Successful Retirement

If you ask an under 30 what successful retirement means to them I’m sure at least 95 % of them would look mystified. Ask the same question to an over 50 and 95% of them would have an idea of how they want to spend their time and how their process for planning for it is progressing. So where’s and what is the tipping point?

The traditional word ‘retirement’ brings to mind a mid-sixties person who has committed to a career for 40 or more years. They’ve earned a change of routine and no longer want to work.

There’s a new perception of retirement evolving though and it’s this – a time where you no longer need to work, but you choose to because the selected work that you contribute to is something you love. Where there’s financial independence in someones 30s, 40s or 50s they might realistically ‘retire’ from the need to work and commit time only to the people and projects that uplift their lives, utilise their skills and get the outcomes that makes them most happy.

Whatever type of retirement you’ve created in your mind, one things’ for sure, to make it successful you have to be clear what you want to spend your time on. It could be any or all of family, reading, consulting, sport, travel, investment in your community, new learning, relaxing, campaigning … anything at all – the time is yours to design and develop as you wish.

Change of any kind can be challenging so when 40 years of routine with a community of colleagues comes to an end, don’t be to hard on yourself if the adjustment to managing your own time takes a bit of a while. The key is persisting, planning, doing more of what you notice you’re enjoying and less of what you notice you’re not.

Succeeding with significant life changes make up much of what we have conversations about at Healthy Chat. Clients get super clear on what success would look like for them  – they imagine, they speak it out, they hear themselves be convincing and subsequently their brain is honed to bring about that satisfying outcome for them in as short a time as possible. Whether it’s retirement, relationships, career change, lifestyle change, successful marriage, friendly divorce, teenage changes, it’s always a smoother process to get right first time (because we all get their in the end …even if it takes a few shots) when there’s clarity, a strategy and a heap of positive feedback.

Successful retirement – you can, you can, you can.