What does the word “retirement” conjure up for you? It will be one of the biggest transitions of your life. Are you looking forward to it, dreading it, or pushing it to the back of your mind?
The word prompts a whole load of big questions.
- How will I fill my time when I no longer have a full diary and endless task lists?
- Who will I talk to when I have left my work colleagues and my team?
- Will I still feel important and useful when I no longer have my job and my job title?
- What will I do, who will I spend time with?
- Just who will I be?
So much of our lives is defined and dictated by our work, whether as an employee, interim or running our own business. Work provides an income – hopefully a decent, regular income. It provides a ready-made community or tribe, people we can talk to about work, but also about the football, the kids or anything else.
Hopefully, work gives us a sense of achievement and a sense of meaning. And of course, it gives us an identity. Watch any quiz show and the first question candidates are almost always asked is “what do you do?”.
All of this will change when we retire. We will leave behind our regular income (at least until our state pension kicks in), our colleagues, and our primary source of meaning and achievement, and transition into a new world. It will be the start of a new life.
Om Mastermind last week, a woman introduced herself as “a retired teacher”. Is that how we wish to be known – as the person who used to do a particular job ? With our abundant experience and free time, surely we have more to enjoy and offer than that?
As we leave behind our boss, our team, our colleagues, our customers and our suppliers. All of whom – whether we liked them or not – took a big chunk of our time, energy and mental capacity. We will have a level of autonomy we have probably never had before in our lives. Notwithstanding the demands of family and life-management, we will typically have an empty diary and an unlimited holiday entitlement.
What will we do with all of this time and energy? There is no need to fill our time completely, but it is good to have structure to our weeks and things to look forward to.
We may need to – or choose to – continue working. Maybe something completely different, more local, more hands-on. I have coached office workers and senior managers in large corporates who have become dog-walkers, lorry-drivers, supermarket cashiers or brewery workers. Others start their own business, become Non-Exec Directors, or give their time freely as charity trustees or voluntary workers. I switched from being a full-time CIO to establishing my own coaching business and giving my time to three charities. Here are my new communities, my new sense of purpose and making a difference.
And then there are new hobbies, further education, home projects, travel, gardening, archaeology, cookery classes – the list is endless. Not to mention more time for old friends, families, maybe grandchildren. A golden opportunity to enjoy and experience all those things we never had the time for before.
As we enter our “third age” it is important to keep our bodies and minds as fit as we are able to – and now we have more time for sleep, eating well, exercise and intellectually stimulating activities.
Certainly, for most people, retirement does not mean what it used to mean – putting our feet up and winding down. People are retiring earlier, healthier and with far more options available to them. And with decent health, this stage of our lives can extend to two, three or more decades.
Whatever we think of retirement and however we define it, one thing is certain, there will come a day when you stop working in the job you are in now. And this will be one of the biggest transitions of your life.
I would encourage you to think through the many changes and have a plan, not just for your finances, but to replace those things which work gave you, stay fit and healthy as long as possible, and to take full advantage of your newfound freedom and autonomy.
This next chapter in our lives is a huge opportunity – to enjoy the freedom to do what you want to do and be who you want to be. To take your foot off the accelerator and enjoy the richness of life outside work. To find meaning and fulfilment in new, different and exciting ways.
David Bottomley PCC
