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<\/a><\/p>\nBob Iger’s return as Disney’s CEO<\/a> 11 months after handing the reins to his erstwhile successor proves both he and Disney’s board lack any imagination. At 71 Iger should be retired and pottering around his mansion. Instead, when the call came, he dropped his mimosa in the pool and scurried back to his office, his seat presumably still warm. Bob never retired, and probably never will. They will drag him feet first from the boardroom. When they do, Disney will still have a succession problem.<\/p>\n My point is, if you don’t have anything else to achieve in life, work is the less difficult, less imaginative answer to how you fill your days in retirement. It is structured, hierarchical (you have to do as you\u2019re told), and you have to please others, not satisfy yourself. When I worked in the operating theatres of England\u2019s National Health Service, I heard stories of surgeons who had died within months of retirement. The change in status, upset to routine and relief from the daily pressure of saving lives seemingly too much for them.<\/p>\n The lesson stuck with me. I understood early I needed to decide what I was going to do with the last third of my life. Circumnavigating the world on a sailboat kept bubbling up to the top of my list. That along with making a movie, writing a book, mastering digital photography, building a house with my own hands, and riding a motorcycle from Alaska to Argentina. I guess I was a proto-Millennial after all.<\/p>\n Internet pundits say there are anywhere from 3 to 15 stages of retirement. Financial advisors talk about saving, preparing, administering, and finally spending your money, if you\u2019re lucky enough to have any. Yes, but spend it on what? That begs a different question. What do you want to do in retirement? Where do you see yourself in five years\u2019 time? To help answer that question, let\u2019s review retirement\u2019s four emotional phases outlined by Riley Moynes<\/a> in his recent TEDx talk.<\/p>\n Phase 1: Vacation<\/strong> \u2013 You\u2019re on holiday! Woohoo! You don\u2019t have to answer to anyone, you get up when you want, you can travel, lounge around and be self-indulgent. For as long as you can afford it. For many this phase lasts around a year, or more. At some point it loses its appeal. Some get bored, some miss the structure of the office, some wake up to the loss of their workaday routine and purpose.<\/p>\n Phase 2: Loss<\/strong> \u2013 Parents understand the loss of their children (finally) leaving home and striking out on their own. Retirees go through a round of similar losses. Just like when the kids leave, when you retire you give up routines, an identity, working relationships, often a sense of purpose, and for some a loss of power. Once your colleagues show you the door, all that goes \u201cpoof!\u201d Couple that with inevitable physical and mental decline, it is easy to feel depressed, even anxious about the future. There may be another 30 years of that to look forward to.<\/p>\n Phase 3: Trial and Error<\/strong> \u2013 In this phase it is normal to explore questions about how to make your life meaningful again. How can you make a contribution? Moynes encourages retirees in this phase to experiment. Try different things, he admonishes. Find something that gets you up in the morning full of excitement, otherwise you risk falling back into phase 2. This isn\u2019t very different from our teens when many of us took jobs we never wanted to do again. Those formative experiences directly or indirectly guided us towards our careers.<\/p>\n Phase 4: Reinvent and Rewire<\/strong> \u2013 Assuming phase 3 yielded some success, even by process of elimination, phase 4 is the time to focus on the things that give you a sense of accomplishment. In Moynes\u2019 words, how to squeeze the juice out of retirement. That sounds like exsanguination to me, but the gist is embracing the opportunity to do something that you\u2019re passionate about and reward yourself by doing it.<\/p>\n The truth is many people refuse to retire even though they have the means to. (I\u2019m talking to you Bob.) But for a moment, let\u2019s assume you\u2019re fortunate enough to have planned well after a successful career and believe you have enough money to retire. Furthermore, you\u2019re mentally prepared for the emotional transition and know what to expect. Even better, you\u2019ve already been through a few of life\u2019s big transitions (job changes, relocation, launching children) and can comfortably draw on those experiences to guide you. You\u2019ve completed your vision board with its list of goals. You\u2019re ready \u2013 almost. The last cog in the retirement machine is your physical abilities.<\/p>\nAnyway<\/h6>\n
<\/a><\/p>\nBelieve It<\/h6>\n
You Can\u2019t Fight Physics<\/h6>\n