Don't Wait For Retirement To Be Happy

Abraham Lincoln once said, “Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.”  According to Henry Ford, “If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t, you’re right.”  Your mind is very powerful and will impact the life you lead in retirement.

Thousands of working Canadians look forward to the day they can retire.  These people believe that on this particular day, they will walk through some imaginary door to freedom and happiness.  They will be free to do as they please and because of this, each and every day forward will be a day of bliss.

I find it interesting that so many people see retirement this way.  Although I agree that they will be free to do as they please, what makes them feel that they will really be happy?  Like most new things, once the novelty of being retired wears off, will the happiness not wane as well?

Brendon Burchard, a person I consider to be one of my mentors, has said that happiness isn’t something you have but something you generate.  You choose to be happy by consciously directing your mind in a positively engaged manner.  He says that you create happiness for yourself by focusing your attention on those things that are new and fresh, that provide challenge, that allow you to express yourself creatively, and that see you relating to, and among, people.

When you see retirement as “the” time of freedom and happiness, you are cheating yourself out of being free and happy during your working years.  You are not supposed to postpone your happiness to sometime in the future.  Be happy and free in the present.  Make the decision to enjoy life today before you retire and figure out what it is that you actually enjoy.

By doing so, you will be creating the early stages of your “Retirement Life Plan”.

Don't Let Your Retirement Pass You By

Retirement means different things to different people.  For some, retirement is the time when you leave the workforce and putter around the house.  For others, retirement is when you travel.  And for others still, retirement means looking after the grandchildren.

Whatever retirement means to you, don’t forget that retirement isn’t just one long period of time.  Retirement is a series of stages with each stage allowing you to do different things.  If you miss doing something in an earlier stage, there is no going back as your body and your age cannot be adjusted after the fact.

I have seen some people at the mall wander around like they have nothing to do.  I find this sad because there is always lots to do.  Opportunity presents itself to us throughout our lifetime but unless you are ready to meet it, it goes right by you. 

When you retire or are getting ready to retire, seriously consider what you want your retirement to be like.  Most people enter retirement with little thought and end up basically having a retirement by default.  Waking up and wondering what you are going to do that day is no way to wake up in retirement.  

Think about what is really important to you in life and spend time planning how to have fun with it.  Life is meant to be fun and since retirement is part of life, retirement is meant to be fun as well. 

Relationships are also key to a happy retirement.  Without the love and support of our loved ones, life in retirement is pretty lonely.  It is important that you reach out to old friends when you have the opportunity.  The years go by quick and before you know it, those friends will have moved on as well. 

Your retirement is your responsibility.  Make the most of it.

An Accomplished Retirement

When you think about the past 10 years, how do you feel about what you were able to accomplish in your life?

When you think about the past 10 years, how much were you able to accomplish in your life versus the amount you set out to accomplish?

When you think about the past 10 years, what was the one opportunity that life presented you that you didn’t take advantage of but now wish you had?

When you think about the past 5 years, how do you feel about what you were able to accomplish in your life?

When you think about the past 5 years, how much were you able to accomplish in your life versus the amount you set out to accomplish?

When you think about the past 5 years, what was the one opportunity that life presented you that you didn’t take advantage of but now wish you had?

When you think about the past year, how do you feel about what you were able to accomplish in your life?

When you think about the past year, how much were you able to accomplish in your life versus the amount you set out to accomplish?

When you think about the past year, what was the one opportunity that life presented you that you didn’t take advantage of but now wish you had?

I’d venture to say that if you asked 100 of your closest friends the first question in each set, the vast majority would answer “Gee, I don’t know.  I haven’t really thought about it.”

If you asked your friends the second question, they would probably answer that they sometimes make New Year’s resolutions but they never really keep track of what they are trying to accomplish in life.

And if you asked the third question, your friends would likely say they regret not having done a few things in their life but I am not so sure they would see these things as lost opportunities.

But what about you?  How would you answer each question?

And how do you want to be able to answer each question in the future?

If you and I were to meet for coffee on the 10^th anniversary of the day you retired, what do you want your answers to these questions to sound like?

Do you want to answer the questions the same way you answered them today?

Or do you want to be able to tell me:

That you just experienced the best year of your life.

That you accomplished all the things that were important to you and that you loved to do.

That you knew exactly what you wanted to do during that particular time period and that you created a plan to accomplish these things.

That you lived your life fully and dared to be unique and adventurous.

Most people drift through their working years with little direction. They dream about living the good life and they operate with the best of intentions but are easily distracted by the events of the day.  Then one day they retire but nothing really changes in terms of how they approach life.

But you have the opportunity to experience a different kind of life in retirement. 

You have the opportunity to design the kind of retirement you truly want by taking the time to think about what you want to accomplish over the next year of your life, over the next 5 years of your life, and over the next 10 years of your life.   

Rather than drifting through retirement, you have the opportunity to consciously think your way through it so that you are aware of what life is offering you. 

By using your ability to think and your imagination, you can create a retirement experience that is unique, enjoyable, adventurous, meaningful, and true to your heart.

And with this kind of retirement, answering the above questions will be a breeze.

Retirement Can Be Special

Your retirement can be something special.  Your retirement can be unlike anyone else’s, filled with unique experiences, enjoyable moments, and memorable adventures.  Your retirement can be full of meaning and be true to your heart.  Your retirement can truly be a one-of-a-kind experience.  But for you to have a retirement like this, a few things must take place.

First, you have to really want to experience a retirement like this.  You have to possess within your heart a real desire to live your life in retirement to the fullest.  Day-dreaming that “it would be nice to have a retirement like that” is not enough.  Nor is hoping that your life in retirement turns out that way.  And waiting for someone to give you a retirement like that won’t do it either.  You have to have a burning desire to experience a retirement that is unique, enjoyable, adventurous, meaningful, and true to your heart.

The second thing that must happen is that you have to know in your mind’s eye what a retirement like this looks like for you.  You have to know what will make your retirement unique, what will make your retirement enjoyable, what will make your retirement adventurous, what will make your retirement meaningful, and how you can keep your retirement true to your heart.  This takes some time and it takes some effort.  But if you are going to be alive anyway, why not live the best life you possibly can?  As Jim Rohn famously said, “Let others lead small lives, but not you.  Let others argue over small things, but not you.  Let others cry over small hurts, but not you.  Let others leave their future in someone else’s hands, but not you.”

And the third thing that must happen is that you come to the realization that the potential your retirement is offering you will not last forever.  Although many people will have you believe that retirement offers you a world of time, the opposite is true.  Retirement brings with it a sense of urgency.  We do not know how long we will live.  We do not know how long our health will allow us to do what we can do today.  We also do not know how long our loved ones will be with us or how long their health will last.  All we know for sure is that things will somehow change.  Therefore, we need to be living the life we want and that we were meant to live and not the life that other people draw us into or force upon us.  And we need to be living that life beginning today.

Retirement is the final frontier.  Retirement is your last opportunity to live your life.  If there is something you have always wanted to do, retirement is the time to do it.  Because as Bob Proctor says, “We come this way but once.  We can either tiptoe-through-life and hope that we get to death without being too badly bruised or we can live a full, complete life achieving our goals and realizing our wildest dreams.”

The choice is yours.

Retiring with Intention

A lot of people retire with the attitude that they will take each day as it comes, that they will live “one day at a time”.  “One Day at a Time” was a great title for a television show in the 1970’s and 80’s but is it really a good strategy for living your life in retirement?   

In truth, all any of us can do is to live “one day at a time”.  All any of us have is today.  We can’t go back in time and change the events of yesterday and we can’t live tomorrow, today.  We can only live our life in this moment.  But one thing we can do is to give this moment of time some direction. 

Your retirement is offering you a world of potential.  You have the opportunity to experience a retirement that is unique, enjoyable, adventurous, meaningful, and true to your heart.  Why not give your retirement the direction it requires so that you can experience this kind of retirement?  Why not live your life in retirement with the intention that you will draw out and realize the potential that is being offered?

When you live your life in retirement with this intention, you give yourself a point of reference by which to live each day.  When you wake up in the morning, you recognize that the day ahead of you has value and that it is up to you to draw that value from the day.  You know that it is up to you to create the experiences that will make your retirement unique, enjoyable, adventurous, meaningful, and true to your heart.  And during times of trouble and grief, having this intention will help you to reset your sail so that you can get back to living the kind of retirement you deserve.

The desire to experience a retirement that is unique, enjoyable, adventurous, meaningful, and true to your heart requires focus and discipline.  You will have to resist the urgings of your friends to “go with the flow” and to “take it easy”.  You will have to ignore the temptation to take the path of least resistance and to settle, essentially, for a retirement by default.

When you reach the age of 85 and you look back over your retirement, what do you want to be able to tell people when they ask you how your retirement has been?  What is that you want to be able to fondly remember?  Then live your life in retirement according to that intention.  Because as John C. Maxwell once said, “You can spend your life any way you want but you can spend it only once”.