For Mark Roberts’ Use: You have spent years – probably even decades – planning and saving for your retirement. When the time finally comes, it’s important to make the most of your golden years. Remember these five ingredients to a fulfilling retirement, and make these years some of the happiest of your life.
Avoid regrets. Maybe physical limitations keep you from climbing that mountain or kayaking that river. But you can still enjoy the beauty of nature on a shorter hike, a scenic drive, or a simple canoe ride. Don’t focus on what you can’t do, but on the freedom to do everything that you can.
Focus on relationships. For much of your life, career has taken center stage. You may have made sacrifices in order to support your family and give them a better quality of life. Now that you’re free from the daily grind, you can make up for lost time with friends and family. Keep your social calendar full, look for new social opportunities, and take trips to visit those precious grandchildren. Most of us are happier with social interaction and new experiences than we are with luxurious possessions.
Adopt a new hobby. All that focus on your career probably took a lot of time away from your hobbies as well. You may already have an idea of how you want to spend your retirement, pursuing a hobby you’ve dreamed about for years. But it’s also important to shake things up and try something totally new once in a while. It will keep you young, energetic, and excited about life.
Change your self image. Your identity has probably been tied to your career for a very long time. You were a restaurant owner, a doctor, a mechanic, or a professor. Now that you aren’t working, don’t allow yourself to feel as though you’ve lost your identity. Choose a new one! You’re a photographer, a golfer, a gardener, or a grandmother. Change is not bad; it’s just change.
Lose the pressure. Your old working life was full of deadlines, goals, and quotas. Now you may feel a bit lost without that daily pressure to succeed. Remember that was your old life. Your new life is one of relaxation and fun. Spend your time however you wish! You earned it.
