Retirement is a big transition that is meant to be celebrated. A time to reap the rewards of hard work and sacrifices for days of leisure. No more alarm clocks, schedules, or requirements! Or are there?
When you tell someone you are retired you frequently are asked “what did you do?” And from there you share all that you accomplished and the joys of a career. Why don’t people ask you what you do now? Aren’t your retirement years as fulfilling as your work years?
This is the key difference –establishing the retirement mindset. Retiring “to” rather than retiring “from”.
If you have already retired from something and feel a bit of depression and boredom, this is normal. Too often we tie our self-worth and image to our identity and can feel a sense of loss in the transition. Who are we now that we don’t “work”?
Retiring to retirement is allowing the acceptance of change. Planned change. Expected change. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Then why do some of us have such a difficult time accomplishing this?!
If you are preparing for retirement, what can you do, especially when you have a high degree of professional satisfaction? Ask yourself these questions:
- What is important to me? Adventure? Health? Spirituality? List your values. If you want a values worksheet to organize your thoughts, send me an email and I will send you a one-page sheet. We encourage you to narrow it to your top five values. Many say it is not as easy as it sounds! You be the judge.
- What made me so happy in what I do/did? For some it may be the social interaction with co-workers in delivering the product or service of the employer. For others, it may be the routine and expected course of the day with a sense of accomplishment at 5 pm. I like the sense of completing items on my work “to do” list. Do you too?
- What can I do now, or plan to do when I retire, to replicate this sense of satisfaction and happiness? As we dig into what keeps us going, what’s important to us, we are taking the time to understand who we are. I enjoy my profession of helping others. Customer service is very satisfying and seeing people achieve financial dreams of living their life to the fullest is my calling. What do you hear in that? Helping others will keep me fulfilled. What is yours?
- If this is important to me, then what am I willing to do to make it happen? Do you need to make a bucket list? Is there a hobby calling your name? Does every river in America await your kayak? Will the history channel satisfy your curiosity? The call to action is the most difficult part of the process. Seeing it in print is the first step to moving toward implementation.
Look at your schedule or calendar and take the time to create a vision of what you desire to do when you no longer report to work … your retirement calendar. Will your circadian rhythm match your work schedule? What will stay the same? What needs to be filled in the now empty spots?
Just like your work schedule that periodically changes, allow yourself permission to adjust as new information is provided. Do you want to watch all the reruns of Cheers?
The “ending” of a life phase(working) can take time to adjust to. Passage from “ending” of one phase to a “new normal” phase can take time. It often requires self-work too. Are you willing to give yourself compassion?
We help people create their personalized vision of the future to balance the now and the future living life to its fullest. Do you want to live life brilliantly? Call 602.923.9800 to schedule your complimentary consultation … what are you waiting for?
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