Mini-Retirements

Mini-retirement is a term coined by Tim Ferris in his best-seller The 4-Hour Workweek. 

Instead of waiting for retirement, the author advocates for the distribution of long recovery periods (mini-retirements) throughout life on a regular basis to do what excites you. You work when you feel most effective, and enjoy high-quality leisure for the rest of the time.

I feel like this is an interesting alternative to the Financial Independence Retire Early (aka FIRE) movement. The FIRE philosophy prescribes its practitioners to live frugally, invest as much as they can to generate passive income, and quit working for money when they reach a certain financial threshold. This early retirement gives room for the individual to focus on more meaningful pursuits: people, high-quality leisure, etc.

I believe the first approach to be more suited to an entrepreneurial spirit, but the latter is more systematic and stable. 

My current philosophy combines the two: I live frugally (FIRE), work a few hours per month freelancing to spend the rest of my time pursuing meaningful business projects (mini-retirement), and hope to generate enough revenue to start investing until my interests cover my expenses (FIRE).