principles even while I can't necessarily fully live my rich life, I need to refine my focus, and target my approach - less is more. Who do I really want to work with? Where are my skills the strongest match? What single new skill would it be both most relevant, and most aligned to my personal values and my rich life, for me to learn?
I want to have a chauffeur. I definitely am not in a position to afford that, but I can be open to considering whether a taxi might be the best way to get where I need or want to be, rather than my options being walking, or travelling by bus or train.
I can also focus on building genuine local friendships with people who have both a car, and the availability to offer lifts in the evenings, or at weekends. I don't mind covering fuel and parking, and friendships are a valuable asset in and of themselves. I'm an introvert, and also have social anxiety (the two don't automatically go together, and social anxiety is something that should be worked on, and which I am working on in my case), so building friendships is very challenging for me - especially as I also have a bad habit of taking instant and intense dislikes to people (of a wide range of types), often for no actual reason - I suspect that's my brain trying to validate and justify my social anxiety, so is something else to work on not doing.
I want to have space around me. Right now, in terms of my housing, that's not possible - I own my house outright (which only occurred because my father died, and left me a share of his life insurance - I'd honestly rather he was still here), and, although it's literally identified on property sites as "the smallest of the range of property types" on my street, and the street is not the best for space or quiet, I am not going to be able to afford to move. Selling the house wouldn't help - I wouldn't be able to qualify for rent, I'm not a priority for council housing, so I'd end up both in a single room in a shared house - ie, with even less space - and having to rehome my pets, and sell most of my books to make that work, both of which would detract from my rich life.
However, I can spend time in outdoor space throughout the week - we have both a park and a beach in a relatively short walk from my house - and in the "space" of hotels once every other month or so.
I already spend my free time the way I would in my rich life, so that's not something I need to address, other than continuing the work I've already started on accepting that full rest is essential to building the work I want to be doing to a level where I do not have anxiety about it going away. If I don't engage in both active rest and full, genuine rest, I can neither think creatively and proactively, nor summon the required energy to translate thoughts to positive actions. That's not going to get me a rich life, so I need to become okay with "doing nothing" as part of rest.
I cannot afford a bungalow right now, and, while I have had chickens here in the past, who were healthy, happy, and laying regularly, the last of them passed away shortly before I got my youngest dog - who absolutely hates birds, meaning having chickens in his life time is a no-go - the chickens would not survive, the dog would be stressed, it wouldn't be the right thing to do. However, the element of my rich life I can bring in now is to create hardscaped impact - maybe not as fully and intricately as I'd like, but I can make a start. My back yard literally is a yard - a 12ft x 10ft stretch of concrete. Keeping the chickens healthy and happy required a lot of work, with hay, straw, forage, and grasses brought out every day to them, a lot of mulch and straw for underfoot, which meant a lot of regular cleaning. Keeping plants alive is also a significant challenge - but I can look for quality artificial plants. I could entirely hardscape a small area of interest (because I also have to accept that the dogs will charge through the yard at full pelt, and that we need to have space for a clothes line to dry laundry.)
My home would be a bungalow, with a reasonable size garden, which itself would be split between a hardscaped rock-and-alpine designed space, and grass for chickens.
Once you have your rich life - which should be no more than one paragraph; remember, we're keeping it simple! A good focus is to ask what you would be doing, how you would be living, and where you would be living, with "where" covering location and/or type of property - look at ways you can achieve elements of that now.
Taking my own case again:
I want to be working 2-3 days per week, but to feel comfortable at that level: my current freelance contract is 3 days per week, but at a very low rate of pay. It's also due to end in December of this year, which is causing me significant anxiety - and anxiety is not part of my rich life. So, I need to work now on bringing in more contracts; ideally two full day commitments that will be a more or less ongoing concern, and maybe 2-4 lower commitment gigs which between them could fill a third day, and which, while short-term in nature, can be consistently replaced with similar gigs. Initially, that's going to mean working more than the 2-3 days I want to be working in my rich life, in order to make the connections and create the awareness that will bring those kinds of contracts in. That's okay, as long as I recognise that those 4-6 commitments are enough.
To maintain SMOULDER principles even while I can't necessarily fully live my rich life, I need to refine my focus, and target my approach - less is more. Who do I really want to work with? Where are my skills the strongest match? What single new skill would it be both most relevant, and most aligned to my personal values and my rich life, for me to learn?
I want to have a chauffeur. I definitely am not in a position to afford that, but I can be open to considering whether a taxi might be the best way to get where I need or want to be, rather than my options being walking, or travelling by bus or train.
I can also focus on building genuine local friendships with people who have both a car, and the availability to offer lifts in the evenings, or at weekends. I don't mind covering fuel and parking, and friendships are a valuable asset in and of themselves. I'm an introvert, and also have social anxiety (the two don't automatically go together, and social anxiety is something that should be worked on, and which I am working on in my case), so building friendships is very challenging for me - especially as I also have a bad habit of taking instant and intense dislikes to people (of a wide range of types), often for no actual reason - I suspect that's my brain trying to validate and justify my social anxiety, so is something else to work on not doing.
I want to have space around me. Right now, in terms of my housing, that's not possible - I own my house outright (which only occurred because my father died, and left me a share of his life insurance - I'd honestly rather he was still here), and, although it's literally identified on property sites as "the smallest of the range of property types" on my street, and the street is not the best for space or quiet, I am not going to be able to afford to move. Selling the house wouldn't help - I wouldn't be able to qualify for rent, I'm not a priority for council housing, so I'd end up both in a single room in a shared house - ie, with even less space - and having to rehome my pets, and sell most of my books to make that work, both of which would detract from my rich life.
However, I can spend time in outdoor space throughout the week - we have both a park and a beach in a relatively short walk from my house - and in the "space" of hotels once every other month or so.
I already spend my free time the way I would in my rich life, so that's not something I need to address, other than continuing the work I've already started on accepting that full rest is essential to building the work I want to be doing to a level where I do not have anxiety about it going away. If I don't engage in both active rest and full, genuine rest, I can neither think creatively and proactively, nor summon the required energy to translate thoughts to positive actions. That's not going to get me a rich life, so I need to become okay with "doing nothing" as part of rest.
I cannot afford a bungalow right now, and, while I have had chickens here in the past, who were healthy, happy, and laying regularly, the last of them passed away shortly before I got my youngest dog - who absolutely hates birds, meaning having chickens in his life time is a no-go - the chickens would not survive, the dog would be stressed, it wouldn't be the right thing to do. However, the element of my rich life I can bring in now is to create hardscaped impact - maybe not as fully and intricately as I'd like, but I can make a start. My back yard literally is a yard - a 12ft x 10ft stretch of concrete. Keeping the chickens healthy and happy required a lot of work, with hay, straw, forage, and grasses brought out every day to them, a lot of mulch and straw for underfoot, which meant a lot of regular cleaning. Keeping plants alive is also a significant challenge - but I can look for quality artificial plants. I could entirely hardscape a small area of interest (because I also have to accept that the dogs will charge through the yard at full pelt, and that we need to have space for a clothes line to dry laundry.)
Simple is focusing down on your rich life, and identifying the echoes and elements you can live now, whatever your financial circumstances.
Mindset is the ability to remain focused on the ways you can both live elements of your rich life now, and build towards the rich life you want - in my case, for example, the discipline to commit more time than I'd want to be working in my rich life to finding the level and types of consultancy work and freelance contracts in the immediate future that will make my rich life future possible.
If you're interested in one-to-one coaching and mentoring for SMOULDER, please reach out - email theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com with the subject line SMOULDER.
Mindset is the ability to remain focused on the ways you can both live elements of your rich life now, and build towards the rich life you want - in my case, for example, the discipline to commit more time than I'd want to be working in my rich life to finding the level and types of consultancy work and freelance contracts in the immediate future that will make my rich life future possible.
If you're interested in one-to-one coaching and mentoring for SMOULDER, please reach out - email theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com with the subject line SMOULDER.
One-to-one coaching and mentorship costs £50 for six, one-hour sessions, or just £20 for a one-off session. I'm also looking to set up group sessions, which would be £10 per person on a monthly pay as you go basis, so if you'd like to join the waiting list for those, again, just drop me an email, theproductivepessimist@yahoo.com
Next week, we'll be looking at ONGOING USEFULNESS - so, be sure to check in, and consider emailing your own situation across - it might get covered on the blog, and you'll always receive a full, free, tailored response for how you can SMOULDER (so for being brave enough to send an email, you're essentially getting a free one-to-one coaching session...what's not to like about that?)
.jfif)
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