Dear Read­ers,

It is a plea­sure to be in touch with you again.  Thank you for the oppor­tu­ni­ty to share.

I have been con­tem­plat­ing a seri­ous ques­tion over the past sev­er­al years, which I’ve put to the test, albeit cau­tious­ly since then.  But it isn’t until recent­ly that I have decid­ed to push its lim­its.  What if I did the oppo­site?  A ques­tion I bor­rowed from the 4‑Hour Work Week.

“Every­thing pop­u­lar is wrong.” Oscar Wilde, The Impor­tance of Being Earnest

I’ll share one of sev­er­al exam­ples where doing the oppo­site of what most are doing has worked in my favor.

A few years ago I want­ed a high pay­ing job where I could achieve results in one ‑tenth of the time from home or any­where there’s inter­net.  Many thought this was unlike­ly to hap­pen.  They said, sure, a low pay­ing, low-skill job, per­haps, but not one that will pay you over six fig­ures, give you full ben­e­fits and also pay for sev­er­al of your home util­i­ty bills.  But it was what I want­ed and I kept obsess­ing about it.  Today, this is my real­i­ty and I’ve been doing it for almost two years.  I enjoy work­ing with my col­leagues remote­ly and it’s allot­ted me time to work on oth­er projects and do more ful­fill­ing work.  I’m hav­ing a blast work­ing on my “side-hus­tle” because I don’t feel the pres­sure I once had to make mon­ey since I already have the secu­ri­ty of a reg­u­lar pay­check. Fun­ny how when you’re not des­per­ate to sell some­thing, peo­ple want to buy.  And so it’s been mar­velous.

But now I’m ready to raise the bar and con­tin­ue to push the lim­its of this fun­da­men­tal ques­tion: What if i did the oppo­site?  I mean, what is  the worst that can hap­pen if I attempt _____?  What is the worst-case sce­nario?  What am I afraid of?  Now here’s a fun ques­tion: what is the best case-sce­nario?  Huge life-chang­ing upside poten­tial, and I can always resume my pre­vi­ous course.

So my dear read­ers:  when you think about your retire­ment, do you want to con­tin­ue doing what you’re doing now for the next 30–40 years?  Don’t save it till the end.  Do work that’s ful­fill­ing now.  Take mini-retire­ments now, as Tim Fer­riss, author of the 4‑Hour Work Week sug­gests. Con­di­tions are nev­er per­fect.  “Some­day is a dis­ease that will take your dreams to the grave with you.”