Getting to retirement feels like a dance. On ice. But I don’t know how to skate.

My writing and thoughts have started to shift. Up until now, I’ve viewed my plan to retire at a certain date or “number” as the starting point for finally getting my act together. I was tracking toward that date to “start” a new life.

It’s like the famous Delayed Gratification test: Don’t eat the marshmallow for 15 minutes, and you’ll get a second one. In the FIRE crowd, we sometimes delay for 15 years to get a “second life” in retirement. I’ve been guilty of this—procrastinating on the things I could do today because I will be able to them “someday” when I am retired.

I often use the expression, “If not now, then when?” but I’ve always tied it to a magical date, as if that date will provide the answers or the perfect path to happiness and contentment. But when is the future? I was trying to put a calendar date on it, but the answer to “If not now, then when?” is buried right in the question.

The answer is now. Not in five months, not in 17 months, but right now.

Most of the changes I want to make can be done regardless of my employment status. I need to tackle each one now and iterate until I’m happy with the results:

• Great relationship with the kids? Do it NOW. Put a plan in place and take the first step.
• Improve the relationship with Padme? Do it NOW.
• Get healthy? You see it coming: Do it NOW. Go to the gym daily and break the momentum of inactivity.

If work gets in the way, I’ll reduce it to four days a week. If it’s still in the way, I’ll leave when I hit my number. But there is no reason not to live the way I want to now. The plan must serve me; it can change to meet my priorities. The checklist below represents those priorities.

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The T-5 Monthly Checklist

Spouse (Mission Control) – Grade: B – Padme is on board with me changing my work structure. She has no issue with me moving to four days a week and would actually be relieved if I did that instead of retiring fully. Retirement still isn’t on her radar —it just means a different plan for my time when I do eventually sign off.

Physical Fitness (Engines) – Grade: F – Totally off the rails. I haven’t stepped foot in a gym in 30 days. The “Christmas social life” started in mid-December and rolled straight into February. The more I’m around people, the more I release the restraints on eating and drinking. I need to figure out how to act 53 instead of 18 when I’m around junk food.

Hobbies (Writing) – Grade: A – I wrote 8 articles and 8 drafts in 30 days and enjoyed it more than ever. I even found a fellow writer to meet with once a month to talk shop.

Hobbies 2 (Anything Else) – Removed – I’m removing this as a goal. I don’t see myself actively looking for a second hobby while I’m writing this much and trying to prioritize exercise.

Social Life – Grade: A – I’ve started looking for a “Mastermind” group. Family was in town for a week in January, we reconnected with old friends, and I even looked up a friend from university.

Health – Grade: B+ – Had my physical and colonoscopy with no issues. I’m at “that age,” and it’s time to act like it. My knee is also feeling better than it has in a long while.

Social Media Habit – Grade: F – Still falling down internet rabbit holes for several hours a day for no reason.

Proactive Plans with Kids – Grade: C+ – The goal is to get closer to them and do one-on-one activities while they’re still in the house. We do Christmas well, but I need to find more shared interests outside of the holidays.

Connect with a Tribe – Grade: B – I’ve been emailing with a few bloggers. Some have checked out the site, commented, and linked back to my EconoMe posts, though I haven’t done anything in person yet.

Money – Grade: F No change. I’m conservative as hell right now. The market noise is hard to shut out. I’m feeling both Fear and FOMO. I need to finalize my IPS (Investment Policy Statement) and just start dollar-cost averaging to get it done.

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Overall Grade: C+

Until I turn the fitness around as a base for everything else, this grade won’t improve. I need a system and I need to prioritize my health to feel better about where I’m going.

But I’ll be the first to admit: breaking momentum is brutal. Physics tells us that an object in motion stays in motion, and my “motion” lately has been fueled by social media rabbit holes and holiday leftovers. 

When you’ve spent years building a certain set of habits, shifting to new ones feels like trying to start a giant boulder rolling. It takes a massive, uncomfortable burst of energy just to get it to budge. 

The ‘Dark Side’ of my old routine has a powerful grip, and the gravity of ‘how I’ve always done it’ is a heavy lift.. But the beauty of momentum is that once you force it to shift, it eventually starts working for you instead of against you. The hardest part is always that first inch of movement.

I think I heard somewhere I should do it NOW.

1 marshmallow now or 1 Galaxy later…. damn it just bring me chocolate to dip in