The '3 Assumptions' I Discarded at 40 After Becoming 'Lost in Life' to Eliminate Anxiety About Retirement

Introduction: Why are we 'busy but unable to become wealthy'?

'If you get into a good university, join a good company, and work hard with overtime, you will eventually become wealthy.'

For me, who believed this without question, the words of legendary Silicon Valley investor Naval Ravikant revealed a far too cruel truth.

'As long as you are selling your time, you will never become rich.'

No matter how high your hourly wage is, if your income stops when you stop working, that is 'labor,' not 'wealth.'

This book fundamentally overturned my values regarding 'how to work' and showed me a roadmap to true freedom.

Introduction: 40 years old, the vague anxiety of 'Is this really okay?'

'My job is going reasonably well, and I have a family. But something is missing.'

When I turned 40, I suddenly stopped in my tracks.

My physical strength is declining, and I can no longer pull all-nighters. I can see my future at the company. An indescribable impatience: 'Is my life just going to be a series of filler games until retirement?'

It was when I hit that '40-year-old wall' that I encountered the book by Haru Oishi (Working Mom Haru).

This book was not just about career theory, but taught me a concrete strategy for 'how to fight the second half of life.'

The 'single' shocking realization I gained from this book

It is the fact that 'the foundation of happiness is a triangle of money, connections, and health, and if even one is missing, you will be unhappy.'

Until now, I had put everything into 'money (work).'

Believing that 'if I earn money, I will be happy' and 'if I get promoted, I will be secure,' I sacrificed my health and put off spending time with friends.

However, the author says:

These words struck me. What I had been desperately building was a fragile, one-legged approach.

The 3 action plans I implemented

To smoothly overcome the '40-year-old wall,' I discarded the 'Showa-era values' that had been ingrained in me for years and started three new habits.

1. Discard the 'retirement goal' mindset (shifting to lifelong active participation)

I discarded the fantasy that 'if I just endure working until 65, I can live comfortably on my pension afterward.'

• Action: I started sowing seeds for 'work that has no retirement age and offers discretionary power.'

• I started small with work that I can continue for a long time at my own pace without depending on a company (in my case, writing and side jobs that utilize my personal skills).

• What I am aiming for is not 'big money,' but 'a system where I can stay connected to society and earn a little extra money even in my 70s and 80s.'

2. Discard the assumption that 'health is free' (investing in maintenance)

The 'resilient body' of my 20s and 30s is gone. Health from 40 onwards requires 'maintenance.'

• Action: I made 'sleep and exercise' my top priority tasks.

• No matter how busy I am, I sleep for 7 hours. Instead of lounging around on weekends, I intentionally move my body. I have started taking my health checkup results seriously as a 'report card.'

3. Stop relying on 'company business cards' (building loose connections)

I went out to build 'loose connections' without conflicts of interest, rather than relationships that would end once I left the company.

• Action: I started sharing 'things I like (fandom activities and hobbies)' on social media.

• At first, I thought 'no one is watching,' but little by little, I started getting reactions like 'I like that too.'

• By making friends with whom I can talk as my 'true self' rather than through a company title, the fear of loneliness disappeared.

Result: How did things change? (Before/After)

Before

• 'Evaluation at work' was everything. I was afraid of failure and constantly competing with others.

• I had vague anxieties about the future (money, health, loneliness), and my mind could not rest even on holidays.

After

• I became able to accept that 'a company is just one part of life,' which brought me mental relief.

• By creating a safe haven (third place) such as 'work I can control (side hustle)' or 'friends I can be myself with,' I became able to approach my main job with more composure.

• My mindset shifted from 'fear of old age' to the excitement of 'what shall I do with the rest of my life?'

Summary: Your 40s are not the 'beginning of the end,' but the 'start of your true life'

Age 40 is the perfect opportunity to graduate from the 'way of life demanded by society and parents' and shift to the way of life you truly desire.

If you feel like you are hitting a 'wall' right now, it is proof that you are standing in front of the door to a new stage.

Why not start by reviewing your own triangle of 'money, health, and connections'?

The small 'maintenance' and 'seed planting' you start today will make the second half of your life dramatically brighter.

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The 'single' shocking realization I gained from this book

It is the difference between 'Wealth,' 'Money,' and 'Status.'

• Money: Merely a means to transfer wealth.

• Status: A zero-sum game where 'I am above you' (if someone wins, someone else loses).

• Wealth: 'Assets that earn money while you sleep' (factories, programs, content, etc.).

We should be acquiring 'wealth,' yet we were desperately chasing 'money' and 'status.'

I was stunned to realize that what I had been sacrificing my health for through overtime was not 'assets' for freedom, but merely 'living expenses.'

The 3 action plans I put into practice

'Get rich without relying on luck'.

Having learned the concrete formula for that, I switched my actions from tomorrow onwards from my previous 'worker mindset' to an 'asset-owner mindset'.

1. Stop 'selling your own time' (Shift toward asset creation)

I stopped studying for certifications just to raise my hourly wage and stopped working overtime just for performance evaluations.

• Action: I shifted my weekend time entirely from 'consumption (Netflix or drinking parties)' to 'production (blogs, code, videos)'.

• Even if it doesn't generate a single yen at first, I create 'content that is useful to someone even while I'm sleeping.' This is because I was convinced that this would become a 'double' that works in my place in the future.

2. Pursue 'what you can become an otaku about' (Identifying specialized knowledge)

Naval says, 'The only way to escape competition is to 'be yourself'.'

Any job that anyone can do with training will be replaced by someone else. However, 'what you can immerse yourself in like play' cannot be imitated by anyone.

• Action: Instead of 'skills that seem to have market value,' I made 'things I end up doing anyway (in my case, niche gadget collecting and efficiency obsession)' the axis of my output.

• 'Doing as play what others do as work.' This is the ultimate weapon (specific knowledge).

3. Use 'leverage that doesn't require permission'

In the past, to own assets, you needed 'money' to build factories or 'labor' to hire people. But it's different now.

• Action: 'Code (programming)' and 'media (blogs/YouTube)', which are leverages that can be replicated infinitely with zero capital, I decided to utilize them to the maximum.

• You don't need to hire people, and you don't need a boss's permission. Delivering your knowledge to the world with just one PC. This is modern alchemy.

Result: How did it change? (Before/After)

Before

• A state of mental paralysis thinking, 'No money = I must work longer.'

• Obsessed with evaluations and titles (status) at the company, constantly comparing myself to others and feeling drained.

• Vague anxiety about the future never went away.

After

• I clearly distinguished between 'labor' and 'asset building,' andbegan to find joy in spending time on asset building.

• I became able to accept that 'the period when you see no results is just winter, an important time for growing roots underground,' and my impatience vanished.

• By leveraging my own unique strengths (my geeky areas), I was freed from the concept of competition.

Summary: If you are heading in the wrong direction, no matter how much you run, you will never arrive.

Effort is noble, but it is overrated.

What Naval taught me is that'the direction you are heading is far more important than the amount of effort you put in.'

If you are working desperately every day right now but cannot see a future, it may not be that your 'running speed' is insufficient, but that your 'running direction' is wrong.

Have the courage to stop and check your compass.

And, using 'being yourself' as your weapon, start building assets that can earn money even while you sleep.

That first step begins with today's tweet, a single article, or a few lines of code.

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