After just about getting to grips with launching our website, and realising pressure of producing regular blog posts, this was the week that saw our plans for early retirement become very real.
Moving away from education after 30 years. As difficult as it was to let the cat out of the bag in relation to our retirement plans, it feels like a huge weight has been taken off our shoulders. We have received some lovely feedback from colleagues and have started to realise the legacy that we have built in our current positions. On a purely practical perspective, it was a really odd feeling seeing my job advertised, an emotion that was not to be underestimated. It was a really unsettling experience, and I don’t know exactly why that was? Perhaps it all comes down to identity. We are currently teachers, what will we describe ourselves as in September- retirees? and what does that really mean?
Website launch. Wow, this was an experience in itself! We always say that every day is a learning opportunity, but going back into a task at complete beginner level is an absolute eye opener and very humbling- which is always a good thing! Looking at something through the eyes of a beginner is hugely illuminating and incredibly rewarding. It’s amazing what you can learn on YouTube when it comes to these things- who needs text books or instructions? I am sure that I will get into the flow of maintaining the site which currently is my biggest challenge. Before setting out with this project, I thought that the most challenging aspect would be the content creation- how wrong could I be?
Productivity dysmorphia food for thought. I listened to a really interesting podcast on the way to work this week. Anna Codrea-Rado was speaking with Chris Williamson on his Modern Wisdom podcast here. They discussed the concept of productivity dysmorphia and I realised that it was something that I had suffered with throughout my whole career.
In essence, productivity dysmorphia is the persistent feeling of dissatisfaction after working, no matter how much success has been achieved. I have had a constant feeling of guilt that I could have done more, been more productive and had a greater impact from my actions. My solution to this has always been to seek out more efficient and productive ways of working, rather than examining the root cause of these feelings.
After listening to this conversation, I have realised that no amount of productivity enhancement will improve the situation, unless I look to also radically change my mindset about what success looks like. There are a lot of similarities with the concept of imposter syndrome that has also affected me in the past, but I loved how they distinguished between the two. Imposter syndrome is anxiety of somehow getting caught out as an imposter in the future, whereas productivity dysmorphia is anxiety about the lack of success that has just past.
This new understanding has helped me realise that we need to be a little more forgiving of ourselves in life. Quite often I have found myself treating myself like quite a cruel and unforgiving boss- with my inner voice berating myself for what has not been done, rather than adopting a best friend approach which would recognise my progress, encourage me and generally be more empathetic in nature. We wouldn’t really choose to be around people who constantly criticise, so why do we accept this from our inner voice?
The power of community/relationships. We had a bit of a party last Saturday night- a sort of belated 51st and 50th birthday rolled into one after missing out for the past couple of years. It felt so unusual having people in the house to socialise, after so many months of COVID restrictions. It was just lovely to have people round, have some nice food and far too much alcohol…surely we are old enough to know better?
After struggling with our hangovers on Sunday, we both reflected how great it was to just to relax with friends, we had almost forgotten what it was like! It absolutely reinforced to us how much we value our community of friends, and also made us realise how important this aspect of life is to us in the future. When we move from our jobs and relocate, we are going to have to work really hard to ensure that we build new relationships in the community we move into, as well as working hard to maintain our existing friendships across the country. As humans we are social animals, and need that sense of belonging to truly fulfil us.
In a way, there was real regret that we have for so long kept our work lives apart from our home lives. We spend a lot of time with our work colleagues and they naturally become our friends, so why do we sometimes keep them distant from our home lives.
Humans evolved to bond with intimate others, but we also evolved to belong to communities. Our ability to survive, let alone thrive, relies upon being members of a tribe. (Brad Stulberg)
Fitness on the road plans. My birthday gift arrived from my son earlier this week, delivered free of charge by amazon…a 16kg kettlebell- imagine the delight on the couriers face!
This is the start of amassing our mobile Crossfit gym for the van for when we are on our travels. We have this real issue of keeping equipment to a minimum, and yet keeping the exercises open to us as varied as possible. We are thinking:
A Heavy kettlebell for a range of movements, carries and lifts.
2 medium weight dumbbells to provide a lighter weight alternative to the Kettlebell.
Resistance bands- flexible use and only take up a small storage space.
Skipping rope- for the Crossfit old favourite of doubleunders.
A small exercise mat for when we are having to work on such things as pushups and sit ups that need contact with the floor.
After that then comes the creativity of adapting the Crossfit.com daily programme to what equipment we have available. We will have no cardio machines- but plenty of hills and imagination. No rig- but hopefully some playgrounds with suitable bars. No barbell- so no heavy lifting on the road!
Weekend travel adventures. We had all the best intentions for this weekend to get off up to the Lake District and tick off a few more Wainwight peaks, however it was not to be on a wet and windy Friday night. We just didn’t have the get up and go, looking at the weather forcast for the weekend, to face 48 hours of pissing rain.
We decided to head to one of our favourite wild camping spots in the Yorkshire Dales as it was closer to Mum for our weekly Sunday visit, and if the weather was really poor, we know that we could hunker down with a good book and a bottle of wine and switch off for the weekend.
As luck would have it, Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day, so we took the opportunity to have a walk around the beautiful Bolton Abbey Estate, taking in the Strid, which is always wonderful when the river is in full flow. After a hike back up to the van, we decided that was enough for the day and settled down to a relaxed drink and some well deserved down time. There is nothing better than cooking a simple pasta supper in the van, followed by the standard 8pm fall asleep in the wilds.
So that’s it, another week gone and another week closer to our early retirement D-Day. Next week brings the early retirement reality closer with the recruitment of my replacement well underway at work, plans for getting the house marketed and sold and also keeping our travel plans on track for our forthcoming Easter holiday break.
Have a great week,
Richard & Jackie.
Just wondering if you did indeed find 16kg of weight 'space' for the kettleball?