I have shared a TED Talk video lately with several friends who are about a year from retirement, so this week I want to explore that topic a bit more deeply. Dr. Moynes (TEDx Surrey) talks about the four phases of retirement, and I love that. But I want to add another one, Phase 0, at the beginning. Let me explain.
Dr. Moynes proposes four phases, including:
- Vacation – a honeymoon-like phase
- Loss – loss of routine, identity, relationships, purpose, and power
- Trial & Error – the search for meaning
- Reinvent
If you want to take a 15 minute break here to watch the video, please do so.
Dr. Moynes’ book on Amazon: Amazon.com: The Four Phases of Retirement: What to Expect When You’re Retiring eBook : Moynes, Riley: Kindle Store
In my own life, and I would propose for many of you, we can lessen the impact of the second Loss phase by doing more preparation in Phase 0. And, we can prepare for the Phase 3 Trial & Error phase during Phase 0 which will create happiness sooner and enable Phase 3’s happiness to be even bigger.
About one or two years before we can retire, we can begin Phase 0. Consider trying out two exercises: The Wheel of Life and a Retirement Mind Map.
The Wheel of Life is an image that allows us to think of various aspects of life. Consider if you would begin thinking about this one or two years before when you plan to retire (or could retire, if you felt ready). Alongside each of the segments of the wheel, you begin to add stickies (if you read my book, you know I LOVE sticky notes!) indicating activities you’d like to do each day or week, and any goals you’d like to accomplish. We know from studies on the Science of Happiness that this time of pre-planning, as with vacations, brings great happiness in the planning itself. Why not apply this same idea to retirement planning?
Keeping in mind the idea of Agile Living, or living in the spirit of Agility, your own Wheel (and mine) is always up for adaptations. Nothing is set in stone. Your retirement is a ‘project’ you manage yourself, and you can change your mind.
You might need some inspiration to kickstart your own wheel. Perhaps you haven’t thought about things you really enjoy for a long time if you have not HAD time for yourself in a very long time. Time is the key in retirement. You have TIME. I call it the Flexibility of Time, and I love it. You might need a weekend retreat or sessions with a coach to help you find your items. Consider trying out my Passions & Joys Workbook! Take your time. Smile.
Another type of diagram that might be helpful is a MindMap. I won’t include mine here as it is too big to be useful for you. Here is an example with some common themes. The goal of an Enjoyable Retirement is in the center. The items that link to the left and right are your own free-thinking ideas of what you might like to try. These mindmaps are less structured than the Wheel of Life approach and you might prefer to start with this type of model first. Again, the real Deep Joy comes when you let your mind wander to the things you enjoy, or want to enjoy but have not yet had time for. I had my own mindmap on my office wall for a year before I retired. It is one version of a Vision Board, and you can definitely add photos if that helps you imagine an Enjoyable Retirement.
Coming from a background in software engineering and product management, I think this pre-planning, along with Phase 3 (Trial & Error) is a bit like the double-diamond process used in Design Thinking. This Phase 0 (an pre-thinking version of Phase 3) is much like the Discover-and-Define stage where product managers ‘go wide’ to explore options and then converge to make a choice on the product to design. So our new Phase 0 is the first diamond, then Phase 3 is when you actually Learn, Prototype, and Measure the success of your product, your Enjoyable Retirement.
So what about Phase 1 – Vacation? Enjoy! Your vacation period, that honeymoon stage when you are no longer bound to the alarm clock, nor to meetings with your boss or Finance, nor to performance reviews or annual budget cycles, might be three months, six months, or a year. Enjoy. You earned it. Give your heart, your soul, and your mind a lengthy break, and take time to re-focus and shift your mindset. You are going to have an AMAZING retirement because you have been planning this for a year!
And what about Phase 2, the Loss phase? Dr. Moynes proposes that you will go through loss of routine, identity, relationships, purpose, and power. For me, I planned for that also. In that year of planning, I made choices of what I wanted my identity to be (or become). I decided to retain some relationships, reconnect with some very old ones, and create new ones…. intentionally. I reset my purpose outside of my old corporate role… a purpose that was my own and controlled by me. You may still pass through that period of Loss, but I think that with good planning, you can minimize the time and the depth to which you feel it. Remember that we have the grief/loss/change curve as a guideline, and this shift from a work/corporate life to a retirement life is a major change like any other.
In the shift to retirement, however, we control (usually) when this change happens, and with the new Phase 0, we can limit that frustration and depression stage, moving on to experimentation.
I’m curious to hear from you if you have tried this approach of pre-planning via a Phase 0, and any techniques that worked for you. We are all different people, with different experiences, different fears, different capabilities, different dreams, different situations. It is likely that we will live about one-third of our lives in retirement, about 20 years, so we need to be working on ways to ease the transition and maximize the enjoyment of that time. Perhaps Phase 0 will be helpful to you.
Helping people plan for bit transitions and transformations is my coaching specialty. If you feel the need for personalized assistance, please set up an initial free hour to chat and let’s see if I am a fit for you.
If coaching isn’t your thing, you might like to try the DIY approach in my book. Find the link in my store.
Best wishes on your retirement transition journey!
