This post completes Throwback Thursday across the 7 Domains of Life framework: Location/Lifestyle, Relationships/ Connections, Personal Development/Growth, Health/Wellbeing, Work/Career, Hobby/Leisure, Finances/Prosperity. Today is about Personal Growth/Development.
This last domain has always been the most difficult one for me as it is (in my framework) connected to purpose, legacy, and volunteering. In fact the “name” of the domain has even shifted from what I published in my book, Retirement Transitions (available – link here) to how I think about it now My domain name for this space ranged from Generativity to Legacy to Purpose to Spirituality to Self Development to Volunteering and all combinations of those terms! I’ve landed on thinking about it as Personal Growth/Development and it is inclusive of understanding purpose & legacy, exploring personal spirituality, and growing as an individual. In many ways it’s the “adult development phase” that’s associated with the age that many of us are at in early/mid retirement.
Here are a couple of Throwback posts as I explored the topic:
A significant part of my Personal Growth was beginning to understand Positive Psychology. I started dabbling in the concepts of positivity, optimism and happiness early in my retirement transition. I was a cynical, critical pessimist and essentially, I just wanted to be happier. The 2020 pandemic gave me time to delve even more deeply, taking classes in the Science of Wellbeing and Positive Psychology. I’ve come to realize that the 11 elements I summarized in Putting Positive Psychology into Practice (link below) is really my current roadmap for life!
- Turn that Frown Upside Down – Feb 2016
- Increasing Emotional Awareness – May 2016
- Review of The Science of Wellbeing – May 2020
- Putting Positive Psychology into Practice – October 2020
Here are the questions I’m focusing on at the moment:
- Am I spending my time and energy on activities that align to my core values – which are also reflected in my retirement lifestyle vision of being “active, connected, creative, and contemplative”? How can I continue to build my creative vision?
- How am I putting the Positive Psychology 11 elements into practice in my daily living? What am I doing to lean into believing “I am enough” and to dismiss the “compare and despair”? What else can I do to release self-limiting beliefs?
- What am I doing in regards to legacy? How am I thinking about philanthropy and volunteering activities as we relocate? Legacy/giving back remains an area I still feel I am not fully embracing in this life stage.
How would you name this broadly encompassing domain?
retirementtransition 