Why Would You Retire if You’re Doing the Things You Love?
The following is adapted from The Fortune Recipe by Bernie Stoltz.
I think the word “retirement” is a horrible term. Transformational words matter, and that word puts head trips and limiting beliefs on you. Society has laid it out for you to work all your life, doing what you have to do, until you have financial freedom. Most people don’t ever achieve that because they don’t save enough or Social Security doesn’t pay anywhere near enough to lead a life by design. So they burn up their most energetic years doing what they don’t like just so they can stop doing it.
It’s time to rewrite this whole crazy script. I’m sixty-two now, and people ask me, “When are you going to retire?” My response is, “Why would I quit doing the things I love to do?”
That’s my response because I’ve designed my life deliberately over a period of years, to a point where I’m the happiest I’ve ever been. And the reason is I no longer do the things I don’t want to do. I don’t go places I don’t want to go, and I don’t deal with people I don’t want to deal with. Now, maybe financial freedom gives you some of those options. But it’s not just about having money. It’s about you guiding the direction and making a series of decisions that make life better, step by step, so you’re enjoying the journey, not just the destination.
Live Life the Way You Design It
If you have a life of your own design, why would you ever “retire” from it? And by the way, I’m hoping you don’t think I mean the end goal is sitting in an easy chair and watching the grass grow. People only feel the need to do that when they hate what they do every day for money. I still do really difficult things. I challenge myself all the time to get better. And I always will.
You need to merge difficulty and joy. Think about all the things you like to do that give you juice, that are purposeful and fulfilling to you. And be fanciful about it; don’t impose limits on what’s possible. There should be things you do in your life that will take every bit of your energy and effort, but accomplishing them will give you joy. I’m still involved in starting businesses, exercising, and learning, but my daily and yearly activities are all my intentional design. I want a big life, right to the end.
There are tons of studies showing how short the average lifespan is after someone retires. I think that speaks directly to people having lived a life not by their own design, and then their retirement has no design either. I’ve met retired people who are now Uber drivers because they were bored to death with retirement. They don’t need the money, but they need to feel they’re accomplishing something or interacting with people. They discovered their original “design” for retirement was a personal hell.
Spend Your Time Doing What You Love
I’m well aware you can’t eliminate all of the things you have to do that don’t bring you joy with the wave of a wand — the things that steal your joy, are just boring to you, that you feel are a waste of time, that are agonizing. The process is to systematically reduce those things. Make them more interesting, or give them a purpose. Or find a way to eliminate them. If you could eliminate half of them, wouldn’t your life be better? Two years from now, if you’re down to doing 20 percent of those things, you probably won’t care that the remaining one-fifth of your time is annoying, unpleasant, or tedious. You’ll have time and space for the things that bring you joy.
Now, some people can’t think of many things that are fulfilling to them. They are so consumed with what they “have” to do that they don’t even have a clear sense of what would give them joy, except for stopping what they’re doing. It’s just as important to become aware of what would bring you satisfaction, challenge you in a fulfilling way, and make it exciting to wake up and “get to” every day. If your list of what brings you joy is thin, then you’ve got some work to do envisioning a better future that you deserve.
For more advice on retiring on your own terms, you can find The Fortune Recipe on Amazon.
Bernie Stoltz is the CEO of Fortune Management, the largest dentist consulting firm in the US — a company he has led for over twenty-five years. Over the course of his career, he has launched seven different businesses and coached hundreds of businesspeople to much higher success. A renowned speaker, he is known for his humor, insight, and dynamic personality.
When he isn’t driving businesses toward higher levels of fortune and success or helping his clients live richly fulfilling lives, Bernie can be found avidly golfing or enthusiastically traveling the world with his family and friends.
