Early Retirement Extreme Forums

Stahlmann wrote: ↑

Tue Jun 16, 2020 8:49 am

interesting time management skills over here.

You are really digging through the archives.

This is my first post. This thread, which taps into the past in a way that is moving for me, drew me out of the bleachers.

I miss Mike's posts over at lackingambition.com. A couple of times a year, I read them all. I wonder where he is, what he is doing.

I'm am old guy with little to add to the sage and thoughtful discussions here. I just wanted to weigh in to say that that Mr. Fisker (here) and Mike (lackingambition.com) literally changed my life a decade ago or so. I follow many of the journals here, too; they are inspirational and profound. Many of you are diarists, or novelists.

Thank you good folks here very much.

Same. I check his blog every once in a while to see if there is a new post. I wonder what he is doing as well.

Has anyone tried emailing him? mike@lackingambition.com

Same. Finding ERE and lackingambition back in 2011 changed my life.

I’ll have to check out lackingambition.com. What did you find to be most life hanging about it?

For me, the posts at lackingambition.com were, and are, influential for several reasons.

First, the philosophy it represents, similar to here. The approach is akin to Henry David Thoreau.

Second, the writing style and narrative. He is/was a terrific diarist. And again, in a way that is similar to some of the journals here.

And third, the fact that he just up and quit several years ago, seemingly disappearing overnight.

Same here. Stumbling onto Mike and Jacob back in 2013 was life changing. I literally googled "lacking ambition" and that led me to Mike which led me down the ERE rabbit hole. I've hopped onto lackingambition site a couple of times yearly just to check if there's been any update. Always wondered what he's up to now and if he's alright.

I would genuinely pay money for a "Where I am Now" update from Mike like what Jacob did here: https://www.getrichslowly.org/early-retirement-extreme/

OP last active: Fri Aug 22, 2014
Blog posts stopped around May 2014 as well.


Interesting. OP's blog was influential for me as well.

I always think the worst when people suddenly stop posting.

I probably check his blog about once a month, hoping for to find an update

Like others, I found MikeBOS entirely engaging. Partly because, as @ RockyMtnLiving points out, he grew into a truly excellent writer; and also, ditto, because he did FI 'a different way'.

Other early greats:

Brave New Life
Simple Living in Suffolk
JL Collins

The name of this thread just doesn't work anymore.

lackingambition.com is no more.

Too bad, very curious how he is, what happened. Back in the early days it was one of those blogs which influenced my thinking.

Sad day. It also makes me fear the worst.

As long as the site was still up, I could feel like the last few posts were a kind of mike drop (pun accepted). Write about the slacker job/investor combo, and then write about how the super wealthy aren't really happy with the day-to-day work of their additional projects. (Leaving aside a discussion of fulfillment versus happiness for now). I thought it was poetic.

I wish nihilists of the world could unite, but we don't usually see the point.

Law 16

This was a podcast appearance he did in 2013

https://www.madfientist.com/lacking-ambition-interview/

If I recall correctly, the impression I got from the podcast is that the house buying/fixing/renting had made him FI, or would soon. I've always assumed he's just living his life. Why assume something bad happened?

I'd like to believe that is the case.

The extra information is that his site went down. This certainly doesn't decrease the chance of something bad having happened.

Here's to hoping.