Stop competing. Life is more or less meaningless. One of the ways some people cope is competition. You don't have to be high-performance. No one except the people profiting from your labor really care about your high performance. The work you are producing is being put into the dustbin of history more quickly than you realize.
I quit my job. Had some garage sales. Went on some road trips. Now I freelance. I can work hard for good clients, and when the project is over I can take a couple of months off.
I work remotely in a relatively low cost of living area. I have one car and a 800 sq ft house. Life doesn't have to be that hard.
Do you mind sharing your age (ballpark range) and savings (ballpark range)?
I often read about such lifestyle, but something that would haunt me is what you would do as you age and as work dries up.
I think I'd be more comfortable with first working the hard years in silicon valley while living as frugally as possible to have savings to not ever work again, and then you can move to a low COL area to either start a startup or freelance. Theoretically with a FAANG or comparable pay job, you can get to such financial position in about 10-15 years of work.
I quit my job. Had some garage sales. Went on some road trips. Now I freelance. I can work hard for good clients, and when the project is over I can take a couple of months off.
I work remotely in a relatively low cost of living area. I have one car and a 800 sq ft house. Life doesn't have to be that hard.