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Here’s a shocking revelation for you, life is short. I went to the Social Security Administration’s website and entered my gender and date of birth in its Life Expectancy Calculator. Here’s what it spit out.
Holy purple cats! Multiply 26.3 years by 365.25 days and you get 9,606 days. That’s basically what I have left. Nine thousand six hundred and six days!
In one sense, 9,606 days is nothing. If I’m ever going to take my pursuit of happiness seriously, now’s the time. In another sense, however, 9,606 days is more than enough time for me to blow through my FI portfolio. A month in Australia isn’t cheap. Nor is taking the family to the Vermejo Ranch for a week. Nor is building a vacation home in Montana. Happiness is important, but my pursuit of it can’t be willy-nilly. It has to be portfolio appropriate; it has to be sustainable. Otherwise, if I allow my frugality muscles to atrophy, I’ll run out of portfolio long before I run out of life. Not good.
The good news is that the honorable pursuit of happiness and the responsible stewardship of your portfolio isn’t mutually exclusive. The pursuit of non-evil happiness can be a relatively inexpensive proposition. Let’s see how.
The Groovy Guide to Sustainable, Non-Evil Happiness
When it comes to the science of sustainable, non-evil happiness, I’m no Gretchen Rubin. But since 2006, I’ve been zippity freakin’ doo dah happy, and my portfolio’s value has quintupled. So I’m doing something right. And as I pondered my impressive run of sustainable, non-evil happiness, I pinpointed three strategies that have been integral to that impressive run.
Get Rid of What Makes You Unhappy
In 2006, I left the security of the public sector for the volatility of the private sector and took a forty percent pay cut.
In 2014, I took a vow of ignorance and stopped watching television news, listening to talk radio, and reading newspapers.
In 2016, I embraced my sartorial ineptitude, created a capsule wardrobe of twelve polo shirts and three pairs of jeans, and got rid of all the superfluous shirts and pants collecting dust in my closet and dresser.
Each of these decisions made me happier. Do you notice a pattern? It’s advancing happiness by subtraction. I increased my happiness, not by adding something to my life, but by removing something from my life. Take, for instance, my decision to leave the public sector. I worked for a very dysfunctional municipality. My co-workers were largely slothful, largely incompetent, and largely hostile to anything that might improve the quality of our municipality’s service. Every night I went to bed with a knot in my stomach. Knowing eight hours in Bizarro World was rapidly approaching was too much to bear. But then something wonderful happened. Mrs. Groovy and I relocated to Charlotte in 2006. And because I no longer had to deal with the insanity of my dysfunctional municipality, my night-time stomach knots disappeared. And this remained the case even when I entered the private sector and got a job that paid me forty percent less than my dysfunctional municipality. It’s amazing what dealing with co-workers who are largely energetic, largely competent, and largely customer-centric can do for your sangfroid.
Remember this well, groovy freedomist: The surest way to get happier is to rid your life of something that’s annoying the crap out of you.
Do One Thing a Day—Or Nothing
I brush my teeth several times a day. I floss once a day. I also shower, exercise, write, shove food down my gullet, run errands, and perform household chores on a daily basis. These are my maintenance duties, so to speak—things that must be done every day to remain an esteemed human being, husband, and blogger.
But what about the rest of my day? These maintenance duties can’t possibly take up the bulk of my day. What do I do with my free time?
This is a great question. I do have a lot of free time, especially now that I’m retired. And for the longest time, I viewed that free time with a carpe diem mindset. I was determined to wrangle as much productiveness as I could out of my free time. A regime of self-imposed busyness swept over me.
The only problem is that productiveness doesn’t always play nice with happiness. Hello law of diminishing returns. Cramming as many productive activities as possible into a single day may have placated the productivity gods, but it left me stressed and decidedly less happy.
So at the behest of Mrs. Groovy, I abandoned my carpe diem mindset. No longer would a single day be dedicated to commenting on ten blog posts, getting an oil change, going to a museum, visiting our favorite frozen yogurt joint, tinkering in my workshop, and researching vacation possibilities. Goodbye hyper-productivity. My free time is now reserved for one thing a day or nothing.
Today I’m taking Mrs. Groovy to her hair appointment. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I’ll have a glass of wine with father on the front porch. Such pitiful productivity will not garner me Blogger of the Year. But it will be kind to my nerves. And it will be a boon to my happiness.
Create, Build, Fix, or Clean Something
At least once a week, I grab a plastic bag and my picker and rid my community of some litter. It is truly the highlight of my week.
Why? Why is making my community a little less unkempt so rewarding?
Sure, part of it is the exercise and the sublime benefits of being alone with my thoughts. And, sure, part of it redounds to the joy of giving, of knowing that in some small way I’ve made the lives of my neighbors a little less dreary. But more than anything, what really gets me pumped about picking up litter is this: a sense of accomplishment. I park my car by a stretch of highway choked with litter, and a half hour later, that stretch of highway is pristine. Because of my effort, an eyesore has been vanquished.
Man was not put on this earth to wallow in stagnation or filth. Man was put on this earth to create, to build, to fix, and, yes, to clean. So if you want an inexpensive way to increase your happiness, bow to your underlying nature. Get off your ass and write a blog post. Get off your ass and fix that leaky faucet. Get off your ass and clean your freakin’ garage.
Final Thoughts
Okay, groovy freedomist, that’s all I got. What say you? Are my three ways of increasing sustainable happiness legit? Or are they a sham? And if they’re a sham, what would you suggest? I would love to hear your thoughts. Have a zippity freakin’ doo dah weekend. Peace.
Mr. Groovy,
I truly love how you describe subtraction as a path to joy. I’m also in the minority of folks in that I am a proud mono-tasker, preferring to do one thing well rather than three things poorly.
To complete the quote you alluded to at the beginning, Hobbes described the “life of man [is] solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.”
At least you get to take comfort having eliminated the solitary and poor components.
Always enjoy reading you, my friend,
CD
What i like most about retirement is taking the time a job requires to do a job well
Amazing how “make more money” doesn’t make the list, once you’ve covered your basics.
Haha! I didn’t think about that until you mentioned it. Damn, you’re perceptive.
I completely agree. I’ve always used cleaning as a stress reducing activity. It’s not difficult, doesn’t need special equipment (a rag, a mop), and rewards me with an immediate payoff.
I also have come to realize that I need to build “empty” time into my days since I retired. I do make a list at the beginning of each month with actions that will move us in the direction of our goals, but I keep it to less than 10 items that I can finish in about 2 hours. If the job is bigger, I break it into small pieces. This works out to about two accomplishments per week. This pace is plenty to see progress and not interfere with relaxation.
Wow, “empty time” is a great way to describe what I was trying to convey in this post. And your “two accomplishments per week” strategy is brilliant. Like you pointed out, it keeps thing moving in a positive direction and it’s doable. Thank you, Sharon. Your comment packed a lot of wisdom.
I’m on board with those 3 ways.
I know the first one works very well for me. Quitting full time job was the best decision I ever made. That’s happiness by subtraction.
I also like #2. I do my regularly scheduled chores and work, then just one more thing. It’s okay to occasionally do more, but not too often.
I’m working on #3.
Thank you, Joe, but I respectfully disagree with you on #3. You have a killer blog and that doesn’t happen by accident. You’re a very creative dude, my friend.
I completely agree with these suggestions! I took a 50 percent pay cut a dozen years ago, and it saved my career and physical/mental health. I also find it gratifying to pick up trash (while my kids play in the park); weeding gives me the same feeling. I used to be a crazy list-maker but today I just want to clean my car and hang with the kids.
The insight of putting creating, fixing, and cleaning in the same category had never occurred to me. I think it’s heartening for those of us who aren’t creative in the artistic sense or handy. Thank you!
Yeah, it’s hard to believe that you can take a substantial pay cut and wind up happier. Thanks for sharing your story and showing the blogosphere I’m not completely nuts. And you gave me a tremendous CMLT when you wrote about your trash and weed picking. You’re amazing, Frieda. Thanks for stopping by.
“Cramming as many productive activities as possible into a single day may have placated the productivity gods, but it left me stressed and decidedly less happy.”
I just left a “vacation” with a friend who intended to do everyone on the list. Love her but it has been a full marathon day of crossing off lists to the point I’m wondering what in the world is the point of a vacation if you’re working harder than at work with the planning and getting 5 hours of sleep.
I keep trying to tell my husband creation brings joy. Especially if it’s something you’re proud of like a blog or an app. It’s a great sense of accomplishment… it’s the best feeling I know 😀
I’m ashamed to admit it, but I was much like your friend up until 10 years ago or so. In fact, on a trip to Vegas I had every day mapped out from 7 am to 10 pm. It was a whirlwind. So much so that we couldn’t even remember what we did. Like you said, Lily, a vacation shouldn’t be harder than work. And you nailed it as far as creation goes. It’s an absolutely fabulous way to bring happiness into your life.
I’m a big believer in less is more. Sometimes it’s more difficult to do less as opposed to being more productive.
“Sometimes it’s more difficult to do less as opposed to being more productive.”
Lot of wisdom there, my friend. Thank you.
I think what makes you happiest in retirement will vary with the individual.
Some people will not be able to turn off the creativity switch and may now have this new found free time to be more productive and creative than when they had a 9-5.
Others may be more contemplative and rather just take it all in and slow down.
The key to retirement bliss I think (and no expert since I’m not there yet) is that you find something that fulfills your soul. Also you need to keep your mind and body sharp regardless or you will decline quicker and your golden years may not be so golden
Couldn’t agree more, my friend. The last paragraph in your comment was pure genius. Thank you.
I think your “do one thing or nothing” aspiration is a good one. I’ve been noodling around with a 1-3-5 strategy: 1 must do, 3 should do, and 5 nice-to-do goals for each day.
10,000 steps + 330 calories + 30 mins is my must-do each day. I feel good when I finish this by 10:00am. If I weren’t retired, I might have to change this. But I’m not so I won’t.
The other things come and go on an ad hoc basis. The key is to blow off lower priority tasks without guilt.
Nice, Steve. I love the 1-3-5 strategy. That’s a great way of wrapping one’s brain around all the things that need, should, and can be done in a single day.
Subtraction is the way to go! My wife used to have a meditation candle that said “it is good to do nothing and then rest afterwards”…it’s a good philosophy, so long as you’re doing something sometimes. As with everything, there needs to be balance.
Gary @ Super Saving Tips recently posted…National Ice Cream Day: Here’s the Scoop!
“it is good to do nothing and then rest afterwards”
Oh, man, that is good. It’s devilishly rebellious. Kind of like, “I spent most of my money on women and booze and the rest I wasted.”
Mr. G, interesting to read about your “Do One Thing A Day – Or Nothing” approach to retirement living. I’m playing around with various approaches to my newfound freedom, and am finding “less is more”.
I’m intentionally spending less time on my computer (sorry blogging friends, I’m not commenting as much as in the past), and I’m focusing on things that bring me contentment. I may not get a blog post out every single week, but that’s ok, right??
I worked out the past 5 days. 5 days! A new personal record, and it’s making me happy. Ok, I’m logging off now…going to look at a mountain bike a friend has for sale. I sold my old one, because it wasn’t making me happy. Now, I know what I want, and if this bike has it, I’m going to buy it. Why?? Because I love riding mountain bikes in the woods.
It makes me happy.
Awesome comment, my friend. I have a love/hate relationship with commenting. I love reading other blogs–the content is phenomenal. And I want other bloggers to know that I admire their work. But it is so darn time consuming. So now I decided to read blogs and comment every other day. I think that compromise will increase my happiness. We’ll see. Anyway, so glad your retirement is going well. When are you available to talk, btw? Best of luck with the mountain bike. Give my regards to Jackie. Cheers.
Good read sir, all three strategies are right. Happiness is not about acquiring any new material things but enjoying every little moment life offers.
Thank you, O. You’re a wise person. I couldn’t have said it better.
cutting out a ton of media has been great for my mindset too. i still watch some sports but that other crap is all gone and for the much better. i like that one thing a day deal too. we do the necessary around the house but keep plenty of unscheduled time to take it easy and enjoy our house and some wine and cooking. one big subtraction has been limiting interaction with people who bring no joy. creating and giving are a tremendous happiness booster, even writing a half-baked blog like mine takes some creative juice.
freddy smidlap recently posted…How to Rock Travel In Oregon Wine Country
“One big subtraction has been limiting interaction with people who bring no joy.”
So true, my friend. I was thinking about going there, but I didn’t have the guts. Thank you for pointing that out. Toxic people ruin happiness.
I had to listen to the whole Partridge family song — you are so creative to include that and the nostalgia! This from a TV dropout too. Love it.
This post it really good. I have noticed that many things are improved by subtraction. You make a good point about that carpe diem mindset. I think I’m doing that a bit right now. All fun things. Ridiculous to be spread thin this way. Working people don’t understand if you “complain” about being too busy in retirement. Leave it to you to point out that checking that Social Security countdown calculator makes you realize you need to…do less!
Hey, Susan, here’s a link to a clip from one of my favorite Partridge Family episodes. Do you remember it?
“What should we call you?”
Oh, yeah, I do remember that one. Snake! I love that. Just scratch it in. Now, if I forgot my pen for a comment here, I have yet another way to communicate with you, ha ha!
LOL! The “just scratch it in” line was a classic. Oh, and here’s another classic Rob Reiner appearance. Check it out.
When I stray, I stray.
I love you guys. Life is about simple joys and honest work. Thanks for the reminder.
Julie!!!!! I have so many questions. I’ll drop you an email. Any chance you’re coming back to the blogging fray?
All I gotta say Mr (&Mrs) Groovy is your awesome and your outlook phenomenal !! Trying to get my Mr on the simple path to happiness. It’s a slow go, but it’s a start!!!
I hear ya, Sue. I was much like your hubby. But thankfully Mrs. G straightened me out. Best of luck. I’m sure he’ll come around.
Addition by subtraction. It’s something we are trying to live by and move more towards.
You can never know what will actually make you happy, so you have to try bunches of things.
But you can know decidedly what makes you unhappy. So just get rid of that, it makes your life that much easier!
Well said good sir!!!
“But you can know decidedly what makes you unhappy. So just get rid of that, it makes your life that much easier!”
Genius. I should have had you write this post. Love the way your mind works, my friend.
The SS life expectancy calculator definitely leans toward under-estimating. It seems to assume the worst – or “average” perhaps, which can be pretty bad.
A better estimator would take into consideration more details – like the one that John Hancock Insurance makes available.
https://www.johnhancockinsurance.com/life/life-expectancy-tool.aspx
SS estimates I’ll die at 82. JH estimates I’ll die at 95.
That’s a BIG difference.
So I plan for 97. 🙂
The fact that SS seems to under-estimate works toward our favor though since life expectancy comes into play behind the scenes when they calculate benefit amounts.
Oh Boy, it has me down at 101! I need to save more!
Imagining retiring in your 40s and living to 101? Sixty years of retirement? We are truly living in remarkable times.
Excellent point, Brad. Assuming that the SSA’s life expectancy calculator is beyond reproach is a big assumption. Better to err on the side of more longevity. The JH tool will probably serve most of us better. And I’ll take living to 97. I’ll just have to be more mindful of frugal happiness. Thanks for stopping by, my friend.
All you need is a flock of sheep and some hills to chase them down. Good read, sir! You were wise to escape the hustle and bustle. And then you got rid of crap you didn’t need. It would appear a slimming down of life towards the monk side of the scale is helpful to most folks’ well-being. Just don’t start chanting from your front porch anytime soon, k??
“Just don’t start chanting from your front porch anytime soon, k??”
LOL! You never fail to brighten my day, sir.