Is Unemployment A Test Run For FI?

We adapt to the lifestyle we are living. 

I found this to be true when I was unemployed for most of the year during 2017.  I had my routine, work out in the morning, do the 2-3 hours of job searching (if you’ve been in this situation, there’s really only so much you can do), and then try to be productive with the rest of my time.  Yet the days just seemed to fly by while I felt like I didn’t even accomplish that much.  Then you blink and suddenly, hours have turned into weeks and now you’re really stumped as to why time is rushing past you like a runaway freight train. 

Yet when I’m busy at my normal job, there’s a million things I fit into my schedule and I can remember them all.  I’m actually amazed at how much I can pack into one single day, but when I was unemployed it seemed time would still slip by like sand in an hourglass no matter how productive I had been. 

Why?  Why such the difference? 

I’ve thought about this a lot, and I think it mostly has to do with our lifestyle and environment.  Based on what is happening around us, dictates how we interpret the world and process our feelings.  Regardless of how alpha or passive we think we are hardwired to be, immerse yourself in the right surroundings, and you’ll be surprised at how quickly you can change.  And to remind myself of this previous observation, I recently had the opportunity to observe my wife go through the exact same predicament with her own unemployment over the past several months. 

You might think I’m exaggerating, but this experiment was absolutely fascinating to watch.  What happens when a diligent, life-long worker for 20 years, who has never been unemployed, never had a break in her entire career, is exposed to a FI-like situation? 

Fascinating results my friends… utterly fascinating. 

Let’s take a look… 

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My wife is one of the hardest working people I know.  And coming from me, that’s probably one of the greatest compliments I can give her.  I look up to her, I respect her, and I need her.  She doesn’t think she is as smart as me, but there are so many different levels to intelligence.  Book smarts is only a small notation in the journey of life and a poor indicator of any kind of real or long-term success/happiness if you ask me. 

What matters is who you are… who you have become… and what you do. 

Growing up was hard for her and things never came easy.  She constantly struggled with Dyslexia in school and even had teachers go so far as to tell her she’d never amount to anything (as much as the teaching profession is revered, rarely is it acknowledged the damage it can inflict as well).  She still carries around these chiding, false missives like boulders on her back. 

So, what does she do?  It’s simple.  She puts her head down and works harder than everyone else.  It’s all she knows how to do, and she’s very good at it. 

And the reason I’m divulging these things about her is to set the stage.  Most of my wife’s identity is tied up in her job, which is the same for a lot people.  She loves what she does (just not her office if you’ve read my previous posts), loves her patients and is great at her profession.  This is what builds her confidence and reinforces her self-worth.  She gets things done, period. 

Now, imagine how she would feel, when overnight all of that is taken away and she is furloughed because of COVID-19.  Pretty shocking.  And it was.  I remember that look I saw in her eyes for the first month, she was as lost as I was back in the day, when in the blink of an eye there were no outside forces shaping her waking hours any longer.  No more external constructs holding up the professional identity that she had forged for herself. 

She struggled.  Which was a natural reaction.  What would she do with her days?  There’s so much empty time now?  There’s no set schedule.  And keep in mind, that I’m working from home, so I’m watching all of this unfold firsthand. 

So, in the beginning, this unemployment thing and not working was terrible for her.  But as I mentioned at the start of this post, it’s almost uncanny how quickly we can adapt and change. 

Then, after about the first month had passed, my wife settled into her new life of unemployment.  Time seemed to slow down.  Little things that had seemed so important and stressful only a month prior, dissipated like smoke into thin air.  Gradually, her new schedule began to take form.  She’d wake up when her body was ready instead of setting an alarm.  Her exercise increased by taking our dog on long morning walks and she found new hobbies to fill her time.  She began to discover passions and interests that she had never had the motivation to pursue before.  It was remarkable how quickly she was able to forge a new identity and lose the old one like a snake shedding its skin. 

In such a short amount of time, she was now thriving with her own little lifestyle design experiment.  And the more I thought about, I was watching her live out a mini-FI test run.  This is what it would be like if we didn’t have to depend on our employers.  We’d be able to win back our time and do what we actually wanted with it. 

In a nutshell, it was uplifting as well as motivating to watch this play out in real time and know firsthand, that everything we were working toward would probably feel just as good when we finally do reach financial independence. 

And for my wife specifically, since our plan is to have her leave her job in 2021 and foster, this was a perfect test-run for her upcoming lifestyle change.  And she learned that giving up her job isn’t so scary or even such a necessary part of her life to rely on for her confidence and well-being.  There are so many other things she can do with her time that will make her feel just as happy and productive. 

I’ll caveat that her situation was unique.  She was furloughed and not laid off.  We had unemployment income coming in and were pretty sure her job would come back, so there wasn’t the normal desperation, fear and worry that comes with a normal job interruption.  She was actually able to disconnect and enjoy her truncated break while someone else would most likely be in a much more stressful situation. 

As of this typing, she just finished her first full week back in the office.  So, the 3-month mini-FI experiment has come to an end.  Jumping from a furloughed break to now dealing with all the new protocols in the dental field as CORONA-19 cases are skyrocketing has been stressful, demanding and taxing to say the least.  But this is the new reality her field is facing and the challenge that they must rise to. 

We’ll see what the future brings.  But in the meantime, we can rest assured that her mini-FI experiment has only reinforced our beliefs and goals that we are barreling down the right path for us. 

Onward and upward mi amigos. 

-Q-FI 

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How about you?  Have you ever had the opportunity to take a mini-FI test run?  When did you first know that pursuing FI would be the right path for you?