6 Tips For Transitioning Into Retirement

It’s no secret that experiencing change can be a challenge. You’ll find this is true even when the transition you’re going through entails something long desired. The reason is, by and large, people are creatures of habit. So, when life’s rhythms get altered the upheaval can be immense.

 

The decision to bring your career to a close is one that invariably brings many feelings to the surface. Some of these feelings will be positive, and others, not so much.

 

A little bit of planning can help you through this process in as seamless and painless a fashion as possible. The following six tips for transitioning into retirement will help you on your path.

 

1.     Mitigate Financial Risks

 

Recent studies¹ have shown there are five major financial risks facing retirees: policy risk, market risk, health risk, longevity risk, and family risk.  Of these, the risks that most consistently become a problem for people are longevity risk (outliving resources) and health risk (medical bills/long-term care).  

 

The good news is that these are risks you can mitigate in many ways. For example, you can take care not to underestimate how long you will live, be realistic about the expenses involved in healthcare, and acknowledge the possibility of needing assistance later in life. 

 

In addition, if you take good care of yourself (physically, mentally, and emotionally) now, you will increase the likelihood of aging with grace and potentially reduce your medical needs and overhead later.

 

2.    Be Realistic About Spending

 

Paying close attention to what you spend each month before you retire will give you a sense of your monetary needs.  If you find that they are too high, begin paring down your expenses and reducing your overhead: the fewer places you hemorrhage money, the better.  Even if you have ample resources, it’s wise to pay attention to your spending to avoid unwanted surprises down the road. 

 

3.    Practice Prevention 

 

Your health and wellbeing should have been your priority throughout your life, but as you age, it’s untenable for them not to be. The difference between enjoying your retirement, or suffering the experience, can easily come down to lifestyle choices.  

 

So, if you haven’t already, make physical activity a part of each day, aim to eat a rainbow of food, cultivate sources of creativity and joy in your life, and spend time with people you love. Doing these things could lengthen your life, prevent illness and injury, and simply help to make your life better.

 

4.    Have A Plan

 

Work consumes a great deal of time. If you head into retirement without considering what those suddenly vacant hours will look like, you could leave yourself feeling unmoored. Creating a schedule for yourself that incorporates healthy habits into your daily routine can be a game changer.

 

According to a study for Psychology of Aging, “the retirement transition is multi-dimensional. The transition involves two developmental challenges: adjustment to the loss of the work role and the social ties of work, and the development of a satisfactory postretirement lifestyle.”²  

 

Anticipating these impacts in advance, and consciously facing them through planning and preparation, increases your chances for a happy retirement.

 

5.    Learn To Relax 

 

Learning to relax may sound silly, but many people are so conditioned to be busy that suddenly having free time can lead to an identity crisis. To counter this possibility, consider beginning a mindfulness practice such as meditation. Learning to sit, be still, and reflect inward will confer myriad health benefits and help ease you into retirement.

 

6.    Don’t Wait To Enjoy

 

Life is better when lived fully. Waiting for a future date to truly savor your existence can be a monumental waste of precious time. Life offers few guarantees, so if you want to avoid regrets, then make today matter. Once retirement begins, double down.  

 

Fill your moments with things you’ve long wanted to try. Vie to expand, rather than contract, as you age. Stay engaged, keep moving, and consciously cultivate your vitality. Doing this will help you transition smoothly into retirement and, what’s more, will foster a life worth living.

 

References:

 

1. ​​Hou, W. (n.d.). How Well Do Retirees Assess The Risks They Face in Retirement? Center for Retirement Research. Retrieved September 23, 2022, from https://crr.bc.edu/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/IB_22-10.pdf
2. van Solinge, H., & Henkens, K. (2008). Adjustment to and satisfaction with retirement: two of a kind?. Psychology and aging, 23(2), 422–434. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.23.2.422

 

6 Tips For Living With Integrity

Integrity is one of those things that’s difficult to put into words, but we still recognize it when we see it.

 

Still, many dictionaries try to describe it, like the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, which defines it as ‘honesty; honor; uprightness of character or action’.

 

Another definition is a ‘sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition.’ While this definition often refers to the condition of something tangible like the ‘structural integrity’ of a ship, aircraft, or vehicle.

 

This meaning has some relevance to the type of moral integrity we want to discuss in this post. This refers to how goodness is like a moral compass that must be sound and rational.

 

In addition, integrity shouldn’t be impaired by external pressures or difficult circumstances while still being true to clear and constant principles. This is when you can say for certain that your inner and outer lives have come together and merged in unity. Not surprisingly, the word integrity stems from the Latin word for bringing together or making whole, integritas.

 

Your sense of virtue should be unwavering regardless of the situation. This is the type of integrity that earns a good reputation.

 

Here are six tips for living with integrity.

 

Value Fairness

 

Justice and fairness are two vital pillars of integrity. They define how you treat others in your family, community, and workplace.

 

Everyone you meet will have a different perspective than you. And it’s important that you provide them with a safe space to voice their ideas without judgment or criticism.

Unfortunately, not everyone values fairness as much as you. So, it’s difficult to expect the same from others. But by asserting your sense of virtue, you’ll likely inspire others to imitate your positive behavior.

 

Define Your Core Values

 

Knowing where you stand on various topics can help you determine your values and principles. Do you value compassion and forgiveness? Or do you prefer to stand up for injustices no matter the situation?

 

Most times, we’re trained to do as we’re told and follow the teachings of those who came before us. However, you can do a bit of soul-searching to find out what your instinctual values are, and what you believe in your heart to be right and wrong even if no one comes right out and tells you.

 

Surround Yourself with the Right People

 

We all have people in our lives who don’t follow a virtuous path. Their moral compass seems to be off course and they’re fine with it.

 

These are the ones you should limit contact with as much as you can. Rather, surround yourself with people that you trust and respect and who value honesty and fairness like you.

 

And when you’re not sure what to do, ask them for help. They’ll help you see things from a different perspective so that you can make sound decisions that have a positive effect on your life for years to come.

 

Speak Your Truth

 

Over time, living with false beliefs will make you lose your true identity. In situations like this, you’re not just lying to yourself; you’re also lying to the people closest to you.

Being true to who you are and speaking your truth is the first step to living with integrity. It means that you’ve managed to integrate your core values with your actions. And, when it’s time to make a decision, whether big or small, your moral compass will easily guide you in the right direction.

 

Avoid Shortcuts

 

In this busy day and age, it’s getting easier and easier for people to get things done by cutting corners. Yet just because no one is looking doesn’t mean it’s right.

 

Living with integrity means being accountable for the work you do. This means not just getting the task done but doing it to the best of your ability without cheating by using shortcuts or cutting corners.

 

Find Your Purpose

 

Be willing to recognize that being alive means you have the ability to choose how you want certain aspects to turn out. This includes realizing your passions through exploration and discovery.

 

Even if one path ends up taking you off-course, that’s fine. Start a new path and enjoy where it takes you, making mistakes and learning along the way.

 

One way to find your purpose is to ask yourself these questions:

 

• What do I want to achieve in life?

• What do I need to do to reach my full potential?

• What makes me happy?

• What are my skill sets and how can I use them to help others?

 

Brainstorming Tips To Plan Out Your Future

Remember when we were taught in school how to brainstorm to generate ideas and resourceful solutions to solve problems? Since then, you’ve probably relied on your brainstorming skills once or twice without even realizing it.

 

Yet, in order to harness the true power of brainstorming, you need to learn how to use it effectively.

 

In this post, we’ll look at why brainstorming is useful and how to use it to plan out your future. Let’s get started.

 

Why Is Brainstorming Important?

 

Alex Osborn is one of the first ones to develop the original approach. He then went on to publish it in his 1953 book, Applied Imagination. From that point on, researchers have added and improved on his original technique.

 

Nowadays, the most popular definition of brainstorming is that it follows a relaxed and informative approach to problem-solving that also combines lateral thinking.

 

So, why is that important?

 

For starters, brainstorming sessions work by getting people unstuck and jolting them out of their routine and prosaic ways of thinking.

 

motivates people to come up with ideas that, initially, can seem a bit outlandish and even nonsensical. Some of these ideas can spark more innovative ideas, while others can be tailored into original, inventive solutions for a specific problem.

 

Brainstorming Tips to Plan Out Your Future

 

We all have some kind of vision for what we’d like our future to look like. That’s why if you want to move forward in your personal development, you need to plan out your future.

 

You don’t need to draw up every small detail, only a general layout will suffice. The most effective way to do that is to brainstorm.

 

Brainstorming exercises can be an immensely influential way to break through barriers and uncover new, innovative ideas.

 

Here are some useful tips to keep in mind when brainstorming to plan out your future.

 

Encourage Positive Feedback

 

When you’re brainstorming, you’re working to break down false assumptions about the limitations of the problem you’re trying to solve. Having an environment where you feel safe sharing your ideas and thoughts without the fear that you’ll be judged or belittled is conducive to a healthy brainstorming session.

 

Hence, to help you open up possibilities and come up with ingenious solutions, you should avoid passing judgment or criticizing during brainstorming sessions. It’ll only work to limit creativity and stunt the generation of innovative ideas and thoughts.

 

Create as Many Ideas as You Can

 

Rather than trying to come up with one big solution to your problem, try to generate as many little ones as possible. Focus on quantity instead of quality because the more ideas you come up with, the higher the chances are that you’ll eventually land on the next great one that you’ve been searching for.

 

Learn to Develop an Unconventional Approach

 

Unconventional thinking is sometimes frowned upon because they seem to be too far out there. These types of ideas don’t usually follow the usual way of doing things, which can be off-putting to some people.

 

However, by welcoming unconventionality into your brainstorming sessions, you open up the possibility of creativity and innovation. This leads to an increased number of ideas being generated and boosts the level of invention and originality.

 

Draw Inspiration from Others

 

The best way to draw inspiration from others is to combine as many ideas from different people as you can. Then, follow these steps:

Step 1: Evaluating each idea separately.

Step 2: Next, make three imaginary piles

• Innovative and workable

• Could possibly work

• Completely unsuitable

Step 3: Think about where you’d like to place each concept.

Step 4: Focus your efforts on the ones with the highest chance of finding a suitable solution to the problem or reaching a certain goal.

 

Try Different Brainstorming Approaches

 

Whether brainstorming alone or as part of a group, the process of conceptualizing ideas can reach a point where it’s no longer entertaining or even worthwhile.

 

This is when using a different type of brainstorming approach can be highly effective. Or maybe you can even use a combination of approaches to help you see the problem in a different light. Thus, you’ll find it easier to generate more creative and influential ideas.

 

To help you bring fun back into your brainstorming sessions, try the following approaches:

• Brainwriting

• SCAMPER

• The 5 why's

• The SWOT analysis

• Mind mapping

• Drivers analysis

• Gap filling

 

5 Tips To Measure Success

Measuring success, whether at the workplace or at home, can help you figure out if you’re heading in the right direction or if you should turn back and try a different approach. It’s also an indicator of whether you’re reaching your short- and long-term goals.

 

Then, anytime you feel you’re not getting closer to your goals, you can take a step back and readjust.

 

Everyone has a different definition of what success looks like. For example, some people characterize success according to how high their yearly earnings are despite working in an organization where the company culture is stifling and the supervisors are overworked.

 

Alternatively, someone else might be making much less money someplace else, but still feel like they’ve won the lottery because their work environment is positive and engaging.

 

As such, experts have implemented several ways to measure success that work for everybody.

 

In this article, we discuss five ways to measure success in your life.

 

Believe in Yourself

 

Self-confidence doesn’t come overnight. You have to first recognize what your values and principles are, then make a conscious effort to live your life accordingly.

 

When you do that, you’ll enjoy a sense of inner peace and high self-esteem. Thus, you live each day trying to be the best version of yourself, which is one of the highest measures of success.

 

The problem is that sometimes we feel we have to live according to other people’s values to please them or fit in and be accepted. That may be true for a while.

 

But eventually, you’ll end up feeling defeated, worn out, and exhausted, which is the exact opposite of what you would describe as success.

 

Track Your Most Important Tasks

 

How you spend your time during the day is one of the biggest indicators of success. It tells you whether your main priorities are where they need to be.

 

Even if you work most of your waking hours, you may not be getting anything done.

To help you make the most of your time, create a schedule and keep track of how much you spend on the most critical tasks of the day.

 

If you find a task that you can hand over to others and delegate, then great! This means you can free up some time to focus on the tasks that really matter to you and will help you achieve personal and professional success.

 

Compare Yourself to Yesterday’s Version of You

 

Think about your level of learning and knowledge five years ago, last year, and last month. You’ll notice the line moving upward. Even if it’s in small increments, this means that there’s continuous learning.

 

This includes the practical experience you gain when putting your ideas to work. It also includes that some of these ideas will inevitably fail.

 

Yet, you have to realize that failure is part of the learning process. After failing once, or even a dozen times, you now know what not to do, so you have a better chance of reaching your goals and achieving success.

 

Find Your Version of Inner Peace

 

It’s nice to feel like we’re contributing and making a difference in the world. It could be working as a diplomat traveling abroad, making an impact on a global level.

 

Or it could be within our immediate family where we’re helping raise our kids or caring for our elderly parents.

 

It could also be just living an ordinary life, doing the things we love, and enjoying being in the presence of our friends and co-workers.

 

All these scenarios are good measures of success because, through them, we embrace inner peace and feel like we’re adding value to the world around us.

 

Evaluate Your Relationships

 

Whether at work or in our personal lives, we all want to love and be loved. It’s human nature and a goal we’re all trying to achieve, which makes it a measure of success.

 

And when we feel like our emotions aren’t being reciprocated, it can feel disappointing and frustrating.

 

Therefore, one of the best ways to measure your success in life is by the company you keep. Surround yourself with people who lift you up, inspire you to do better, and help you focus on what’s right for you.

 

5 Tips For Chasing Your Dreams

As kids, we had big dreams of how we wanted our lives to turn out when we grew up. Then, slowly, most of these dissipated due to timing and other circumstances far beyond our reach.

 

Yet, that doesn’t mean that, as adults, we should stop dreaming and striving to turn these dreams into reality. There’s no denying it’s a challenge, and the waiting and hoping are difficult as well.

 

But they’re sometimes a necessary part of life that helps us grow and mature. We all have circumstances that make it challenging to succeed. Yet, we can choose to find a way around them if we only put our minds to it and stay determined to reach our goals.

 

We know how difficult and lonely it can feel to keep your dreams alive.

 

So, we’re here today to offer you the motivation you need with five tips that will help you stay hopeful and find the inspiration to pursue your dreams.

 

Stop Making Excuses

 

People give up on their dreams not because they lack the right skills, support, or motivation. They give up because they’re afraid of failing.

 

Fear of failure is a normal human reaction. Everyone is afraid, but it’s only those with enough confidence and courage to take risks who eventually succeed.

 

One trick is to look at failure as a learning experience. Use it to have a better understanding of what not to do and prepare yourself for the next time.

 

Take Action

 

The dreaming part is easy, fun, and exciting. But it’ll get you nowhere. You have to start putting in the work if you want to pursue your dreams any further even if it means stepping out of your comfort zone.

 

One way to do that is by asking questions. Find experts in your chosen field and pick their brains about everything.

 

Remember, there are no dumb questions. So, don’t feel awkward that you’re less knowledgeable about a certain topic than they are. They were once in your shoes, and they worked hard to get to where they are. And so will you.

 

Meet Obstacles Head-On

 

Venus Williams once said, “I don’t focus on what I’m up against. I focus on my goals, and I try to ignore the rest.”

 

If you put your energy into creating goals and working to achieve them, you won’t have time to worry about any hurdles in your path or people who try to knock you down.

 

Then, when something does pop up that you absolutely can’t ignore, you’ll have enough willpower and determination to plow through it.

 

You’ll put more value on reaching your goal that you can’t let anything sidetrack you or throw you off course.

 

Hold Yourself Accountable

 

This is your dream. You’re the only one who can turn it into reality. Plus, no one will ever feel as passionate about your dream as you because everyone else is busy chasing their own dreams.

 

So, invest enough time and effort to see it to fruition. This isn’t just for your sake, but for all the people who will ultimately benefit from your ideas once they become real.

 

It doesn’t matter if your dreams are big like owning a nationwide chain of retail boutiques. Or small like getting a raise to help support your family. The important thing to remember is that they’re your dreams and they make you happy. So, enjoy the journey and have faith that, when you put in the work, things will work out in the end.

 

Put in the Time

 

We’re all eager to claim success, wealth, and fame as quickly as possible. But life doesn’t work that way.

 

Many times, people sabotage their dreams because they want to go fast and find shortcuts so that they forget to build a strong foundation for their dreams. Yet, it’s the best dreams that take the most time, and try as you may, you won’t find an easy way to achieve them.

 

Yet, once you get there, you’ll realize they were worth every ounce of blood, sweat, and tears. You just have to believe in yourself long enough to stick with it until the end. As Eleanor Roosevelt said, “The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.”