The Early Retirement Golden Girl
Hello everyone! Did you see Alysa Liu’s gold medal performance at the Olympics? It was tireless, fun, and motivating. He jumped over the ice and won the heart of everyone watching. Words can’t do it justice—go check it out if you haven’t seen his shows. I haven’t watched the kids skate in years, but I sang at the right time this year. Now I’m a big fan.
Burning
How does this relate to FIRE? However, he stopped skiing four years ago, when he was only 16! By then, he had won two US National Championships and many other awards. But Alysa was burned.
He was disappointed by the complete lack of independence. The coaches controlled every aspect of his life: what he should eat, when to exercise, and who would be seen. When she was 16, she didn’t know how to stand up for herself. He stopped enjoying the game, and his performance went down. In 2022, he announced his retirement and went to find himself.
Finding Yourself
After giving up skiing, he tried to be a normal teenager. He enrolled at UCLA to study psychology, went to Mount Everest Base Camp, got his driver’s license, and hung out with his friends. Okay, maybe that’s not “normal,” but good for him!
In 2024, he went skiing in Lake Tahoe and rediscovered the “need for speed.” If you’ve ever been skiing or snowboarding, you know how addictive the speed of going down the slope can be. It reminded Alysa of how skating used to feel, and she wanted more. He went to the rink, tried a double Axel, and realized he had it figured out.
Alysa decided to try to come back, and this time she will control her own destiny. He chose a coach who allowed him to be himself, Phillip DiGuglielmo. He skated for fun, rather than for a prize, and the result was Olympic Gold. That’s what independence gives you (and world-class talent.)
A Study of Fire
Normal people like us don’t have Alysa’s talent, but that’s where FIRE comes in. Financial Independence can give us that same independence.
Alysa was 16 when she hit her wall; I was 16 years into my engineering career when I hit mine. Burnout has no age limit. Whether you are a professional gamer or a Senior Engineer, the symptoms are the same. You feel like you can’t keep up, and you need to GTFO. Many people hold on and feel bad because there is nothing they can do. However, FI gave me the opportunity to leave.
I retired from engineering and became a blogger/SAHD. The last 14 years were amazing. However, life changes. My son is older now and doesn’t need me as much, and blogging is almost dead. But I live with that because FI is still with me. I look forward to the next chapter.
Even if you love your job today, I encourage you to prioritize financial independence. You never know when life—or your feelings about your job—will change. Alysa loved skiing when she was five years old, but she still needed that “retirement” to find her way back to the fun.
Are you working for FIRE as an “exit strategy,” or are you looking to freelance to redefine your current role?
Bonus: His short program.
Image credit: Wikimedia common
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