Tag: life change

How do you know when it’s time to make a change in your life?

They always say time changes things but you actually have to change them yourself

Andy Warhol

Most of us experience fleeting moments where we wish that entire aspects of our lives were different. These thoughts often send us off into fantastical daydreams that may not seem grounded in reality. Sometimes these moments are inspiring and we envision making momentous changes that seemingly would alter our experience in the best possible way.

Perhaps we dream that we could do this without even having to put in all of the hard work involved in transformation and reinvention. Or without having the skills required to master a new pathway in our journey. Or maybe you have put in the hard work and acquired the requisite skills but still remain stuck in some way.

Other times we engage in negative and anxiety provoking visions of the worst possible scenarios that might occur if we did actually make any changes in our lives. We may know that negative thoughts might be holding us back but sometimes our tendency to ruminate keeps us stuck. Stopping negative thinking or simply choosing more positive thoughts are often not helpful when we truly desire making changes in our lives.

But what this type of thinking does do for us, is to signal to us that some aspect of our lives may need to change. When our thoughts are calling for us to pay attention, what do we do next? Engaging in reflection is critical for our resilience and well-being. Spending time to ponder what is working or not working in our lives can be powerful and may motivate a change that is needed. Taking stock by pondering questions allows us to cast our net as narrow or as wide as we feel comfortable with.

Some possible questions to consider when you can’t stop thinking about the need for change in your life:

How would growth opportunities make a difference for us, actually make our lives improve?

What is it that we truly wish to spend our time on?

What investments of time and effort are we realistically willing to devote your energy to?

How can we intentionally stretch ourselves?

Are we running away from some aspect of our life?

Or are we moving towards something that will have a profound impact on what we are going forward with in the future?

What holds us back from pursuing change? Fear? Lack of Support? Resources?

The process of guided reflection can be a helpful tool. These are some of the questions that I considered before I embarked on creating major changes in my life. How would you know that it is time to make some type of change in your life? What types of questions would you ask? I would appreciate hearing how your change or reinvention journey may have begun. Happy Wednesday!

Retirement: Naming the beginning of the journey?

Retirement. Reinvention. Encore Career. Next Chapter. The Good Life. These are just a few of the many terms that are used to describe “retirement”. The list of these terms continues to expand as more and more individuals are making their way forward in this major life transition. When I first began the process of thinking about making this major life change, the only word that came to mind was in fact, the term retirement. My energy in the beginning was firmly focused on the financial aspects of this next stage in my life and most of the research that I came across was focused on finances. To be sure, outliving your monetary resources is a state no one wants to face. However, it is only a piece of the puzzle.

I soon discovered that the emotional upheaval that I was about to experience was not discussed in any of the books that I had been reading. Observing what family members and friends were doing once they left full time work, provided little insight into what my experience would be. It never occurred to me to probe the emotional aspect of this transition until after I had retired from my full time work.

The purpose of this blog is to explore the journey I have been on, and hopefully, to learn from others about different or similar experiences in their pathways to retirement (still not certain what the best term is!). Writing through this transition has been helpful to me so anticipating and seeking an opportunity to connect with others has led me to the development of this blog.

I have always enjoyed researching any question that arises in my life, and this major life change sent me off in a number of directions trying to find information and people that I could seek out for assistance with my many questions. It quickly became obvious that the term, “retirement” was only one of many that would help me navigate the information highway as I searched for answers. It also prompted me to reflect on what I thought the best term might be. Since I am still doing short contracts as a professional person, I have landed on “semi-retired” at this point. What do you think the best term is?