In a recent podcast I interviewed a friend and former work colleague whom I hadn’t talked to in many years. It was so much fun seeing her again! She had a long and successful career at the company where we both worked, and had retired in the past several years. I was eager to talk to her about her retirement. I know from many professional women I talk to that approaching “that time” can be very stressful, if not downright terrifying.
For her, the thought of retiring was at least disconcerting, if not completely terrifying. She decided to work with a coach who could help her think the whole thing through. My friend’s name is Sarah, and what she wanted to do was be curious about the process she was about to go through. As a dedicated scientist her entire educational and professional life, she was accustomed to viewing things as experiments. Therefore, what if she thought about retirement as an experiment? What would work for her and what wouldn’t work? That meant she needed to try out lots of things and not get stuck into anything too quickly.
The Many Different “Buckets”
With the help of her coach, Sarah decided to think about the positive things she got out of working in terms of buckets. For example, there was the social bucket. She got to see people every day she enjoyed being around, working and chatting with. There was the intellectual bucket. This demanded high levels of thinking, reasoning, problem solving, and using her many years of education and experience. A third bucket was an ego bucket. Because of her position, her success, and her expertise, she was listened to when she spoke. The fourth bucket had to do with making a contribution. What she was working on, hopefully, would have a positive impact on potentially many people.
As Sarah was planning for retirement, she thought about what different things she could do that would fill some or all of those buckets. This was a very important distinction for her. This led her to being willing to try many different things, to keep some things and to let many others go. Now she is very happy. She feels fulfilled in the ways that are important to her. She still is seeing retirement as a journey and a never ending experiment.
What About You?
Does this make sense to you? It occurred to me as I was listening to Sarah, that it may never be too early to start to think about what are my important buckets? We often hear people say that starting to make a financial plan for retirement in our fifties is just too late. I think the same thing can be said about our “important buckets.” No matter how old you are or how far from retirement you may be, if you’re still working, what are the things that you really like? What is really important to you about what you’re doing?
On the other hand, if like Sarah, you’re at the point of being ready to stop working at least in your main career, take stock of what you’ve enjoyed about what you’ve been doing so you can use that as a beginning plan for next steps. Many women now are leaving what they’ve been doing for some time and moving on to the next thing, whatever that may be. Some are starting their own company. Or changing the kind of work they’re doing with a new company or organization. Or perhaps in a different part of the country or world. Depending on your personal situation, you may have many choices women never used to have. If you’re willing to make a careful assessment of what’s important to you and have the courage to step out into whatever may be next, anything is possible!
Antiretirement
What Sarah has done is a great example of what we call Antiretirement. This doesn’t mean continuing to work forever in a job you may have tired of a long ago. It means not being willing to take a traditional retirement. In effect, you step back and use the many skills and experiences and the wisdom you’ve gained over years to build a life of fun and contribution.
Following Sarah’s example, take a piece of paper. Write down the four to five buckets that contain what’s most important to you about what you’re doing now. This is not chipped in stone. By tomorrow morning, you may want to modify your buckets in some way. What you’ve begun is a journey of exploration and experimentation. Course correction is always possible, so have fun! If you’re willing, share some or all of your buckets with us!
Learn More…
The Prime Spark Membership Community is designed for women 55 (or close) and older to support one another. We learn and grow together while furthering the mission of Prime Spark. Membership currently is closed. If you’re interested in joining, please send an email to [email protected] and ask to be placed on the waitlist.
Recent Comments