I recently wrote a book with other members of the Retirement Coaches Association. It is a collection of wisdom and insights covering nearly every aspect of the non-financial aspects of retirement. The book does not need to be read cover-to-cover; simply peruse the chapter titles and select the chapters that address topics you may have questions or concerns about. Feel free to reach out to the author to learn more, and perhaps, strike up a conversation with them if you need to dig a little deeper for your resolution to the topic.
The title of my chapter is Developing Resilience for a Thriving Retirement. Below is an excerpt of the chapter. In my next post, I will share ways to practice and develop resilience.
The excerpt from the chapter was revised and reworded slightly to fit the length of the blog post as well as to have better flow.
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Merriam-Webster defines resilience as “the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.†Psychology Today defines resilience “as that ineffable quality that allows some people to be knocked down by life and come back stronger than ever. Rather than letting failure overcome them and drain their resolve, they find a way to rise from the ashes.†More succinctly, it is typically thought of as a person’s ability to bounce back after dealing with a setback.
Retirement presents many challenges that are unique to this time in our lives. These challenges are often more difficult to prepare for, primarily because we either believe everything will be wonderful in retirement or because we were unaware of or didn’t understand the variety of mental, physical, and social challenges that confront us during this time.
Having more time during retirement gives us a chance to gather ourselves, change course, and take the opportunity to make a fundamental change in our lives —making a leap forward rather than simply bouncing back.
We oftentimes overlook that we still may have one quarter to one third of our lives left to live in retirement. We still have a lot of life to live and a great deal to offer from our experience and knowledge gained. As behavioral scientist, author and speaker, Dr. Steve Maraboli stated, “Life doesn’t get easier or more forgiving; we get stronger and more resilient.†Moving forward after a setback is more important in retirement when the setback can be even more severe —mentally, physically, emotionally, and/ or spiritually than when we were younger.
Some of the common challenges and setbacks people face prior to and during retirement that may not have come up earlier in life include job loss (either let go or forced retirement), death of a spouse or close friend(s), friends or family move away (loss of connections), moving ourselves (change of location), divorce, personal illness or health setback, change in social status or social circle, and rising stress (from uncertainty, lack of purpose, or negative thoughts).
To understand the importance of resilience in retirement and begin to develop resilience during this time, it is important to be aware of your current perception of retirement and to understand that retirement is a major life transition. For many people, retirement has a negative connotation of being the beginning of the end. Viewing our life as phases, and seeing our retirement phase lasting 20 or more years, we need to adjust our thinking. Retirement is the beginning of a new phase, one offering infinite options and possibilities.
In part two of this blog highlighting the book chapter, I will share the ways we can practice and develop resilience.
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You can read the full chapter on Amazon- currently available in the Kindle version. You don’t need Kindle to read the book. Simply get the Kindle reader for your device.
The paperback version will be available soon. Look for it an Amazon.
Pass along the links to clients, friends, neighbors who are nearing retirement or just started their retirement journey. The book is likely to include a chapter to help guide them on their journey.
