“What is retirement? A liberation from mandatory duties.” –Jimmy Carter
Retirement looming in your future? Feel like you’re ready to take that step out of the workforce that you’ve been a part of for 40-50 years? Perhaps you’re being pushed into retiring early, or maybe you’re just ready to enjoy your “Golden Years.” Whatever the reason, retirement is still a scary thought for most of us. If you’re feeling unsure about what your future after working holds, take a look at “Don’t Retire, Rewire: 5 Steps to Fulfilling Work that Fuels Your Passion, Suits Your Personality, or Fills Your Pocket” by Jeri Sedlar. She understands that for some, retirement is not the happiest time of a person’s life: for example, Ken, a 63 year old recent retiree, is quoted as saying “I thought the stress of work would kill me, now I’m afraid retirement will.”
Sedlar tells us that retirement need not be boring, without work, or entirely based on leisure. Rather, it is an exciting new chapter in our lives where we can really take a look inside ourselves and ask “what do I really want to do?” It’s a chance to take risks, learn new skills, do things we’ve wanted to do for years (skydiving lessons, anyone?)
She begins the book by saying that “traditional retirement isn’t for everyone,” and he’s right. Some people may thrive on a leisurely retirement of golf, Florida, and time in front of the television, but for some people, that seems empty and unfulfilling. To each his own, but if you’re one of those people who can’t imagine life without work, this book offers excellent suggestions about how to find meaning in life after work. She explains his theory best in the title for section 1 of the book: “Retiring is a going from and rewiring is a going to.”
Sedlar suggests the following exercise: imagine your funeral. Are you happy with who would attend, what the eulogy would consist of, how you would be remembered? If you’re not, retirement is the chance to turn yourself into the person that you want to be remembered as. Remember: “When you retire, your energy doesn’t stop flowing.” Rather, this is a chance for a new start, and it’s a great chance to become the person you want to be. One of the people quoted in the book, Dick (age 56), puts it eloquently when he says: “When I retire, I’ll have the time to rediscover myself. I used to be a nice person.”
One of the key things Sedlar addresses is our intrinsic motivation. What makes you want to wake up in the morning? What makes you excited about the day? Is it competition in the workplace, feeling like you’ve helped change someone’s life, achieved a personal best? This is because of our “drivers.” She says “Drivers are personal motivators that we use as a selection tool to choose how to match up our deepest needs with the world around us… Drivers are what make you tick as a human being because they go deep inside you, to your brain, heart and ego. We all have drivers.”
“Don’t Retire, Rewire” is a great read for anyone unsure of what the future holds. Even if you aren’t ready to retire, but feel like you need a shift in your work life, this book can help you put into words and actions exactly what it is that you want to do with your life. After all, work shouldn’t be all about… work. Al, a former executive, puts it most succinctly when he says: “I’m going to clown school to become a clown. That’s love, not work.”
So check out “Don’t Retire, Rewire” today!
Sedlar’s List of Top 10 Pointers from People Who Have Rewired
1. Have a plan
2. Plan to evolve
3. Test-market ideas
4. Dare to discard
5. Recognize goals can change
6. Learn from others
7. Don’t look to others for direction or approval
8. Think of freedom as a good thing
9. Think of too much freedom as a bad thing
10. Don’t overcommit
“Finding your dreams, interests and discoveries is about leaving the practical world behind and powering up your imagination. We believe that if you imagine it, it can happen.”
Read Sedlar’s Blog: http://dontretirerewire.blogspot.com/
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