How to Retire by 20

Naturally, the title of this TED talk by Kristen Hadeed peaked my interest.

I couldn’t have found a better video to watch while sipping a cup of tea on a Thursday afternoon.

For the past few days I’ve been obsessed with the idea that the 10-year old you knows what’s best for the soul; it started with a similar idea from The Happiness Project by Gretchen Rubin.

I talked about this idea with my sister the other day while we were on a bike ride, and she was a little disappointed that her childhood self was unoriginal, in her opinion.

She loved business.

As a 10-year-old, she liked printing receipts (yes, she got a legitimate receipt printer as a Christmas present from Office Max because she wanted one that badly), putting change in her coin counter/sorter, and writing fake checks for everyone.

My dad still has a check for a million dollars that she wrote for him.

We laughed about her childhood interests and my own because of how much they stayed with us.

I liked to play school with imaginary students (and my poor little sister), I made up songs and sang them in the backyard, during free time at school and on the weekends I wrote stories and spent hours writing in my journal, I strummed the guitar while my dad played, I loved riding bikes with my friends, and being outside.

I pretty much do the exact same things today, although I write music indoors and strum my own guitar.

After having this conversation with my sister, it seems so clear that our 10-year-old selves really do know where our interests lie, and maybe we should consider that on a more regular basis.

This is why Hadeed’s closing line just made it to the top of my list of favorite quotes:

“I think that my inner child has always known what’s in store for me, and I think yours does, too.”

I love it.

What advice does your 10-year-old self have for you?