How can I achieve financial independence?

How can I achieve financial independence? I love this TED talk by Lacey Filipich in which she discusses financial independence. It took a serious illness and then her sister’s suicide for her to ponder why we work ourselves to the point of physical and mental collapse.

Lacey also discusses why we expect to work until official retirement age. When we retire, we are time rich, but also old. The FIRE movement asks us to consider aiming for financial independence so we can retire early. The idea of bringing retirement forward so we can have mini retirements while we are young enough to enjoy them really appeals to me.

We can either fund these mini retirements through an online business, or by investing a proportion of our income regularly to allow compound interest to work on it. The income from the invested assets can then be used to sustain our lifestyle without relying on a salary.

Once we have time to do whatever we want, we have the freedom to do work that we believe in, that is not motivated by money. We can choose to change the world by working on the problems that truly fascinate us. I find this idea truly inspirational, and subconsciously this is what I have been working towards for many years.

Project 365

I set up this website after deciding that I want to build a more creative life for myself, so I can give up my job and be in control of my own destiny.

I have set myself a goal of publishing an article on my website every day this year, to document my journey from employment to self-employment.

The name I chose was Project 365 because I see this as a year that I have dedicated to learning and self-development, as I countdown to freedom. It started on 1st January 2021, so I have 212 days to go!