Good company
When considering a post retirement career, you may think you’ll be alone. The reality is that you’ll be in excellent company. A few examples of folks who thrived later in life include Julia Child, who began her television career at 51. Well before her television career Julia led a life of privilege having gone to boarding school as well as Smith College. She grew up in a home with a cook. No doubt her privilege contributed to her success, along with effort, support, and burning passion. Still to be a woman on television at 51 years of age and beyond remains a remarkable feat, even today when attitudes towards mature women remain subject to outright dismissal as not viewer-friendly.
Martha Stewart is another well-known television personality. She launched her encore career at 41 with her first book and became a media mogul with books, television programs, and more. Betty White, the famous actress didn’t change careers but worked until she was 99 years old.
Grandma Moses took up painting at 78 years old. Oprah Winfrey the ultra-wealthy and influential media mogul continues to create at 68 years old; I haven’t heard that she plans to slow down. Ray Kroc the founder of McDonald’s fast service food chain began his successful endeavor at 52 years of age. The list of mature folks working and succeeding is long.
What does success look like to you?
Clearly we all can’t have the out sized success that the above mentioned have had, but we can decide what success means to each of us.
When I began writing people would say to me, “Oh, do you want to be the next J.K. Rowling?” The idea was – what’s the point if you aren’t going to be a bestselling author? Naturally we all want spectacular success. But had I said I want to run for city council, I don’t think people would have said, “Oh, do you want to be the President of the United States?” Or had I said I want to work at the local hospital, I don’t think people would have said, “Oh, do you think you’re going to be the CEO of the hospital?”
I want you to be clear about what success looks like to you that will help a lot when you get push back. A post retirement career is a rejection of the “normal” trajectory of our expected lives. Your rejection will be perceived by some as an attack on their trajectory. It isn’t, but some insecure folks will see it that way. After all while you are fresh with exciting projects, new acquaintances, and ambition, they are steeped in soap operas, cable news, and deteriorating mental capacity.
Goal setting
Be ready by having a clear idea what you hope to achieve and create a timeline for your goal. Then extend your timeline by three times. Things take longer than you think they will. Your idea and your goal will change either a little or a lot depending on how good you are at forecasting the steps you need to take, and how good you are at actually taking those steps.
I find that my goals change as I learn more about how I work. How I work changes as I get better at some task, as I understand which tasks have value and which don’t, and as I streamline my processes. This will happen for you as well.
Visualize your way to success
How do you go about creating this plan? By visualizing a perfect day. By perfect I mean no barriers. The sky is the limit.
Your goal in this exercise is to imagine yourself in your environment, working.
- Where will you be? Will you be inside, outside, in an office, in a studio, in a workshop, in a café, at the library, in a foreign destination?
- Who will be with you? Will you work alone or do you see yourself with a group of people, staff, or co-workers. Your life partner or your kids? Your sibling(s)?
- Will you work with volunteers?
- Will you have clients? How will you work?
- Will you work physically, will you create objects, will you conduct research or experiments, and will you work using a computer?
How you answer these questions will help you design your day-to-day experience. Remember that your design isn’t set in stone, it’s fluid and may change. Clearly this is just the beginning of a plan, but visualizing your day is a fun way to start.
It’s okay to copy others routines
I look at others processes who are in the same line of work I’m in and emulate what they do. Even if it isn’t a perfect fit for my work style, it’s a good way to start. For example I am only creative for about two hours each day, after that I have to do administrative work. I just can’t write well after that. Some people can write nonstop and still produce a great product. You’ll learn as you work what a good fit is for you.
When I started my post retirement endeavor, I had an office in a back room of my home. But I needed a place to exercise so I now share an office space in another area of my home with my spouse. It works well for us. There was an interim time when I sat on the couch with my laptop, it didn’t take long for back aches and neck aches to set in. My health is better if I sit on my yoga ball at my desk.
Get used to your work mates
Is it hard to work in the same space as my spouse? I think we both have moments when we are a bit louder than the other would like, but I get around it by wearing headphones and listening to music, the news, or meditative sounds. That seems to be all I need to block out the ambient sounds he makes. Do I bug him? I don’t know, he hasn’t said anything so far. Do I dislike spending all day and evening with my spouse? I love spending most of my time with him. By the way if you are in a relationship and you are both retired, it’s likely you will spend a lot of time together.
Take some time to visualize how you think you will spend your time, or consider how you think your work life will be organized. I think this is a great exercise that will help as you dive into your new post retirement pool.
If you are interested in learning more about visualizing, I have a workbook, a podcast and a YouTube channel focused solely on visualizing.
If you want to deep dive the concept of post retirement work, buy my book, “Your Golden Ticket Years: Find Your Passion on a Post Career Entrepreneurial Ride”
