CoastFIRE: Get off the wrong train

There is a japanese proverb that translated to english means "If you get on the wrong train, get off at the next station", a statement that most of who explore CoastFIRE can probably relate too. Once you are CoastFIRE you suddenly have the opportunity to explore many paths. Paths you might have been dreaming about when you were working that job you hated. You might be thinking of becoming a baker or a teacher, maybe a soccer coach or anything inbetween. The thing is some of these might not be all you want once you get them. The hours might be worse, the pay not worth it or simply just not interesting to you.

This is where the poverb comes in, since if you start taking a train, and its not the correct one, the longer you are on it, the more expensive the return trip. So if you start to become a teacher and you start thinking this is not for me, instead of slogging forward, maybe consider getting off that train. You already reached CoastFIRE, you are not required to keep doing work you dislike and does not interest you. Do something that interests you, something that makes you want to learn more and be better at.

If like me you have worked a job were you coasted through the entire time it will be a revelation when you start doing something you actually want to learn about. There is nothing worse in work than when you show up everyday and are unchallenged and unbothered. If you do the same thing day in and day out and never use your brain you will always feel restless. It is important to be on the right train, learning and growing and giving a shit about the work that you do.

This poverb can also be relevant to those who are still pursuing CoastFIRE. If you are finding everyday a slog, you are on the wrong train. There is no magical cure, you do not reach CoastFIRE or FIRE and suddenly have all of your issues fixed. You need to build a life you love now, and not at some point 10 years down the line, or further. We as humans have really only one life and while you have heard that before, let me tell you, money and saving does not make an extraodinary life.

An extraodinary life is full of relationships and doing things you love. For me, that means not optimizing for everything, not worrying if I always have enough, and not concerning myself with being so frugal I can't enjoy a pint with my friends and loved ones. People in the FIRE community are so funny the way they are so desparate to be retired but retirement is not the goal, financial independence and a good life is the goal. Even those who have trust funds or are richer than you ever need to be tend to do some sort of work.

So focus on creating a life you want and view CoastFIRE as a tool in creating this extraodinary life. Get on the right train and take it far out into the countryside and beyond to a place you love.