You can do it while you have a monetary surplus. That just means that you spend less than you earn. You can do this indefinitely, even on a Bitcoin standard.

What becomes apparent with time is that your surplus declines in sats terms. You need to increase your productivity or decrease your consumption to reduce the decline in your sat surplus.

At some point you realize that there is a better use of your time than stacking an ever declining amount of sats. You accept that you have enough sats & shift your focus to something that excites you more.

This doesn't mean that you become unproductive. It just means that you no longer fear for your financial future.