Everything is limited in retirement
This is an important question in retirement. Retirement is a time when focus is important. The exuberance of youth is past. There is only a limited amount of time left. You don’t have anything to waste. If you are going to make your retirement outrageous, now more than any other time in your life you need to focus. You can’t be bothered about what anyone else thinks or appearances. Start with the basics. What do you need? Drop everything else.
The Zen of retirement – Do only what you want.
At this time in your life, you don’t need to multitask. You don’t have multiple responsibilities, you can focus on what you love to do and forget about what you have to do because in retirement there is nothing that you have to do. If you get out of bed in the morning, it is because you choose to do it. It isn’t easy to change our thinking however. We continue to see the world from our old, pre-retirement perspective. It is hard to drop the old lifestyle baggage and focus on what we love in order to make a fulfilling retirement. It is also hard to redesign our lives to make it happen. This is what I am calling an outrageous retirement and an important element of creating an outrageous retirement is knowing what you need. Forget last year. Forget when you were working or raising your family. Start fresh and ask yourself what you need to live the outrageous retirement you want. You could call this the zen of retirement. Focus all your resources on the prize and if any part of your current lifestyle doesn’t get you closer then drop it.
Think about your perfect day
Being outrageous means using resources efficiently, getting the most for your investment, eliminating extravagances that sidetrack you from the things that are important. What can you eliminate that will simplify your life, free up money for what you love and help you change your lifestyle? Eliminate things that trap you in your pre-retirement lifestyle and study people who love what you love. What do they need and how do they live. Check out lifestyle designers who help people live their perfect life. Or simply imagine your perfect day and then change your life to make it happen.
Be ruthless!
The bottom line is that if you waste time or resources on anything which does not take you closer to what you love then you are no better than any other retiree wandering through life dragging the baggage of a lifetime and drifting aimlessly. If that is the retirement you want, you wouldn’t be reading this. Be ruthless so that your time and resources take you to an outrageous retirement.
Ralph I going to forward this article to my dad who has retired just recently and finding it real hard to be a retired individual. Looking forward for his comments.
Sudeep’s last Blog Post ..Heart Burn
Sudeep,
I don’t think we get much preparation for retirement and most of us have plenty of life left to live. There is so much potential to take charge for once in our lives and really live but you have to stop listening to what others are telling you
Good point about dropping the old working world baggage. Retirement is a time to refocus yourself toward what you WANT to be doing, not what you have to do. As you say, “start fresh”. There is a whole lot of life out there and retirement is our time to experience it. What fun!
Dave’s last Blog Post ..Retirement “Luxuries” Not for Baby Boomers
That ‘fun’ part is important. Thanks for adding it.