We don’t often hear about how daunting retirement can be because so much emphasis is placed on how great it is. After all, people finally have all the time and freedom to do what they like instead of being tied to a job!
That said, it can be quite a shock to the system to suddenly be unmoored after decades spent adhering to a set schedule. It’s actually why many people put off retirement as long as possible, or get part-time jobs once they do so. Here’s how to take the leap with confidence so you never look back.
1. Before you leap, identify all the things you want to jump into and what you need to make them a reality.
There’s an old adage about looking before you leap, and it’s a very important one to hold to. Before you leap into retirement with the goal of never looking back, it’s important to identify all the things you’d like to do, as well as the things that need to be taken care of, and ensure that you won’t have to deal with any surprises.
For example, do you have either a pension or enough of a financial net to keep you comfortable for the next few decades? How about health support? Additionally, make a list of all the things you want to experience and achieve during your retirement years. Do you have the resources you’ll need to make those a reality? Planning ahead means fewer roadblocks or difficulties down the line.
2. Keep challenging yourself.
One of the main reasons why retirees often get nostalgic for their working days (or choose to return to them, even part-time) is that they experienced both purpose and challenge on a daily basis. They were always navigating potential issues, learning new skills, and honing the ones they had already cultivated.
Since retirement can mean a dull, monotonous existence if people aren’t actively engaged in interesting things, it’s important to pursue things that challenge you. For example, after spending 30 years as a cop, one of my relatives took up carpentry in his retirement and built an amazing cottage for the family. Now he builds chicken coops, birdhouses, and so on for friends and community members. This gives him purpose in his retirement as well as an immense sense of achievement, mirroring that of closing cases as a detective while he was still working.
3. Be the person you were before you chose your career.
Do you remember who you were before you chose your career path? Alternatively, if you didn’t end up in this career by choice but rather by necessity (i.e., if there weren’t many jobs available, so you made do with what you could get), who were you before you spent decades working to support yourself and your family?
Retirement allows you the opportunity to shift gears back towards the person you’ve always wanted to be. You have the time and space to do that now, and hopefully have more of a budget to support that endeavor, too.
This essentially involves embracing the person you were in your youth, with loving acceptance, and offering them the support, financial resources, and time to pursue the goals that you weren’t able to prioritize at that time.
4. Live each day with flexible intention.
If you’re anything like me, your energy and overall capability may not always match your daily goals. I’ll often have the best of intentions for what I’d like to do on a particular day, but then discover that my energy levels, pain, or cognitive abilities don’t necessarily match up to the task at hand.
This is why it’s so important to be flexible with regard to your daily plans. Have a rough outline for what you’d like to do, but leave room for adjustment based on personal capability, and whether or not you still feel like doing that thing on this day. Your work days were full of obligation and commitment, so let your retirement be softer and more mutable.
5. Trust that you can navigate whatever life throws at you.
Life is always unpredictable, but things get a bit more erratic in middle age and beyond. When we’re working, we have a very set schedule that we adhere to, and little that interferes with it. Advancing age brings a significant amount of challenges to deal with that few of us even considered, let alone had to balance when we were younger.
The key is to remember that your track record for getting through difficulty is still 100 percent. You can navigate whatever life may throw at you and can move through even the most challenging situations with grace. You may not be able to change a life-altering health condition or injury, for example, but you can at least work with what you have to the best of your ability.
6. Be realistic about potential setbacks and disappointments
Remember that there are always challenges during the growing period, in any stage of life. Teething and puberty had their discomforts, and so does the shift from work life to retirement. As such, it’s important to maintain resilience in the face of potential discomfort or setbacks so you don’t fall back on the familiar (i.e., going back to work) when things get challenging.
Rather than feeling defeated if things don’t work out as you’d imagined, hold space for redirection. To use a gardening example: if you can’t grow tomatoes because of unexpected pathogens or insufficient sunlight, grow peas and kale instead. As long as you’re still moving, you can change gears and keep on going.
7. Balance output with input.
Retirement offers a lot of opportunities, especially with regard to pursuing the things you didn’t have time to do when you were working, but it’s important to balance your output with input. It’s great to be active, engaged in events and community happenings, but make sure that you also schedule plenty of time for rest and replenishment.
Additionally, make sure that the energy you’re outputting is for your own benefit and happiness and not just to please someone else. For example, if your spouse is eager to use their retirement to train for triathlons or go on wine-tasting tours around the world, ask yourself whether you share these aspirations enough to deplete yourself in their pursuit, or if your retirement dreams look significantly different.
8. Retire when it suits you best, not when it suits others.
Depending on where you are in the world, retirement age may be anywhere from 50 to 70. In some countries, you aren’t eligible for a state pension until 65 or 67, but if an individual has saved up enough money to live on, they can technically take early retirement as long as they like.
Alternatively, some prefer to work as long as possible because they enjoy the social aspect, the personal challenges, and so on. As you’re planning your retirement, ensure that you’ll be retiring when the time is right for you, rather than being centered around someone else’s wants.
For example, your employer and coworkers may try to pressure you into delaying your retirement because your skills (and overall knowledge of company workings) are so invaluable. Or, in contrast, you may feel that you’re being pushed into retirement because your spouse wants an activity partner or your adult kids are hoping for free childcare.
Since your goal is to have as pleasant and fulfilling a retirement as possible, one of the key ways to ensure that your leap will allow you to never look back is to do it when it’s right for you — not someone else.
Final thoughts…
Retirement isn’t the end of your worth as a human being, because constant, work-related input doesn’t define you, nor your value. Instead, it’s a transitional phase leading to another new chapter in your life.
Instead of focusing the majority of your energy on career-related output, you have the opportunity to prioritize yourself, your interests, and the things that make your soul shine the most. By planning things out as best you can, you can take the leap into retirement with confidence and optimism, and never feel the need to look back.
