Last year, during my research into retirement transition I discovered a tool I’m calling 10 Lives. The tool has you list 10 lives you'd like to live and then “Pick one and just do it for a month.” It was a way of trying to overcome one of my fears with starting something – … Continue reading My Month of Yoga
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?
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
One of the important needs that working full-time met for me was providing me with a strong sense of identity, especially since I was a workaholic with no children and no hobbies. Recall the 5 important needs that a full-time career provides: Financial Compensation, Structure & Routine, Accomplishment & Utility, Social Affiliation, and Identity & … Continue reading Who Am I?
When I choose my word for the year to be Joy, I wanted to be happier every day. Transitions are hard, and I wanted to intentionally manage the roller coaster of feelings this huge change of entering retirement was creating in my life. Being the geeky researcher, I did a bunch of reading about emotions. … Continue reading Increasing Emotional Awareness
After 2 years into retirement, it seems like my weeks are either full of (self-chosen) activities or completely empty. Full and happy, this-is-great weeks. Or boring, am-I-failing-at-this-retirement-thing weeks. I’ve come to the conclusion that I need a life-concierge, one who is better at time management than me! When you are the concierge of your own … Continue reading Feast or Famine
When I retired, a few well-meaning individuals informed me that the ideal retirement lifestyle for “someone like me” was 30/30/30. Meaning: 30% of my time focused on work, 30% of my time focused on volunteering, and 30% of my time focused on leisure. Simple as that – go do it. Besides the fact it … Continue reading Retirement Myth Busting
I recently saw another “phases of retirement” description that again highlighted a negative phase – this one talked about a retirement phase where you become bored and depressed. A previous stages review had a stage called “Disappointment”. I’m starting to wonder, at 18 months into this thing called retirement, will I or won’t I…. become … Continue reading Will I or Won’t I…. become bored and depressed?
Reading through different people’s transition blogs and talking with retirees, I’ve concluded that retirement transition is an amazingly individual transition. Because you’re figuring out what you want to do next, it is all about you. It is nobody else’s “should”! But I’ve also realized, there are some things that many people feel. And knowing you’re … Continue reading We’ve got a Name for That
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