Three Ways to Redefine Yourself for Retirement – Shifting Gears to Successful Retirement
If you’re like most folks, you have your doubts about retiring. On one hand you may be elated. On the other hand, you may be a bit frustrated because you have no idea what the future entails. We’ll, we’re here to tell you that shifting gears from a working professional to a successful retiree can be easy. In fact, we consider it like simply shifting gears to a different lifestyle and being open to redefining yourselves. It is not about giving up. It is about undergoing a career transformation, maintaining your professional and personal identity and taking control of your life. It is about being productive, not losing touch with that inner you that makes you special.
1. Partial disengagement – In order to transition smoothly, you must partially disengage yourself from your full time working life. This isn’t to say that you must go cold turkey. Instead, you have to develop a different mindset that retirement, although a time for change, is a period of new growth and a time for self fulfillment. At this point, many go from full time to part time and some go from full time to no work at all. Trust your instincts and go with what you feel works for you.
2. Changing our image – You must change your internal image about what your career means. After all, don’t focus on ‘What am I to do now that I’m retired?” instead think “What will I become once I’m refocused and retired?” Therefore, you have to change your perception and realize that you can succeed as a retiree if you believe that you can.
3. Appreciating ourselves – Remember that you’re a unique individual and you need to celebrate this fact, every single day! Your personal worth is far beyond the work you did in the past. You have so much to give and contribute to the world and retirement is the perfect time to let your “inner light shine” and let this light shine as far as you can see.
July 14th, 2006 at 11:18 pm
I consider retiring from current career as entering into phase two of my life….doing some meaningful tasks that will enrich the lives of others as well as my own….discuss second career for those of us considering retirement but still want to be a part of the working world either full or part time…….
July 18th, 2006 at 8:40 am
Good morning, Jacqueline.
I am delighted to hear of your outlook on retirement. I think working part-time or full time is important in retirement. Despite being retired, we still have a great deal to offer. Some businesses, as you know, don’t like to hire people who are over 50. But more and more businesses and non-profit agencies understand that we have vast knowledge and experience to bring to a job.
The first bit of advice I would offer is that you take some time to really think about the kind of work you want to do, and about how much of your time you really want to devote to a job. There are wonderful ways to accomplish both goals of continuing to work and making a difference in the lives of others. You might use the usual job sites and confine your search to non-profit organizations. In addition, AARP has several pages dedicated to second careers and jobs for people over 50. They also maintain a list of companies that have a good track record for hiring people in the second phase of life. Their site is www.aarp.org.
Good luck. Please let us know how your plans develop.
Cynthia