Designing Next Phase for Active Healthy Living!
Retirement is one of the greatest transitions one will make in life, transitioning from 30+year professional life into a new way of living entirely for the next 20-30+ years!
Research has proven in past years that most executives plan more for vacations than they have for retirement, often because they don’t know how. Many believe they are all set, because they’ll have more time for their hobby (usually one – like golf), travel and spending more time with family, not knowing they are setting themselves up for depression, loneliness and frustration.
Key areas for transition are:
- One’s Own Identity– the more one defines themselves based on their work/career, the larger the gap will be.
- Structure – Our business or job created the structure for so many years, now dropping one into a place to create their own. Many don’t know how or aren’t good at it.
- Communication –Discern the style of communication that is most effective in different relationships and socially, which may be different than the form of communication used in the workplace.
- Connections – One often feels left out and misses the connections and intellectual conversations with colleagues. Many have to learn how to find new places and new people with common interests in order to build new connections
- Healthy Living Routines– Designing healthy active living that has the interest and is energizing enough to aid in developing regular routines is key. Exercise routines may need to change to include more stretching and balance. Healthy eating becomes even more critical, as well as Learning New – finding new areas of interest for new learning to stimulate and keep the brain active and healthy.
- Family, Relatives, Friends– As one moves into retirement, too often the family sees ‘free help’ with the grandchildren for babysitting, pick-up and drop-offs. Many have difficulty saying no until it reaches a breaking point. Learning to create the structure for the right amount of time in relationships, how to communicate that, and learn to build patterns for living life that ensures the amount of connection you want in each category.
- Adventure/Travel – Many have put off taking trips or spending money on fun time, and have to learn to build that into their plans. Others have difficulty spending the money on travel and fun once their perception is on no more income and focus tightly on saving.