I Moved My Life Plan Up a Little—Starting My Retirement Hobbies Early

It was a weekend afternoon.

While organizing my desk drawer, I found an old notebook. Flipping through the pages, I discovered a life plan I had written nearly twenty years ago.

It listed some truly impressive plans. Work at a company for as long as possible, receive as much pension as possible, and enjoy life after retirement with the difference—it was the kind of model-student life plan.

I see. It seems I was quite serious back then. As a plan, it wasn't bad at all, and it was the very definition of the solid life that many people aim for.

However, looking at that blueprint recently, I've been thinking something.

Does it really have to be in that order?

Lately, I've been writing on note, chatting with AI, making music, and posting it on YouTube. I'm even trying to monetize it, but so far, it's been a spectacular zero yen.

For some reason, I'm doing things now that I was originally supposed to start after retirement.

Where did my life plan go?

I chuckled a little at that thought.

Of course, it's not that I've come to hate my job. I'm grateful for my current position, and it's because I've worked for so many years that I have the life I have now.

I don't intend to quit my job right away. There's no specific date set for that, either.

But I don't feel as strongly as I used to that

I must work for as long as possible.

I don't think that way anymore.

Is it really necessary to wait that long?

That question has started to cross my mind.

When I was young, I thought time was infinite. My sixties felt like a distant future, and I thought I could just do everything I wanted to do all at once after I retired.

However, now that I'm actually in my sixties, the passage of time is surprisingly fast.

Before I know it, the year is over.

Before I know it, the cherry blossoms have fallen.

Before I know it, it is the end of the year again.

Life is shorter than I thought.

That does not mean I am pessimistic. On the contrary, I have come to think that it is interesting precisely because it is limited.

What if I only have twenty years left to stay healthy?

What if I only have fifteen years left to travel in good health?

What if I only have ten years left to enjoy creating?

What reason is there to put all of that off until after retirement?

That is how I have come to think.

Of course, a pension is important. Since I have worked for many years, I want to receive what I am entitled to.

But lately, I have been thinking.

Am I living for my pension?

Am I putting my life itself on hold, bound by numbers like receiving the full amount or increasing my benefit payments?

A life plan was originally supposed to be something to make life free.

However, before I knew it, I found myself bound by that very blueprint.

I felt that was a bit wrong.

That is why I have recently started to rethink my life plan itself.

I have not yet decided when to quit my job. But I have come to think that I do not need to save creative work, learning, or activities that help others until after I retire.

Life is shorter than I thought.

If so, wouldn't it be okay to move the things I want to do forward just a little?

I have started to think about things like that.

My previous life plan was,

Work.

Work.

Work.

And then hobbies after retirement.

That was the image I had.

Now, it is a little different.

Creating while working.

Sharing while learning.

Enjoying myself while being useful to someone else.

Instead of neatly separating work and life, I am mixing them together little by little.

I am starting to think that such a way of living might also be possible.

That small change was unexpectedly significant.

Every day has become a little more interesting.

Thinking about note articles, trying new ways to play with AI, making music, and publishing videos. Seeing the reactions, failing, and trying again.

Of course, the road to monetization is still long.

Even so, every day is more interesting than before.

Come to think of it, perhaps I have a sense of having taken my life back into my own hands, just a little.

Living as a company employee.

That is, of course, an important life.

However, that is not all there is to life.

There is also the creative side of me.

There is the side of me that learns.

There is also the side of me that wants to convey something to someone.

There was no need to keep that part dormant until retirement.

Recently, when talking with people of my generation,

I often hear the phrase,

"I'm planning to do that once I retire."

Travel.

Photography.

Painting.

Music.

Writing.

Volunteering.

I think these are all wonderful ideas.

But lately, I have been thinking this:

Perhaps we don't have to wait until after retirement.

It doesn't have to be everything.

We could just start a little bit now.

Even once a month is fine.

Even one hour a week is fine.

That time, surprisingly, enriches life.

That was the case for me.

I moved up, just a little, things I was originally supposed to start after retirement.

No, to be precise, I started thinking about moving them up.

As a result, my earnings are still zero.

But life has become a little more interesting.

So, this revision of my life plan might not be so bad after all.

Now in my sixties, I think about this.

A life plan is not something that must never be changed once decided.

Rather, since life itself changes, it is fine to rewrite the blueprint.

And that blueprint exists not to bind you, but to set you free.

That is what I have been thinking about lately.

Starting the joys of old age just a little bit early.

That might be a better choice than I had imagined.

#60s
#LifeReignited
#LifePlanning
#AfterRetirement
#SecondLife
#RetirementJoys
#WayOfLife
#WayOfWorking
#UsingAI
#note