As kids, teens, and young adults we are regularly asked - what do you want to be when you grow up? During this retirement transition, I’ve continued to struggle in defining (discovering?) my passion - what do I want to do/who do I want to be? I just finished reading the book I Could Do Anything, … Continue reading What do I want to be when I grow up?
Almost every article about having a fulfilling retirement or improving your longevity includes strong advice on the need to be connected socially at this next stage of life. A blogger friend (Donna at Retirement Reflections) even recently posted a bunch of the research supporting this importance of family support. She did it in the context … Continue reading Family Reality
Being relatively new to retirement, I am finding there is a learning curve. It’s more than learning about an interest area. It’s learning how to live. Here are some of the specific things I am learning about life in retirement: In retirement, you choose how to spend your days. This is a bit of a … Continue reading What I am Learning in Retirement
My word for this year is Joy. Living a year of finding joy in the little moments, finding joy in not working, and finding joy in exploring new things has been uplifting. New things that added joy to my life: a long-weekend trip to NOLA with hubby, Zumba, Cooking Boot Camp, regular beach yoga in … Continue reading The Joy of Not Working
One of the core premises of the most recent (self-help) book I am reading is that your current life challenges are based in belief systems established in your formative years. While I had never ascribed to the premise that your childhood defines you, there is something to be said for how this book has recently … Continue reading Does Zip-Lining “resolve” my childhood belief systems?
Recently I’ve heard a number of folks talking (both live and on blogs) about “failing at retirement” and returning to work fulltime. While in some cases, these individuals discovered that they get a lot of personal satisfaction from their work, others in fact failed to replace full-time work with anything, and therefore defaulted to go … Continue reading The Work of Retirement
As I looked back at my 7 Life Domains Model on which I based my retirement life vision, I realized that I had not fully investigated the area of Self-Development/Volunteering. Serendipity has raised her head on this topic as well: A friend recently sent me the quote “You are either green and growing or ripe … Continue reading What is Personal Growth in Retirement?
I really enjoyed reading the in-depth survey recently published by Age Wave/Merrill Lynch where they talk about the 4 phases of retirement. Having just passed my 2-year into retirement mark, I have definitely lived the “2-year retirement transition” phase they called Liberation and Self-Discovery. I do believe I am entering the next (quite long) phase … Continue reading Freedom versus Commitment
Recently, one of the bloggers I followed recommended a new book by an author I had read during my transition. This new book, as with many authors, includes a repeat of some of the same great tools and exercises the author finds especially useful – in this case tools to aid in transitioning. It made … Continue reading Hindsight
As part of my training for becoming a Retirement Life Coach, I was exposed to some interesting theory on how we think and act, which then evolved into the hypothesis that we have innate strengths at each stage of the thinking/acting process. Here’s a short synopsis of personality functions through the thinking/acting process from the … Continue reading Thinking Strengths & Personality
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