This Road Exists
Why I Chose to Walk It and Why You Might Too
Most people my age are trying to wind down. I’m just getting started. It is not because I wanted to. It’s because I had to.
The Road Itself
I create images for many different topics. My prompting continues to get better. This image of a quiet dirt road winding through a golden valley and disappearing into mist-covered mountains was designed to be the road less traveled. Peaceful. Unassuming. And yet, it said everything I couldn’t quite put to words.
This is the road.
The one most people don’t see, because they’re too busy motoring down the paved highway that everyone else is on. Living life in the fast lane. This road? It’s slower. Uneven. It demands that you pay attention to each step.
For me, it represents the journey of the 5%. The 5% Club is filled with those who don’t follow the crowd into quiet desperation. The ones who wake up after 50 and realize we have two choices. We can fade out quietly… or start carving a new path from scratch.
It’s not glamorous. It’s not fast. But it’s mine. It is the path I chose to take. When I created that image, I realized that my life's choices brought me to this point. And I will enjoy the rest of my journey.
Why My Road is Less Traveled
This road requires something most people are afraid to have. A belief in yourself when it feels like no one else does. I have had numerous people, family included, that you are wasting your time. What have you gained from the time and effort that you have put into this? Especially after 60? The world starts sending subtle (and some not-so-subtle) signals that your time has passed. Employers where I have interviewed for new positions ask me for a "two-year" outlook. I say I have seven years left to pay off my mortgage, and another 3 to reinvest in it. I have a "ten-year" plan. But don't you know that reinvention is a young person’s game, and that you should play it safe from here on out.
But working and "playing it safe" our whole lives is what got so many of us stuck in the first place.
This road I am on is quiet, because not everyone is willing to bet on themselves. Not everyone is willing to start over, to master something new, to risk being a beginner again. Let alone starting over while juggling responsibilities, fatigue, and doubts that get louder with age. Time is precious, why waste what's left?
But we walk it anyway.
Because we know what’s at the end of the other road, a toll booth.
And we’re no longer willing to accept that as our story.
Why I Still Walk It
Some days, I don't want to walk this road. The 76-hour work week I came off of took all of my energy. I couldn't walk it, I had to crawl it.
My alarm routinely goes off at 4 am. There are mornings when I feel like I’ve lost time I’ll never get back. But the Just Over Broke (JOB) calls. It has stolen the last 10 years of my life. My nights and weekends are where I’m replaying replays, because I couldn’t attend something live. Sorry, Jay, for not being in class again. Then there are the weeks where progress feels invisible.
Shiny New Thing Syndrome is Real, and that monster is a time thief. Yet what it steals from you in time, it rewards you in knowledge.
And I still show up.
I walk this road because I know what's behind me, and I'm not going back.
I am not chasing riches. Comfort, maybe, but not riches. I know that Money Follows Mastery. I will be the master of my niche when all is said and done. I will have helped many more people avoid the fate that I knew all too well.
I didn’t choose this road because it was scenic.
I chose it because it was the only one that pointed forward.
Even if it’s slower. Even if it’s lonelier. Even if no one claps at the finish line but me, I will know when I get there. I walk it because it’s mine.
This Road Exists. Now It’s Time to Walk It - Join Me
If you’re still reading this, maybe you’re already on your own version of this road. Or maybe you’ve just realized you’re standing at the exit and staring down the quiet path most people ignore.
Either way, I want you to know something
You are not alone.
And more importantly, you’re not too late.
This journey, this road less traveled, isn’t reserved for the lucky. It’s been adopted by those of us who were underprepared, underestimated our needs, or we simply out of time. Our options are running out. Fear can be a very motivating factor. The fear of knowing that you will never be able to retire affects 80% of Americans.
Niche Blogging and Affiliate Marketing are the new norm for people desperate for a change. Income in Retirement, supplementing my retirement income, is why I came to Wealthy Affiliate. The Entrepreneurial Spirit that this platform teaches, the business side of life, will set you up for success.
But you must walk the path that is set before you.
Whether you’re crawling this path like I was last week or just now lacing up your boots, I invite you to join The 5% Club. Not because we’re better, but because we’re done waiting. We’re done playing it safe. We’re building something that’s ours.
Let’s walk this road together.
One blog post. One skill. One decision at a time.
Recent Comments
23
Hello Don,
You are welcome. I believe in you.
I'll be keeping an eye out for more of your work.
Wishing you a blessed day and a wonderful weekend ahead.
Makinde
Great post Mr. Don! Love reading your reading your dailys posts. Your an asset to the community. Hope you day and week ahead is filled with success!
I appreciate the read on a weekend. You must be a fellow traveler... Welcome to The Road...
It is 3 am here. Do you know where I left my sanity??
I have been arguing with Chatty for the last hour and a half over a new subtitle...
But the new home page is taking shape.
Don
I came back to the USA to retire.
Then I found out that due to location the house we wanted to buy would require we get a loan. In order to get a loan you have to show a good income/debt ratio and the only way to do that was to get a job.
So, I know the feeling of trying to get a job at 63. It took me 5 months and its a young man's job. Lifting, installing, and removing 50 lb. pieces of network equipment.
We've now got the house and don't really need to work for someone else; however, we can use the "extra" income to make purchases for the house we just bought. Things I've longed to have but never bought because we were living overseas the past 27 years.
Plus, I've made the limit on earned income so drawing social security isn't an option this year.
This is our final house so we're making it the way we like it.
I'm thinking I'll work another year and a half, unless I can get something else to click sooner that would substitute the income from my full time job.
That's why I continue to pursue the entrepreneur route, even though I've done it sporadically over the past 10 years.
Let's do this!
Les
Wes, they keep us going with all of these minor details.
I was thinking about going the other way, when I retired, leaving the US for Greece or Chile (family is in both countries). Spend the rest of my life at the ocean or on the Mediterranean, and write about what a long, strange trip it's been.
2025 is going to be an interesting year. Between AI, learning to build bots, following Web3, and keeping my blogging mission and niche selection service moving forward.
How many people are in the "I'm 62 and Can't Retire - Yet!" trap?
That's an interesting question. My cousin who's a few months younger than I took the social security route and works part-time to max out his earned income.
My guess is from those I've talked to at or after retirement age and are still working is that they are afraid they'll die because they won't have anything to do. Or, they don't have any active hobbies and will get bored if they'll retire so they continue to work.
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I appreciate this, Mr. don1. I'm thinking all the time about starting over; why waste what's left? I'm 71 and not ready to lie down and die. My day job, 'Just Over Broke,' is still what I do today, but I'm ready to move on to a Big and better WA!
With focus, a unique voice, and a helpful attitude, it can happen.
Thanks, Don, I will take that into consideration. I believe I have the voice and a helpful attitude; I need more focus! Thanks again