Companies hold exit interviews to learn why employees leave. Most people who reach FIRE need a harder version: an exit interview with themselves.
The goal is not permission. It is clarity. You are about to remove a large structure from your life. Before you do, ask what that structure was holding up.
Ask the ugly questions
What problem am I expecting retirement to solve? Which parts of work do I secretly like? Who will notice if I disappear from the professional world? What will I do on the third rainy Thursday after the celebration ends?
Also ask the financial questions plainly. What spending cuts happen after a market decline? Which account funds the first year? What work would I accept if the plan needed help?
Look for fantasy language
Beware answers that sound like stock photos: travel more, spend time with family, pursue passions, relax. These may be true, but they are not yet a plan. Replace them with specific behaviors: Tuesday lunch with my father, two months in Lisbon, three mornings a week writing before noon.
Write the resignation after the interview
If the answers are solid, the resignation becomes cleaner. If the answers are vague, wait or run a smaller experiment. Clarity is cheaper before the dramatic scene.
Use the math of walking away and the half-day life as prompts. The best exit is not a disappearance. It is a transfer of authority back to yourself.
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