Tuesday 31 May 2016

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”.

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