 Who are You and What Do you Want?
Take a look back at photos of your parents at the age you are now. Did they look serene and content? Or did they
already look old and resigned?
Like it or not they were your
first models for retirement. You
may look like them but do
you feel like them? Do you want
to live their idea of
retirement, or your own?
The Function of Work
Whether or not you enjoy your
work you will miss it more than you
think.
Work not only provides us with
income. It provides several other
valuable functions in our lives. It
provides us with accolades,
friendship, a creative outlet, time
management functions, structure,
discipline and purpose.
Quite simply, work also provides
us with a place to get up and go to
when we wake each day. The absence
of work removes the differentiation
between workday and weekend and
between business and leisure. This
can be refreshing and wonderful for
a while. The prospect of having a whole day stretching ahead of you like a blank canvas may seem like heaven at first. But, put a blank canvas on your wall and see how long it holds your interest.
At some point you'll long for
some color.
Nature abhors a vacuum.
If you’re used
to the adrenaline fix of the
office and the ever-present
deadline how will you replace
those functions?
You may think you’re more than ready to get rid of the workplace
and its stresses and grueling
routine. But what will you replace
it with? How will you use your time?
Will you travel for the sake of traveling or will you travel to discover yourself in other cultures? What happens when you’ve made the obligatory round of the kids and taken one or two cruises? When you’re back home in an empty house with your suitcases still in the hall,
what then? Will you hit the road again or will you embark on an exploratory journey without leaving home?
Will you discover yourself?
We’ve all lamented the passing of time. Kids grow faster than weeds. Our
plans take a nosedive seemingly overnight. Projects go unfinished. Dream vacations are canceled for more sensible, pressing concerns.
This is your chance to do what you always wanted to do. Now you just have to figure out what that is. Or own up to what you already know.
What do you know that you pretend not to know?
I utilize a combination of modalities. I begin with the strong basis of the
Retirement Success Profile Assessment. This is a time-tested, proven, scientifically-based profile which evaluates your current state of mind and preparation
level regarding your retirement.
After you receive your 20 page customized report I interpret the results and make you aware of your strength factors and focus factors. At this point I may provide additional exercises and assessments to illuminate key issues.
As we work together, I utilize a unique combination of classical coaching techniques, Constructive Living re-education assignments, Eastern philosophy and plain-old common sense to help you design and build the retirement you want. With your permission I may also introduce awareness practice, meditation and contemplative exercises based on Japanese "quiet" therapies.
I can work within the traditional coaching framework of goal-setting, planning and accountability and frequently incorporate these aspects into my work. But experience has shown me that a longer lasting, more deeply satisfying result is obtained by also working with my client’s relationship to self, reality and others. To this end, I do not work the same way with any two clients. Your unique personality and gifts will determine what path we take.
The "old Retirement" was about doing nothing, having no structure and no place you needed to be.
This works for a while. But when the honeymoon was over the
"old Retirement" often produced a sense of estrangement from community, fragmentation, purposelessness, a sense of not being useful anymore and life passing you by.
The "new" Retirement" produces a sense of empowerment,
creativity and involvement in community and offers a position, common in indigenous culture, of the role of mentoring elder.
To take the first step in Mature Life Planning
click here.
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