> … "higher purpose (or something that motivates/obsesses me)."
The magic trick here is to find something you truly enjoy doing and then figure out how to get other people to pay you to do that thing for them. Contract work/freelancing can be a joyful and rewarding way to live a "sovereign" life. ;)
The question is why would they want to live like that? Are they still in control, or is it our capitalist society's firm grip on our lives that tells us we have to become ever more efficient, ever more robot-like?
It's a serious question about the meaning of life. Do we want our societies be run like Toyota factories?
Sorry for the late reply, I didn't realize people were actually commenting here...
So coming back to your question:
In my case, I'm lucky enough to work for a company that is entirely distributed and decentralized and doesn't actually tell me when and how long to work as long as the output is sound.
Obviously, in practice you most often have to put in some hours to get stuff done (that's what I'm being paid for after all). So while my work schedule isn't enforced, I chose for myself to work at these hours (not just for my employer) because I tend to function best at those hours.
Now... do I want to reserve several hours of each day for work for the rest of my life? Certainly not. But that's what work right now for me and it can and will totally change in the future.
The magic trick here is to find something you truly enjoy doing and then figure out how to get other people to pay you to do that thing for them. Contract work/freelancing can be a joyful and rewarding way to live a "sovereign" life. ;)