Welcome to the second of our ‘Adjusting to Retirement’ articles, where we make it our mission to help you prepare for what is, arguably, the most exciting stage of your life. After all, nothing beats leisure – but only if you’re ready to embrace it.
So let’s get started on how you can meet retirement head on, and enjoy every second of it!
Make lists
If you’ve never been a list-maker, now is the time to start, with a raft of retirement wish-lists. So buy yourself an attractive journal (or create a folder, if you’re a ‘device person’), and begin separate ‘When-I-Retire’ wish-lists for: books-to-read, podcasts-to-listen-to, movies-to-watch, places-to-visit, habits-to-quit, habits-to-form, decluttering-items-to-sell, hobbies-to-start, plants-to-grow … the list of lists is endless – and so much fun to create!
Healthy Me
Retirement gets better, the more physically able you are to enjoy it. While eating well and exercising more, takes time, it’s absolutely worth it, especially as we grow older. So get moving, and start eating well with exercise and foods your medical professional recommends. While you’re at it, cut back on the alcohol by swopping it for sparkling water or delicious kombucha.
Build routines
Believe it or not, leisure, when it first arrives, can actually knock you for six. To ease into it gently, a daily routine can help significantly. Start creating routines, now, with activities such as rising a little earlier in the morning to slowly prepare your morning cuppa (and one for your partner, as well). If you’re a coffee lover, consider buying an espresso maker and some quality ground coffee to help establish the ritual. If you’re a tea drinker, ditch the teabags, buy some top-notch leaf tea, and nab yourself a teapot you’ll be happy to greet every morning! Commit to spending 10 minutes, at lunch-break, working on a brain-game such as Wordle, or a crossword. If you’re a doodler, look in the mirror and take a few minutes to make a morning selfie sketch. If you fancy yourself as a poet – swap the sketch for a few lines about what the day might hold. An evening routine can be as simple as walking the dog, brushing the cat, writing in a journal, or reading a few pages of a book before bed. It actually doesn’t matter what routines you establish, as long as they’re healthy, satisfying, and give you pleasure.
Listen to your feelings
Our working lives are typically so jam-packed full of busy-ness and taking care of the needs of others, we seldom touch base with ourselves. Retirement won’t have those same demands, which means there will be a lot more mental ‘down time.’ That can feel scary for many people, so practice getting used to it now by taking 5 minutes of each day to simply sit and notice how you’re feeling. Are you feeling confident, afraid, peaceful, agitated, excited or despondent? Naming you’re feelings can be reassuring. It can also help you to communicate any concerns you might have, with others.
Joint goal planning
Retirement will affect not only you. If you live with a partner, or in any situation where others are involved, your leisure time is going to impact on them, too. Take time to plan together on how you will make the best use of your new-found freedom. Can you ease their own load if they are still in the work force, or caring for family members? Are there new goals you want to work towards, together? Some folk who are about to retire, miss opportunities simply because they don’t communicate, ahead of time, with their significant others.
Revisit financial plans
Many of us (very wisely) plan financially for our retirement. But dreams and goals can change, and financial plans need to follow suit. Don’t leave it until retirement day to revisit your financial planning. Retiring can be initially stressful, and the last thing you want is to be burdened by serious decisions at the same time.
Retirement is something you deserve. Get it off to the right start by thinking ahead.
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