>Plus, I've found the people who were hyper focused on retiring early or achieving financial independence to be less happy and more self-critical about their financial decisions.
I also wanted to comment on this.
What I have observed about FIRE folks is that they start optimizing everything for FIRE.
This isn't a healthy way to live, certainly not in the long run, and it's not like this goes away once they reach FIRE.
Here's an article where Mrs. Money Mustache shared how uncomfortable she was about her parents taking her and their son to the movies, then to an ice cream place.
I believe that one reason for this is that FIRE, passive income, entrepreneurship, etc. attracts people who are looking for shortcuts.
This means that they are optimizing for the short term, which is counterproductive to success in any area of life.
Back in the 2010s we saw this with niche sites, ebooks, info products, etc.
It worked for some but it's probably safe to say that learning to code and getting a tech job would have had better ROI for most people who went down that route.
At the moment we are seeing this in the crypto space, where you have all these guys in their 20s who are "investing in crypto" (gambling) because they want a Lamborghini ASAP.
They would likely be better off learning to code and getting a tech job, but they can’t see it at the moment because they don’t have the perspective that comes with time.
IIRC, Jocko Willink believes that his ability to function on little sleep is genetic, he just doesn't need much of it.
He has mentioned that this was a running joke in the Seal teams, which presumably consist of people already selected for their ability to function on little sleep, not your average "7 - 8 hours of sleep" folks.
But then normal people who need an average amount of sleep start "getting after it" by waking up at 4.30 AM because that's what Jocko does.
You can wake up at 4.30 AM as a normal person, but you'd need to go to sleep at 8.30 PM - 9.30 PM for that to be sustainable.
You can't "discipline equals freedom" yourself into optimal performance under perpetual sleep deprivation.
When you listen to Jocko talk about himself, you are not getting an honest accounting about an actual human being
Your are being given a story created by Jocko to build the Jocko mythos. Jocko will not let any truths get in the way of a good story about the mythical Jocko. His artisinal leather boots and cologne don't sell themselves, you know.
I have the same theory on women having been selected for caring about their environment.
I see that as an argument for choosing traditional gender roles because it seems to me that one of the main causes of conflict in 50/50 relationships are these arguments about chores, tidiness, etc.
Splitting chores 50/50 seems like asking for trouble given that men and women have evolved differently in this regard - he ends up feeling that she's endlessly nagging him, she ends up feeling that she has to manage him like a child.
Seems like the traditional breadwinner/homemaker setup would be a solution to this problem.
>but his spouse also had the opportunity to communicate about her feelings of neglect
According to the article:
"Hundreds, maybe thousands, of times, my wife tried to communicate that something was wrong. That something hurt. But that doesn’t make sense, I thought. I’m not trying to hurt her; therefore, she shouldn’t feel hurt"
At what point it's okay to stop "trying to communicate" and just leave?
I also wanted to comment on this.
What I have observed about FIRE folks is that they start optimizing everything for FIRE.
This isn't a healthy way to live, certainly not in the long run, and it's not like this goes away once they reach FIRE.
Here's an article where Mrs. Money Mustache shared how uncomfortable she was about her parents taking her and their son to the movies, then to an ice cream place.
She was already retired, literally a millionaire.
https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/07/27/youll-never-be-no...