Are You Ready to Redefine Yourself in Retirement? with Dr. Joe Coughlin from the MIT Age Lab
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How are you going to redefine yourself in retirement? Retirement means making the life transition from a full-time career to full-time living on your own terms. Although this is exciting, it can also be scary. During this series, you\\u2019ll learn how to create a framework to do this successfully. Learn how to figure out your identity and who you want to become. Are you ready to redefine yourself in retirement? Listen to this episode of Retirement Answer Man to begin to make this huge transition in your life.\\xa0
Who are you?\\xa0
We get so wrapped up in our professional titles that now in retirement you have a void to fill. Not only do you have to figure out the logistics of money, healthcare, where you\\u2019re going to live, now you\\u2019ll have to figure out your identity. Some people can lose direction when they retire. They think about who they were rather than who they want to become. Creating an identity from a completely blank slate can be a challenge. People don\\u2019t do well with blank slates. We prefer multiple-choice questions and don\\u2019t have the skills required to choose from such a broad palette. Do you know who you are? Do you know who you want to become?
Why did I shift the focus of this series from finding your purpose?
I had originally planned for this month to be all about finding your purpose in retirement, but then Mike the listener had an objection. Mike feels that there is too much pressure in finding your purpose of retirement. You probably won\\u2019t solve the problem of world hunger. Retirement is like the start of college, it\\u2019s the beginning of another round of self-exploration. Unfortunately, the analogy ends there since college has a structure and pressure. A well-funded retirement is free of pressure and structure. How will you grow and change in the absence of pressure?
How can you hack longevity?
It used to be that you might get 10 years of retirement in to simply sit on the park bench. Nowadays \\u2153 of your adult life consists of retirement. The pattern written by previous generations doesn\\u2019t hold up for this new generation of retirees. This new stage of life has to be reinvented. Just because you stopped working doesn\\u2019t mean that you stop everything. People are beginning to hack their longevity by identifying their interests early on in retirement. These interests will carry them for the years of their retirement.\\xa0
Are you ready to redefine yourself in retirement?
When you retire, you can\\u2019t just run away from work, you need something to run to. It\'s not the absence of work that people desire in retirement, it\\u2019s the flexibility. Before beginning your retirement it\\u2019s time to start thinking about who you really are. What\\u2019s your reason to get up in the morning? What will be your storyline? How can you use the skills you have accumulated over a lifetime and translate them into the new game of retirement?
OUTLINE OF THIS EPISODE OF THE RETIREMENT ANSWER MAN
HOT TOPIC SEGMENT
- [3:45] We get so wrapped up in our professional titles
- [8:14] Blank slates can be a challenge
- [9:00] Why we aren\\u2019t searching for a purpose this month
- [17:55] What is going on in the Rock Retirement Club this month?
PRACTICAL PLANNING SEGMENT
- [19:08] Dr. Joseph Coughlin is the director of the MIT Age Lab
- [25:22] People are hacking their retirement
- [31:55] How can we build support networks in retirement?
THE HAPPY LAB SEGMENT
- [34:44] Axe throwing is really hard to do
TODAY\\u2019S SMART SPRINT SEGMENT
- [36:56] Identify your identity right now
Resources Mentioned In This Episode
BOOK - The Longevity Economy by Dr. Joseph Coughlin
Roger\\u2019s YouTube Channel - Roger That
BOOK - Rock Retirement \\xa0by Roger Whitney
Roger\\u2019s Retirement Learning Center
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