“I believe, in other words, from watching myself and others, that those of us who have been so fortunate as to take a major work of our lives into our retirements face a different danger from those whose lives must undergo more radical changes. We who continue that major work into our retirements face the danger, as I did, of undertaking the wrong task.”
~Carolyn Heilbrun, The Last Gift of Time
The trick to even thinking about “retirement” is to realize that it is just another stage of life. Talking with a friend yesterday about reinventing herself professionally at the age of 55 she admitted she isn’t necessarily looking for a different kind of work, or maybe she is. Her challenge is more about creating some options and then being able to use that information as part of her decision-making process as the year unfolds.
One of the exercises in my recently published book PUT YOUR SPIRIT TO WORK: MAKING A LIVING BEING YOURSELF (Wheatmark, 2012) 155 pages and available on Amazon is titled Fantasy Work Day will give her and you some insights as to what might be more appealing in a newly crafted future than what’s facing you right now.
All the Career Self Assessment Exercises are free on my website.
I just made the choice to continue my major work into this next phase of my life and so far have no regrets. Publishing the book, re-investing time and money so I can share this information with others is the meaningful goal for now. What is yours?
