Congratulations! You made it…RETIREMENT! A nice office party and promises to keep in touch. You bring home the flowers and office gifts…now what? A long vista of golf or canasta? How about an adventure vacation? Pull up a map of the world! So many places to visit, especially if you have the means, enough to fill several lifetimes. But with all these choices, perhaps it feels like something is missing.
Purpose
In youth, a life without purpose can spell serious problems. The same is true for retirement. It’s worth spending some time–not just a few minutes or hours, but several weeks or even months–reviewing you life and contemplating a purpose for your next chapter. There could be more than one.
And if there are constraints shaping your life–health, finances, relationships–those need to be taken into account, but can also guide in shaping your life’s purpose. It need not be fully formed, and it definitely isn’t carved in stone. External options can offer some guidance, and spark ideas.
Options
With a little bit of luck, there are many doors you can open:
- Re-activate a sport, game or craft; or find a new one
- Invest time with family, friends, and community
- Volunteer
- Deepen a Spiritual practice or tradition
- Take classes
- Travel
- Re-engage in work
What do you Want? What do you Need?
Realistically, we must face the fact that our time is limited. We may want to do it all, but is that realistic? Many folks feel disoriented, unmoored, when they stop working, and realize that it provided more than just a paycheck, but also a social network, daily structure, and meaningful purpose in the world. I have found that carefully thinking about work can lead to a renewed zest for life.
Re-Engaging in Work
The idea that retirement equals a complete break from any form of work is outdated. Again, it’s worth consulting your purpose, and asking yourself: Do I have skills that I enjoy using? Would extra income make a real difference in my quality of life? Do I want to stay connected to my working community?
Again, there are many ways of doing this: a part-time job, freelancing, or consulting. But my personal favorite, which I found checked all the boxes for me: an online business. Here are my boxes:
- A low barrier to entry
- Age is not an issue
- Perhaps learning new skills–both challenging and satisfying
- Creating value in a new way
- Engaging in a new community
- Sharing my passion–Thriving in my 60’s and beyond–and inspiring others to do the same
Join me on this Journey!
The internet is full of advice and guidance on the financial planning aspect of retirement. And almost nothing else. I believe that finances are important, critical even, and I will be doing some deep-diving on opportunities that I have found. But meaning comes first.
The drive for purpose and fulfillment doesn’t abruptly end at retirement—quite the contrary. Yes, there will be challenges. But no age is immune to challenges in health, wealth and relationships. Join me. Together we can find meaning, opportunity, joy and support in this new Hero’s Journey.