Retirement for High Achievers Is Malarkey

I’ve been in the financial services industry for 18 years and all this time I have bought into the cultural norm and rhetoric of this little end-goal called “retirement.” As I have built my practice, I’ve successfully helped numerous people exit their last jobs from Fortune 500 companies to successfully enter this awaited phase after years of hard work.

There is a notion that retirement is an elevated status, a blissful state wherein you have no responsibilities, play golf every day, spend time with your grandkids and travel. Oh, and in retirement, a vortex of time and all its associated deadlines cease to exist.

This sounds like a smelly pile of something I avoid when walking through a pasture.

Over time I have consistently observed one trend among top producers and high achievers: The individuals who have reached the stereotypical version of financial success or power in their professional quest don’t know how to stop pursuing and relax when it is “time to retire.” It becomes an embedded part of their DNA over time. Sound familiar?

The underlying nature of a top achiever is to keep growing personally, spiritually and professionally. It’s in their nature to keep innovating and coming up with interesting ideas. After all, if you aren’t growing, you’re dying, right?