Ask HN: What would you do every day, assuming you didn't need to work? - andrewstuart
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wesammikhail
6 months ago, the fin-tech company I founded 1.5 years earlier got acquired
and I´ve been asking myself that same question for the past few months now. I
don´t need to work ever again in my life as this is my second successful exit
(I´m 30 years old) but now comes the hard part. What do I do next?

I have been mostly experimenting with new ideas, trying to find some
interesting new verticals within which I can start a new business or perhaps
change course completely and help other entrepreneurs reach their goals. So
I´m considering starting my own angel investment firm as it has been a life
long dream of mine. However, the harder I look, the less excited I get about
the state of early stage tech companies - especially here in Europe where I
currently live. I wish Scandinavia´s startup scene was in better shape but I´m
getting somewhat discouraged having seen how tiny the supply of well thought-
out early stage businesses is.

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dave84
I’m in the lucky enough position that I have 10 weeks continuous off over the
summer. I’m also constrained by the fact that I’m not rich.

I spend more time with my kids, retired parents and friends, I cook more
elaborate meals, go to the seaside/trails, cycle and walk more, read books, go
to the gym/Jiu Jitsu, play/learn guitar, tackle the never ending list of
things to be done around the house, learn something technical, do some online
courses, occasional consulting. That’s about it.

I think I’d need something bigger to work towards if it was the rest of my
life though. I’d probably start a small software company.

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pr07ecH70r
Read, read, read and read! Explore more "inputs" from different topics.
Exercise regularly, eat healthy and have virtually no stress. ...and read even
more. :)

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tudelo
Play too many video games. If my income is the same as it is now, spend too
much money on clothes and going out. Do some programming but probably not as
much, and only on things I am interested in, such as open source game clients.
I currently read a lot (though not traditional books usually, but I have done
a lot of that in the past) so I would probably read more. Oh, and waste time
on hackernews/stackexchange/reddit.

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jasonkester
This is why it's important to have other interests besides just what you do at
your day job. This question stops being a question if you're already looking
forward to the weekends so that you can get out and do $X, and you rearrange
things and take unpaid leave so that you can get in a big six week $X trip
every year.

Sadly, lots of people make it all the way to retirement without ever really
finding their $X. They're suddenly dumped out on the world with nothing to do
and have to scramble to find a hobby. But it doesn't usually seem to work. You
don't want to learn Fly Fishing at 65 because you have nothing better to do.
You want to have it have been your passion for the last 30 years and now you
get to go out and pursue it for real, all day every day.

Like a few others on this thread, I got myself into this position pretty early
in life (through slow, deliberate, effort rather than exit event, but with
essentially the same result). Fortunately, I already knew what I wanted to do
every day.

To sum up: Find your thing _today_ and start doing it. Today. Don't wait until
some magic event in the future that may never come.

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Noumenon72
I did this for 1 of the 2.5 years I was unemployed (the rest I was actually
studying programming, which counts as work).

I read a lot of fitness articles about joints and fixed things that were
broken about my body with careful therapy exercises. You have to keep fit, but
you have time to do it the fun way, so I took up ice skating, kayaking, and
skiing. With enough time to read and practice you can get lots better than
most adult learners.

I didn't visit any friends and don't regret that at all. I played with a lot
of nieces and nephews.

There is still more entertainment in the world than you can consume even 24/7,
and you can still wish for more free time even when you have nothing but. I
would stop working in a second if I didn't have to.

Although, one thing I will also do is feel guilt that everyone else is working
and I've got it so nice. Even though I came by the money honestly, it's just a
waste of potential. I'm not sad I quit the job I couldn't stand but I'm glad I
went back to work eventually.

~~~
jchonphoenix
Genuinely curious how you fixed your joints. Do you have any reading or tricks
that you learned?

~~~
MichaelKovacs
+1, would love to know as well what you did to fix your joints

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nniroclax
I would wake up early and go surfing. Then I'd come home, shower, go meet some
friends for coffee, work on a side project for a few hours (whatever that may
be at the moment), make myself some lunch, go for a walk, do a bit of
learning, prepare dinner, eat/hang out with some friends/family/SO, read a bit
of HN, go to sleep, and wake up and do it all over again.

I'm working on incorporating aspects of that ideal day into my every day. As
others have mentioned, there's no use in waiting until 'one day' to start.

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Veen
Assuming we're talking about having enough money to retire with a decent
income, I would enroll in an online art history degree course from an
institution like the Open University in the UK. Then I'd spend my time
traveling around the world looking at the paintings and visiting historical
locations while I learn. I'd live in Florence for a few months while learning
about the history of Renaissance art and so on.

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ericathegreat
Gardening, teaching, volunteering. Make a go of a few of my side projects,
knowing that if they failed it would be okay.

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bobochan
I would volunteer to teach programming, particularly at the high school or
junior college level. I teach graduate students now but the real need is for
people that really love the material to impart that excitement to students
that are just starting to discover it.

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mud_dauber
related "what's your end game?" thread:
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16418842](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=16418842)

~~~
toomuchtodo
I just wanted to say thanks for posting this thread again. I had previously
favorited your comment from that thread, forgotten about it, and it was
exactly what I needed where I’m at in my life right now.

~~~
mud_dauber
You're very welcome. I hope you're able to turn this "slacker for
intellectuals" ethos into reality. (I'm doing my best as well.)

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0_gravitas
Work on things that I want to work on and learn things that I want to learn.

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mimixco
Start another company.

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highhedgehog
Most likely backpacking

