r/leanFIRE_India • u/village_love • 3d ago
Advice Request Lean FIRE is changing my mindset, and I’m struggling to stay motivated at work
I’ve always been an ambitious person. I used to be smart, quick, and highly driven at work, but I’ve never really liked corporate culture.
The main reason I kept pushing myself was financial security. My family had debt, and I worked hard to clear it before getting married. Since I didn’t have any financial backup, I always felt that I had to keep working hard and building a secure future.
Now, I’m getting closer to my Lean FIRE target, which I expect to reach in the next 2–3 years. But something has changed in me along the way.
I’ve started playing safe, avoiding visibility, and losing the ambition I once had. Some days, I don’t even feel like opening my laptop or talking to colleagues. I’m just tired of the meetings, office politics, corporate expectations, and the whole cycle of proving myself over and over again.
The frustrating part is that I know I’m still capable. If I focus for 3–4 months, I genuinely believe I could land a new job with a 50% hike. But the thought of joining a new company, meeting new people, navigating politics, and starting the entire cycle again makes me feel exhausted before I even begin.
At the same time, I know I still have a few years to go before I can comfortably step away from full-time corporate work. I don’t want my current mindset to affect my performance or put my financial goals at risk.
I’m not sure whether I’ve genuinely lost my ambition or whether I’m simply mentally exhausted after spending so many years working toward financial security.
I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have gone through this phase. I want to get through the next few years without feeling like I’m just dragging myself through every working day.
Crafted with AI as my english sentences have grammatical mistakes
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u/FIREAWAY2030 3d ago
Same boat. Had absolutely lost all ambition. Luckily a long pending internal transfer opportunity came knocking & spouse too needed a break, so took it up.
New country, lots to explore. Keeps me motivated a bit though i still detest those meetings/politics/fake-conversations at office.
And ofcourse I still have sometime before reaching my FIRE number. LeanFIRE might be within a year but no harm in accumulating some more till my visa expires 🙂
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u/village_love 3d ago
I explored onsite oppertunity also. I loved the country and change in the environment for few months later same story. So I moved back to India
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u/FIREAWAY2030 3d ago
Haha can imagine. Same here. New country etc feels nice for sometime, post that reality hits. Earlier stints used to be a bachelor so it was easy to live out of suitcase. But now at 40, with spouse & kid its becoming difficult to move around too frequently
Lets see how long I can
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u/think_2times 3d ago
As someone who hit their lean fire target and was laid off cause my motivation levels just crashed.
It will happen.
Take the break and find what you love to
Do.
I am on thay journey, been 2 months still confused but there is no rush
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u/lurkingduringworking 3d ago
Wasn't the layoff org wide/company wide? It really might not have been your fault.
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u/think_2times 2d ago
Nah it was targeted a few people
Let go every few weeks. That crushed my motivation too.
Seeing sequence of return risk play our right when I hit the stop button on payslips.
Keeping expenses low hoping the 2 years expenses in Fixed income help me ride out this market
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u/singingtable 3d ago
What’s your lean fire target ?
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u/village_love 3d ago
My leanfire target is to generate 75k per month.
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u/caltech456 3d ago
Means 75k *12 *25 i.e. 2.25 Cr?
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u/village_love 3d ago
My calculation is not based on SWP.
I divided my networth into two parts, one is Core and other is growth.
Core Section: This should support my monthly expenses without touching the principle amount. Like getting rents, agriculture lease and bond returns. Equity market returns shouldn't effect this.
Growth Section: I invest in MF and Individual stocks, these returns are future purpose only. Mostly I will not pass it to kids.
First focus is to build Core section and then build
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u/Technical-Camel-124 3d ago
For anyone else reading this comment, the multiplier this user has applied (25x) is generally considered too low for Indian early retirement. They will likely try to argue that leanFIRE requires a lower multiplier than regular FIRE, which is plain wrong. https://www.reddit.com/r/leanFIRE_India/s/15cR6oXJ8a
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u/imran8829 3d ago
what's the leanFire target OP???
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u/Grand-Ambition3215 3d ago
Absolutely fucking identical. But my lean fire is 25k per month so i guess it’s not a mountain to climb. Maybe a few more good years and i can kick it off
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u/Mediocre_Shock_8699 3d ago
Once you know, you have a cane to lean on you start leaning on it. Even when your legs are fine. Mind is like legs only.
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