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Here are five Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) followed by several brief profiles of retirees who have created meaningful and fulfilling lives.

 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ):

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(1) I've worked so hard, isn't retirement a time to put my feet up and rest?

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The honeymoon phase of retirement begins when we retire and are free from the constraints of work.  We often rebelliously do whatever we want whenever we want.  This phase can last for several weeks to several years.  Once you are restored, it will end and a hunger for more meaning and purpose will arise.

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(2) Okay, I've rested up from all those years of work, but now I'm feeling at a loss.  What's next?

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Just like any other significant time of life like your teen years, your young adult and midlife years, you need to create a meaningful life for yourself.

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(3) Now that I'm retired, do I need to find my life's purpose to be happy?

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One of the great things about retirement is you don't have to channel all your creativity into one thing.  Now is the time for diversity.  Do what you love, do activities that fit your temperament, gifts, and talents.  Find your natural ecosystem that lets you flourish.

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Start by finding three or four things to do that balance your life with comfort and risk and make you happy such as the following:  

• Find work that interests you, which can be volunteer work, part-time work, or an encore career

• Find an endeavor of interest like homesteading, schooling, traveling, or starting an encore career where you can learn and grow

• Do active leisure activities you enjoy like hiking, singing, and gardening

Taken together your life will give you the meaning and purpose you seek and the richness of your own natural biodiversity will nourish you fully. 

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If you are not sure of what you love to do or your endeavor of interest or your temperament orientation, come to Robin's workshop or purchase the self-paced workbook.

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(4) I've worked for a company most of my life and find the unstructured free time in retirement a little disorienting.

 

 Yes, retirement challenges us to learn how to creatively structure our time not like a rigid full-time job, but a schedule that suits us and lets us grow and prosper.   Here are some suggestions for how to use your free time:

• Continue to plan your weekends and evenings as you have always done.  Take your working days, Monday through Friday, and divide them into two segments:  morning and afternoon. 

• Try to spend one morning or afternoon each day away from home so you will never get tired of being at home.

• Spend two or three hours three days a week on an endeavor of interest.  Some examples from Darrow Kirkpatrick's blog CanIRetireYet.com include: hobbies, homesteading, learning, encore career, giving back, caregiving, and spiritual growth.  One student of mine spent three mornings a week in her art studio.

• Spend time exercising two or three mornings or afternoons a week.

• Spend one to two mornings or afternoons a week volunteering.

• Go out to lunch or coffee solo or with friends one to three days a week and check out the monthly interest groups through the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute. 

Think of exercising, volunteering, doing an endeavor of interest, going out to lunch, and participating in interest groups as building blocks that you gather and arrange to suit you.  Identify your building blocks, add more or less according to your desires, then use them to create a weekly schedule that helps you grow and prosper.  Remember you can override your schedule anytime you wish, but it is there to support and nourish you.

 

(5) When I retire, I'm thinking of pursuing my hobbies of biking and running, doing selective work projects (in carpentry), working at a winery with my wife two days a week, and enjoying quiet time at the beach.  Is that enough?

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You are totally on the right track.  You are creating a diversified life full of flow activities that you love and probably are good at doing and that allow you to give back.  You have a nice balance of work and play.  Keep going.

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Profiles:

Below are some bulleted profiles of happy retirees.
 

Chris--Former film maker, professor, and author who is now:

• Writing and publishing books about retirement

• Learning to play the piano

• Creating "grandparent camp" for his grandchildren starting with piano lessons

• Taking dance lessons with his partner

Source:  For more information, see Chris' website secondwindmovement.com

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Brian--Former longtime software engineer at HP* who is now:

• Taking art classes

• Mentoring an 11 year-old boy

• Traveling to visit family

• Working on tech projects with friends at their companies

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Leslie--Former Director of Mental Health* who is now:

• Working part-time on State projects

• Teaching meditation

• Spending time with friends

• Running a mentoring group

• Reading and hanging out in cafes

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Cindy--Former SJSU professor and administrator* who is now:

• Doing volunteer work with children

• Being a board member of UCSC Osher Lifelong Learning Institute (OLLI)

• Traveling with friends

• Spending time with her husband, daughter, granddaughter, and dog
   

*For more details about these retirement lives, see Jill Steinberg's very helpful website called MyRetirementWorks.com

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Notice that all of these retirees are engaged in a variety of activities.  (For more information about the importance of seeking variety, see Robin's newsletter Seeking Diversity in Retirement.  
 

Also notice that each has found a balance between meaningful work (paid or volunteer) and play.  After the honeymoon phase of retirement wears off, a retirement life focused mainly on passive leisure activities like watching TV and relaxing can get very limiting.  To find out why, see Robin's newsletter Finding Flow in Retirement.

 

Perhaps you have ideas and inklings about all the things you would like to do in retirement, but are having trouble getting started.  You may find Robin's newsletter about Empowering Yourself through Healthy Risk Taking helpful.

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