Well, it’s been one year since I retired from active employment. The purpose of this post is to briefly reflect upon the events and learnings of the past year, as well as to discuss the plans for the coming year. Hopefully you’ll find it to be of interest and, perhaps, helpful in some way.
As discussed in prior blog posts, I spent a fair amount of time researching and planning for retirement. The books I read and the discussions I had prior to retirement were instrumental in having a successful first year of retirement. So as not to make this post an endless stream of paragraphs, I’ve summarized what I’ve learned in the following bullets:
- My wife and I love each other, and enjoy being together, more than we imagined. Taking the time to identify me time, she time, and we time has been a critical step in making retirement successful for both of us.
- Notwithstanding the first bullet, my wife and I have discovered our own interests that are separate and unique, and are figuring out ways to enrich our retirement by supporting each other in those interests.
Love does not consist in gazing at each other, but in looking outward together in the same direction.
– Antoine de Saint-Exupery
- The first year will be different than future years. The first year is filled with so many firsts that it will stand out as an anamoly. In my case the firsts included limited contact with former coworkers (likely common for most retirees), a great deal of deferred maintenance at our home, moving to a new town, helping two of our kids and their families move to the same town, learning to make connections in our new town by getting involved in new activities.
- Revisiting your “tree of life” and continually assessing how you want to spend your time (and to what end you are spending that time) is important. When employed my career goals laid the foundation for how I would spend much of my time. With more free time, it’s important to figure out how your free time contributes to your end goals. While I’ve been very happy with most of how I spend my free time, organized exercise needs to take a prominent role in 2023. It’s easy in lake country to remain busy and active in the summer, but it takes more effort in the winter.
- As hinted at in the prior bullet, thinking about what successful aging looks like for you is worthwhile. It’s very easy to become tactical in your thinking as you fill your time in retirement. Thinking longer term allows you to figure out what your end-game is as you age and move away from being actively employed.
- Retirement looks different for each person. People are motivated by different things, and that’s reflected in how they respond to retirement. The key is not that there’s a right or wrong way to retire, but that each person is able to figure out what a successful retirement looks like for them. In my case, at least at the present time, a successful retirement is defined by a multitude of hobbies (some new, some old), extensive reading and study, time with my wife and family, being active in community events, volunteering at the nearby national wildlife refuge, and travel. For others, it may consist of part-time work, extensive volunteering, etc. The key is to identify what success looks like for you and to move toward that goal.
- You must be patient and kind to yourself as you make the transition to retirement. At times you will feel successful, and at other times you will not. To fully realize a successful retirement, it’s important to keep positive self-talk, to forgive yourself when you feel you come up short, and to love yourself.
You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection
The Buddha
- It’s hard to understand where the time goes. While I’ve been busy, there remain many, many things on my “tree of life” list that remain undone, and many new things that should be added to the list.
- Finally, and most importantly, the support of family and good friends and family is critical. I have been blessed in that those around me have been supportive of me in this journey.
I’m sure I’ll later think of many things I should have added to the above list and, perhaps, will add them at the time. In the meantime, we now look to 2023, which will include travel, time with family and friends, lake time, old and new hobbies, more exercise, and some great BBQ on the patio. I hope you can join us….