I guess I fall a little bit into the business owner category (sort of) and don't plan on an early retirement, but do believe in investing along the way. Maybe I have a sick sense of morbidity, but I enjoy solving the problems I face at work. Even when the sh!t hits the fans and you can't see which way is up, working through the issues and growing the business to something larger than me brings me a sense of purpose and joy. My current goal is to continue to pour soul, sweat, blood, and tears, into the business for the next 10 years hoping to grow revenues and profit from where we are at now and reevaluate my goals at that time after decreasing my personal leverage. As time goes on, I hope to be able to gain more and more freedom in the business and it hopefully won't need me as much in the future, but I intend to be a part of it as long as it is still fun for me and I'm looking at the long haul but investing in the short game too.
As far as my money strategies, I believe opportunities always find those that are ready to take advantage of them. I was given a copy of The Richest Man in Babylon by George Clason (which I recommend to anyone!) as I started college and have been grateful to almost always have been separating out 10% of my income to "pay myself first" and invest in the future along the way. As my income has grown so has the ability to invest both in continued deferment and from returns on investments. I have done this to be able to invest in commercial real estate opportunities, and continually place a small amount into a separate stock/BTC fund that started as fun area to play around in the markets, and is growing more than I thought it would in the amount of time invested (however, it is also far more risky than I would feel good about investing my whole savings in). I also defer enough money to max out the employer match of our 401k and max out our HSA contributions each year which grow with the market and will hopefully allow flexibility with medical costs as they grow with age. I am also now in the process of purchasing a portion of the business I work for from my father.
As I become more financially stable, I have definitely been investing in more fun as well. I hope to continue to invest in more and more experiences along the way rather than live in a miserly misery, but I will also continue to invest financially as well as opposed to spend it all. So maybe I take a middle of the road outlook? I feel like we are further ahead in retirement than many my age (35), but I also have no plan to retire early.