A recent edition of AARP magazine featured an article by Jane Pauley that asked the question “what does success mean to you today?” She is talking to people who are near retirement or who are newly retired. Researchers say that success today uses the terms flexibility and creativity to describe professional satisfaction. I am not sure that flexibility and creativity were a part of the picture in our day. It seemed that more often than not we talked about our job in terms of the “daily grind.” Fortunately today’s young people have more options than we did. If we went on to more schooling it was to be teachers, nurses, or secretaries. We had to pursue studies that led to a real life job. Some were lucky enough to stumble into an area of expertise that they loved, but many just went through the motions.
The terms flexibility and creativity can be a part of your vision now as you look ahead to post-career lives. Post-career, I like that that term, because it means that there is something more going on than just retirement. We now have the privilege of knowing that we have 10, 20, or even 30 more years to figure out whether we have arrived or not. If you weren’t able to enjoy flexibility and creativity in your old life, this could be quite a discovery.
How do you feel about the prospect of starting over? Is it too daunting to even think about or is it something to look forward to? Take your time and give it some thought, but not too much time because you want to do it right this time. The example cited was an interview with a lady who loved to knit. After she retired, instead of just knitting baby booties and sweaters, she pursued a new career as an author, pattern maker and teacher. Well why not? In the process she discovered herself, or rather rediscovered the person hidden under all of the rules and regulations that governed her first career. So which career was the most successful, the one in the corporate world or what she is doing now?
It is never too late to start over, but in order to do so you need to define what success means to you. The author suggests:
- Think big and define your goals in terms of flexibility and creativity.
- Put your happiness first. Happy people pursue things that they are really interested in. Happy people are more productive.
- Do work that excites you.
It is never too late to reinvent your life. We should thank Jane for reminding us of that.
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