Part Three: Accepting Your Situation Is Where The Fun Begins On The Semi-Retired Journey
March 5, 2023: A Step-By-Step Guide To Never Retiring And Living The Semi-Retired Life
Before we continue my personal story and get to the meat of today’s post, a quick recap of what we’re doing here for those of you just joining us…
With the Never Retire newsletter’s February series—and month-long trip to Spain and Italy—complete, it’s time to make good on my promise for March.
Here’s what I will do: Starting with the February 3rd installment, I will take each Never Retire checklist item I introduced last month and expand on it in great detail, with a focus on my journey to living the semi-retired life now and, hopefully, for the duration.
The goal: After writing March’s 20 posts in 31 days, I will publish a long-ass 21st post that includes all of the preceding content. So you get to read each post as it comes out, but then have one article to refer back to with everything—all 20 Never Retire checklist items.
While some items lend themselves to more detail—generally and from my story—than others, I will go as deep as possible in every post, evolving and updating my thinking around each point.
This is part of the beauty of what we do here: We’re not dealing in static subject matter.
Only paid subscribers have complete access to every post in March. So now is a great time to sign up or upgrade to not only be able to see each post in its entirety, but to support my work as a freelance writer.
Subscribe now for $5/month or $50/year. Sign up as a founding member, pay once and never pay again. You’ll be set for life.
So here we go—
That’s the inside of an iconic—and perfect—all-day cafe in Rome. Bar San Calisto.
It’s the type of place where people—all kinds of people—hang out throughout the day.
It took me until right around my 40th birthday to truly enjoy just hanging out.
This is one reason why it can be so difficult to get past the assessment and acknowledgment phases of a Never Retire journey. Because too many of us burden ourselves with the expectation that if we’re not working hard—all of the time—we’re worthless. If we’re not moving full force toward some lofty financial goal, such as home ownership or traditional retirement (or both), there’s something wrong with us.
In today’s post, we cover acceptance.
Here’s what I said about acceptance when I introduced it in February—
Acceptance isn’t merely shrugging your shoulders, going bitter into the world, and lamenting to others that “I’ll Never Retire.” It’s about embracing your reality.
Because the B-side that became a bigger hit on the Never Retire single (or ‘45 for those of you in Gen X and beyond) is the semi-retired life. Maybe I picked the wrong name for the newsletter.
Once you embrace your reality, Never Retire means semi-retired. This can make for a great life. One far more fun, vibrant, and rewarding that the rat race to and through traditional retirement.
This is when the fun begins. You accept and embrace your reality. You start to shed the stigma associated with working less and hanging out more.
Let’s consider how I came to accept my situation, which leads to exciting and concrete change.