Given that my goal is the Renaissance lifestyle but not complete Financial Independence, how can I judge whether I have created a resilient model for intermittent and/or part-time work? These are my personal categories for Renaissance Lifestyle which I created prior to reading ERE or joining this forum:Within the context of the Renaissance lifestyle (see A Renaissance Lifestyle) there are three financial strategies to pursue: Intermittent work (see Intermittent Work), financial independence (early retirement), or semi-retirement supported by a form of part-time work(see Financial Independence and Investing.)
I am thinking that if I am successfully engaged in activities/projects/goals/practices in all of these categories (perhaps in rotation rather than simultaneously) and the intermittent and/or part-time work I am choosing to engage in is either in alignment with one of these categories or at the very least not counter-productive to any of them and I am at least saving some money (net worth line on graph going up) then I will have successfully achieved my version of the Renaissance lifestyle. Are there other metrics I am ignoring or more concrete ones that I might follow? IOW, maybe what I am looking for here is given that I am quite confident that I can keep my monthly living expense under $X and I can employ myself or be other-employed in intermittent and or part-time work(s) that is in alignment with one of these categories that pays $Y/hr. , what might be reasonable parameters for T (hours engaged in paid employment), P ($ passive income) and C1 (number of desired lifestyle categories with which chosen paid employment is in alignment) and C2 (number of currently possible sources of part-time/intermittent work which are in alignment with chosen lifestyle?) Or something like that?Category #1-Knowledge and Skill Attainment
Category #2-Spiritual and Social Practice
Category #3- Health and Fitness
Category #4-Beauty, Style and Charm
Category #5-Home, Hearth, Garden
Category #6-Travel and Novel Experience
Category #7-Financial Practice
Category #8-Trade and Entrepreneurial Activities
Category #9- Creative Projects
Category #10- Meta-planning and Organizational Projects
For instance, I think a Renaissance lifestyle that was dependent on part-time and/or intermittent income would be more resilient if you had the skills and experience to be confident that there were 20 (C2) different creative projects you could work on this year, any of which would likely produce some income or if your source of part-time/intermittent employment was very much in alignment with several of your categories, for instance, a friend of mine runs a green lawn-mowing service which would be in alignment with my categories (3,5 and 8.)
Of course, I'm sure that the rule of "If you have to ask then you aren't there yet." very much applies here but I think it would be helpful to have some metrics to shoot towards, like the 4% equation for those who are seeking complete financial independence before they balance out their lifestyle.