Life is a test!
And retirement is the final exam. All through your life, somewhere in your thinking is a finish line; how you end up and who you will be when you grow up. We all reach the finish line But when you get there, is there a there, there? Do you have the life you wanted?
The bottom line is that how you retire (and maybe when you retire) is a measure of a successful life. Retirement is a continuation of you life up to then. The ‘best’ retirement is the one you want and it doesn’t just happen by chance. Whether you have the retirement you want will depend on whether you created a retirement plan or just dreamed about retirement wishes.
Life is a continuum!
An outrageous retirement is the culmination of a successful life and everything associated with it. But never forget that retirement is just more life. Many people never manage to take control of their lives and don’t have the retirement they would like. The consequences of failing to take control of your life is an unsatisfying retirement or maybe no retirement at all. You either continue to work because you can’t afford not to do or retiring on automatic pilot.
So what do we mean by retirement?
I don’t like the word retirement because it signals a failure to create a perfect lifestyle. Retirement is a denial of reality. Why do people retire? People retire because:
- they have to
- it’s what every body does
- they can’t work any more
It is like a forced interruption in life. Going from one unsatisfactory life arrangement to another. It’s downright unnatural.
Because we don’t learn to control our lives and design the lifestyle we want, we work at jobs that keep us dependent, hoping to accumulate enough money to stop someday. We seldom think about what to do when we stop working and the result is that retirement is just as unsatisfying as working. There is no consideration of the ideal lifestyle for you and no lifestyle design to make that lifestyle happen. The job is not satisfying and so retirement becomes the goal. But where is the retirement lifestyle design and the retirement plan? You may have retirement wishes but not a retirement plan to get you the lifestyle you want.
Lifestyle Design instead of retirement planning?
Better is to start life with the mission to take control and create a fulfilling lifestyle. This is what people like Tim Ferriss call Lifestyle Design. Tim emphasizes taking full control by producing income automatically, That is one extreme on a continuum, You can mix work and play, family and business however you like. It is your life and only you can decide what lifestyle makes you happy. But you still need a lifestyle design plan.
Too many people, including me, never got that memo. I never heard about Tim Ferris or had my mind opened to his thinking until the end of my career. If you never got the memo either, it is not too late to make a retirement plan and begin to create your own retirement lifestyle.
If you want to learn more about Lifestyle Design, have retirement wishes but not a retirement plan, make check out the resources here at Job Optional Now and sign up for our mailing and come back for part 2 on Friday.
