Why do they do it?
How much would it take for you to stop?
Did you know that Elon Musk is worth over 200 billion dollars? If you knew that, you probably also know that he’s the CEO of three companies; Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter. Combined, these 3 companies employ +-140,000 people. (Tesla - 127,855, SpaceX - 9,500, Twitter - 2,300).
A question which has bugged me for ages is why do people like Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, and Alex Hormozi continue working after having amassed so much wealth.
The reason this question has bothered me is because for a long time I’ve been obsessed with the idea of retiring early. I’ve spent at least 100 hours of my life sitting on Google Sheets and investment calculators calculating how much wealth I’d need to accumulate in order to “retire”. This mindset is completely in opposition to how many of the most successful entrepreneurs live their lives.
So what’s going on here?
Where does the retire early mindset come from?
More than once in the last few years I’ve sat down and thought deeply about what I want from this life. Every time I’ve done that the answer includes a long list of ambitious goals which I’ll never hit if I “retired early”.
What I truly want is to squeeze every drop I can from this life. I believe we only have one life and then it’s over, so why the hell would my strategy for living life not involve aiming for the top of the tallest mountain I can find?
With all that being said, I still need to answer the question, where does this “retire early” mindset come from?
I’m now convinced this mindset comes out of a combination of burn out and working on things which don’t bring me joy.
The mind will do what it can to protect itself so I obsess over “quitting the game” so I can finally have a break and focus on things I truly care about.
This is an out. It’s a coping mechanism.
At the same time it’s not something I can ignore. It’s a warning light which I must take seriously.
David Goggins and the whiteboard
If you spend enough time consuming content on Elon Musk, Warren Buffett, and Alex Hormozi, you’ll start to understand why they operate the way they do.
For Elon, it’s about pushing the human race forward and better understanding the meaning of life. Warren Buffett and Alex just love what they do.
As much as I’ve tried to connect with these reasons, I just couldn’t. It’s not something you can force, it’s something you’ve got to work out for yourself.
Thankfully I believe I have.
I invite you to click on the image below and watch the short clip of David Goggins explaining his biggest fear to Joe Rogan.
How powerful is that 2 minute clip? I get the shivers every time I watch it.
David Goggin’s approach to life is the philosophy I’ve connected with the most. It’s one which connects with my core belief that I only have this one life to live and when the lights go out it’s all over.
His philosophy gives me the mental scaffolding for living my life in a way in which I have the best chance of achieving what I want.
It took me 38 years to reach this point but I’m here, and to say I’m excited for what the future holds would be an understatement.
Thanks for reading.
Justin