If you want full control of your day, you must first achieve an exit that enables you to do so.

You may be able to achieve similar, but not quite the same, control over your day-to-day by living well below your means. The challenge is that this ends up being quite a bit harder than it sounds. It’s quite difficult to not allow “comforts” creep into your life when you can technically afford it; but these are traps. These are precisely the “golden handcuffs”. Additionally, it’s hard to leave money on the table when you know it’s available to you.

  • do you do your own lawn maintenance or do you pay someone?
  • do you buy a higher quality car or do you deal with the maintenance burdens of something cheap?
  • do you buy branded clothes that gain you respect on first impressions?
  • do you live somewhere “fun”, but that’s also expensive because everyone wants to live somewhere “fun” or beautiful?
  • do you travel?

Again, it’s a balance. But if you can keep that pendulum more on the “below your means side” I think you gain some of that control that you are looking for out of an exit. Just a tiny smidge.