Ways to Take the Agony Out of Retirement

Life Meaning

Easter is a very exciting time of year!  It 's a time for new life, with the spring blooms, buds on trees, and the resurrection of Jesus (if you are a believer).  It's a time to share in the joy of friends and family, to share a meal, to see the newborn animals.  Easter means many things to many people.  What does it mean to you?  What do you believe in?  How does this affect your life or retirement?

Your life meaning is very important throughout your life, and even more so once you retire.  It's a time when you find personal growth that deepens and you examine your own spirituality and faith.  Life Meaning is one of the 15 Factors in the Retirement Success Profile assessment.  I'm a Certified Retirement Success Coach, and I'll be offering the assessment in the near future.  Keep watching for the opportunity!  If you're interested in taking the assessment right now, send an email to traceyfieber@sasktel.net.  You'll find the assessment looks at you, and reflects back to you solid, quantifiable information that you can use immediately to assess your retirement planning progress, and make adjustments where necessary.  If you're within ten years of: 1) working for pay less than full time; 2) at least part of your income will come from a pension or pension-like vehicle, you'll want to take the assessment NOW!  You'll be glad you did!

Learning Something New

Two weeks ago my husband and I took the PADI scuba diving course.  He has wanted to learn to scuba dive for years.  I began reading the manual and made sure I had read the entire thing prior to the weekend.  I'm not really a 'water' person, but I enjoy paddling around our backyard aboveground pool in the summer.  I knew if I set my mind to it, I could pass the course, but I wasn't sure if I would like scuba diving.  I can swim, but not great distances.  And I was a little apprehensive about being underwater for any length of time.

The weekend started Friday night from 7 - 10pm.  Two co-workers of mine also took the class, which added fun to the weekend.  When we arrived, we realized another lady we knew was taking it, and the sixth person in the course was new to us, but we openly welcomed him to the group.  Bookwork, watching videos, and discussion took up both Friday night and Saturday 8am - 5pm.  At the end of the second day, we took our equipment home (BCD's, regulators, tanks, snorkel, mask, fins, et all).  Since I was slightly apprehensive, I filled the bathtub with water and practiced breathing through the snorkel with the mask on, cleared my mask when I filled it with water, and even had my husband Greg hold the tank so I could use the regulator to get the feel of breathing through it.  That was probably the longest bath I've ever taken, but I was having fun!

Sunday morning arrived, and we met at the pool before 8am.  Hauling our equipment in and setting it up took a few minutes, but our excitement was mounting!  We were in the pool from 8am - 12pm, practicing what we had learned and swimming around underwater.  We took two short breaks, and back in the water for more learning.  Once we completed all of the skills, we had free time, which ended up being only 10 minutes!!?  We agreed we want to rent the pool in the next few weeks to practice some more. 

I wondered when was the last time I took a course (of any kind) where I looked forward to the course, had fun during the course, and was still excited after the course and couldn't wait to implement the knowledge learned.

This is important in retirement.  You need to keep learning, no matter what it is.  It doesn't have to be something as big as scuba diving.  Keeping an open mind can help you to learn something new every day.  What is it you would like to learn?  Can you learn it with a friend, spouse, significant other?  Having the courage to learn something new opens up a whole new world.  Just like the underwater world in scuba diving, new experiences appear where you may not have seen the opportunity before.  Keep your eyes and ears open and you may be surprised what you see and hear.  In order for me to be successful in the course, I needed to practice in the bathtub where it was safe and I felt comfortable.  How can you practice your new skills?  Where is your 'bathtub'?

Our next step will be the Open Water Dive at Clear Lake, MB.  We are planning a weekend in June since we are all still excited after the first session and can't wait to go.  Drop me a note at traceyfieber@sasktel.net to let me know what it is that you're enjoying learning.  Greg and I plan to travel and scuba dive as a part of retirement.  Have you thought about what you will DO in retirement?

Learning From Fish

I was driving home from work last week and listening to Focus on the Family (I find they have some very interesting topics http://family.org).  They were talking about a study that had been held where they took a Pike fish out of its natural habitat and put it in a large aquarium.  They fed the fish an abundance of minnows every day, and the fish thrived.  They then took all of the minnows out of the aquarium, put them in a glass tube, and inserted the glass tube in the aquarium with the Pike.  The Pike tried and tried to get at the minnows, but of course bumped its nose (do fish have noses?) on the glass and could not get at the minnows.  After a period of time, the Pike settled at the bottom of the aquarium and stopped trying to eat minnows.  The study then removed the glass tube of minnows from the aquarium, and once again put an abundant supply of minnows in the aquarium.  The amazing part of the study happened next ...

The Pike, although there was an abundant supply of minnows, starved to death.  The minnows swam right beside the Pike, even bumping into its eyes and mouth, but the Pike didn't even try to eat any!

So what does this have to do with retirement?  You need to examine yourself and your life to see, are you like the Pike?  Are there opportunities in front of you that you are not seeing or have you convinced yourself that you won't be able to survive or enjoy life?  The Pike had abundance right in front of his eyes, but didn't make an effort.  What is in front of your eyes that can make a difference in your life?  The Pike starved to death.  In what areas of your life are you 'starving yourself'?  Now is the time to make decisions on what you want your life to be like.

To find out what's missing in your life, send an email to traceyfieber@sasktel.net with the subject: "Coaching" to receive a complimentary coaching session.  Coaching on a regular basis can help to move you from where you are now, to where you want to be.  Start to make your dreams come true today!  You deserve it!