Three Years Ago, He Stopped Ironing Shirts

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It’s always good to hear stories and reflections of those who have embraced early retirement, reached financial independence, and pulled the plug on their careers. How has retirement gone for them? What issues and concerns do they have? What did they find most appealing and surprising?

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Today we hear from Stop Ironing Shirts, who ironed his shirt for the final time a little over three years ago, and shares some reflections and updates on his early retirement journey thus far.

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Life Updates

Some things have gone according to how I thought, and other things have not! The most surprising part about all of this is how unrecognizable my old life looks. I don’t recognize the old me, always being in a rush to go from place to place, well-versed in corporate speak, and trying to meet 25 or so different and conflicting goals as a sales manager.

Today control over my time is priceless. I don’t know how to explain it, other than it was a weird process to go through. From the time I was born until the age of 37, I was programmed to have adults tell me what to do.

– Stage 1: Pinch me, I can’t believe this is real. This lasted at least six months – Stage 2: Uhhh, what is this? This was an on-and-off feeling between stage 1 and 3 that I experienced from month six until eighteen. – Stage 3: This is normal. How did I ever give up control of my time?

I will never cede control of my time again. I can’t imagine an amount of money that would be worth trading 40-50 hours of my week to others for 48+ weeks a year. There are little things I do today to maintain control of my time, including sticking to the rule of no more than one appointment per day. It is so rare to feel rushed at anything and I appreciate it every day.

We are happy to have moved near the beach in the Southeast. It’s the best place we’ve lived thus far, but I’m getting the nomadic itch again. This itch hits hard once things turn cold from November through March, then dies down until October, and the process repeats itself. Are there other places we’d like to try to live? Yes.

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