{"id":127205,"date":"2020-07-05T10:00:09","date_gmt":"2020-07-05T16:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/?p=127205"},"modified":"2024-02-24T13:20:06","modified_gmt":"2024-02-24T20:20:06","slug":"dont-wait-on-happiness-how-to-enjoy-the-peak-and-the-plateaus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/dont-wait-on-happiness-how-to-enjoy-the-peak-and-the-plateaus","title":{"rendered":"Don’t Wait on Happiness: How to Enjoy the Peak and the Plateaus"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article was adapted from the BiggerPockets book <\/em>Retire Early With Real Estate<\/a> written by Chad Carson.\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Because you\u2019re here on BiggerPockets, I know you have big financial and life dreams. You\u2019re no doubt striving to achieve the good life.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m right there with you!<\/p>\n

But financial achievement is a lot like climbing a mountain. It\u2019s tempting to think that everything good will start once you reach the peak of the financial mountain.\u00a0After all, you have to reach the top before you can be happy and fulfilled, right?<\/p>\n

Well, not exactly.<\/p>\n

In the rest of this article, I\u2019d like to offer a different perspective.<\/p>\n

The Peak and the Plateaus<\/h2>\n

“The good life is a process, not a state of being. It is a direction, not a destination.”<\/p>\n

\u2014Carl Rogers, 20th century American psychologist<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019ve realized an important lesson during my own 18 years of climbing up the financial mountain.<\/p>\n

Life can be enjoyed and celebrated at the peak AND during the climb at many plateaus along the way.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

In fact, you may come to love plateaus so much that you see life as just a series of climbs and plateaus!<\/p>\n

For example, during the early years of starting a real estate business, I regularly played pick-up basketball in the middle of the workday (I still do when not in a coronavirus pandemic!). And I even took extended multi-month trips (aka mini-retirements) to Spain, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and across the western USA.<\/p>\n

Did these experiences matter to me? Absolutely! I would not trade them for any amount of money.<\/p>\n

Had I arrived at the peak of financial independence before doing them? Absolutely not! I still had a goal of climbing higher up the mountain toward the peak.<\/p>\n

When even a fast financial climb might take 10-15 years of your life, why not also enjoy life along the way? Financial plateaus (i.e., intermediate milestones) are a tangible way to enjoy the journey AND the destination.<\/p>\n

You are welcome to create your own plateaus, but here are five major ones that have worked well for me and that I’ll explain more in this article:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Self-Sufficiency<\/li>\n
  2. Mini-Retirement<\/li>\n
  3. Semi-Retirement<\/li>\n
  4. Early Retirement<\/li>\n
  5. Traditional Retirement<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    \"\"<\/p>\n

    I’ll start with the first plateau that we all must pass\u2014self-sufficiency.<\/p>\n

    Plateau #1 – Self-Sufficiency<\/h2>\n

    It\u2019s easy to quickly blow past the milestone of self-sufficiency. But it\u2019s important and worth celebrating. Basically this means your day-to-day finances are not an emergency.<\/p>\n

    Here are a few indicators that you might have reached this milestone:<\/p>\n