The first stage of the Retirement Process, Imagination is 15 to 6 years before expected retirement.  As retirement becomes more [...]]]> A 2006 study done by Ken Dychtwald and Age Wave www.agewave.com looks at the journey of people moving toward and through retirement. They identified five stages.

The first stage of the Retirement Process, Imagination is 15 to 6 years before expected retirement.  As retirement becomes more of a reality people begins to focus and envision what life might be like without a regular workday.  They ask what are my goals and what preparations do I need to make.  People actually start feeling some excitement and enthusiasm and a sense of adventure.

As the day of retirement draws closer, approximately 5 years before, people have a sense of Anticipation the second stop on the journey.  This is the beginning of what we call (the 3rd act). There is a feeling of excitement and hopefulness for those people who have goals, a plan and are close to having their finances in place.  At the same time, as the threshold of this major change grows close, people often become anxious and have a sense of worry or doubt about how this transition will impact every important area of their life.

The next stage is Liberation, which includes the day of retirement and the year that follows.  Liberation is filled, this study shows, with feelings of enjoyment, enthusiasm and hopefulness.  Dychtwald calls this the short “honeymoon” phase.  There is a sense of relief and excitement and most people are very engaged in new activities from travel to starting a new business.

Reorientation is next, a stage that spans a period of 2 to 15 years after retirement.  During this phase there may be  letdown feelings of boredom, depression or worry.  It is a time of considerable challenge of reprioritizing life goals.  Dychtwald found that folks fall into 4 categories, in this stage:  Empowered Re-inventors, Carefree Contents, Uncertain Searchers and Worried Strugglers.

The Empowered Re-inventors have done considerable planning and preparing for their later years and find life satisfying and full of adventure, possibilities and meaning.  Carefree Contents are optimistic but not looking for adventure or to start new plans. Instead, they prefer to wind down with less stress and responsibilities.  Most do not continue to work.  Those who are Uncertain Searchers are trying to sort through their options. They are still in the mode of discovery because they did little planning for retirement in previous years.  The Worried Strugglers are generally anxious and sad, often with feelings of emptiness.  They have not spent time planning or preparing for retirement.

 The last stage of the Retirement Process is Reconciliation, which begins about16 years after retirement and extends into the 4th Act.  People at this stage have worked through most of their hopes and fears and have come to terms with life as it is.  Interestingly, in this stage people find they have a renewed interest in activities and hobbies.

Where do you find yourself in these phases of your mature years?

• Are you Imagining what it would be like to not go to your workplace every day, envisioning what “retirement” would be like?
• Do you have a set of goals, a plan and looking forward to your next adventure?  Have you set your financial plan in motion? (Anticipation) 
• Are you feeling adventurous and empowered? Have you recently left your primary workplace?  Or have your children recently launched their own lives.  Are you experiencing a sense of Liberation? 
• Are you rethinking your situation with a focus on what is satisfying and meaningful? (Empowered Re-inventor)
• Are you happy to kick back and relax, watching the world go by? (Carefree Content) 
• Do find yourself mulling over the next steps, uncertain about your goals, and not clear about what really gives you a sense of fulfillment at this time? (Uncertain Searcher)
• Or do you find yourself feeling worried and anxious about the future with a sense of “is that all there is” from Peggy Lee’s famous song of the fifties. (Worried Struggler)
   

Take a moment to identify where you are in the Retirement Process.  The only way to move forward with the challenge of change is to know where you are standing now. Regardless of the stage you find yourself, inner exploration, intentional planning and clear goals will help you move into the flow and fullness of you mature years with a sense of renewed vitality.

I have been searching to find a word that describes those of us in The 3rd Act.  The word “Boomer” or “Elder” doesn’t really discretely describe who we are and for that matter neither does “Retiree” or “Empty Nester”.  This [...]]]>

I have been searching to find a word that describes those of us in The 3^rd Act.  The word “Boomer” or “Elder” doesn’t really discretely describe who we are and for that matter neither does “Retiree” or “Empty Nester”.  This dilemma was brought home to me as I read Sara Lawrence-Lightfoot’s new book The Third Chapter.  In it, she writes that every one hundred years we have to come up with a name for a new developmental stage.  In the last century the word adolescent was coined to describe a time of life that hadn’t really existed before, the age between childhood and adulthood. 

In thinking about this new stage of adulthood, I remembered my days in graduate school studying for a master’s in counseling psychology.   We had been assigned a course in developmental psychology, which included Erik Erikson’s Life Stage Virtues.  In his developmental schema he describes the life challenges at each transition point.  The life challenge and tension as we move into mid life and before old age is the one between generativity and stagnation. If we choose generativity, we are satisfied with what we have accomplished and are drawn toward assisting the younger generations.  If we choose stagnation, we feel that we have failed ourselves and the generations to come.

In trying to combine Erickson’s work and my own thinking,  I have come up with the term for those who are working to successfully resolved this challenge, “Generatarian”.  What do you think?  I would appreciate your thoughts and feedback.  Please click on comments and type away.

Warmly, Patricia

3^rd Act Strategy Tips from Business Planners

By Pat McHenry Sullivan, Visionary Resources, Oakland, CA

As you dream about your 3^rd Act, do you imagine starting a new business or initiating a non-profit venture?  Perhaps your 2^nd Act focused on other career paths and family demands has not prepared you for “business planning” But perhaps you have no desire for a new business or non-profit venture.  Yet, whatever your dream — great planning can turn vague or unworkable ideas into clear, successful ones.

Bankers and non-profit funders require business plans as an act of due diligence, or the careful attention they owe their stockholders or donors.  Thus, before granting any money, they want to know the details of your plans. 

The questions they ask can be helpful, to plan any venture you are dreaming about. 

1.       Have you done enough research to prove that the idea is likely to be successful?

2.       Have you demonstrated your skills, commitment and resourcefulness to stay focused and turn the ideas into action?

For you, due diligence can turn into a deeper act of loving attention as you conduct your research:

1.       How can my idea represent the best information and inspiration of my heart, soul and brain? 

2.       What allies and mentors can help me bring my idea into thriving fruition?

3.       How could I implement my idea in a way that allows for maximum efficiency and satisfaction to me and others? 

4.       How would my idea impact those I love?  (E.g., can I really follow my dream of doing workshops to build adolescent self-esteem and prevent teenage pregnancy throughout the country and still have a rich life with my own family?)

5.       Does this idea so resonate with my purpose and passion that I am fully willing to follow it?  If not, what touchstones in this idea can be turned into an idea that better fits me?  (E.g., is there another way to support other teens and spend more time with my own teens?   Could others throughout the country join in the purposeful fun?)

Basically, the business planning process can force you to get clear and focused on reality.  Here are some basic business plan questions, adapted to the idea for your 3^rd Act:

Products and services:  What exactly do I want to create?  What details and benefits emerge if I dare to dream my idea into a juicy, full-blown vision? 

Marketing and selling:  Who wants what I feel called to offer?  Why?  How can I get out my message in a crowded marketplace? How can I engage in a respectful dialogue that leads to just the right happy customers or nonprofit clients?

 Management:  What abilities and attitudes do I need to fulfill my dream?  Who can help me?  How can I best lead myself and others effectively?

Operations:  How can everything necessary get done well and everyone who helps me build my dream have plenty of time left for a life?  How can I schedule in time for reflection and other ways to generate wisdom.

Finance:  What will it cost to build this dream?  How can every aspect of the financial and other operations be handled with deep integrity?

Planning resistant?

A common fear is that planning will take all the joy out of your venture or somehow jinx your creativity and resourcefulness.  Reality:  Planning for your 3rdAct can be like planning a great vacation.  It always helps when you know where you’re going, you have enough money for what matters most to you, and you can spend most of your time enjoying your adventure.

Want to know more?  The Small Business Administration (www.sba.gov) offers free or very inexpensive business planning classes in many cities.  SCORE (ww.score.org) offers free mentoring from retired business executives. 

Pat McHenry Sullivan, Visionary Resources, specializes in helping focus visions and develop bankable business plans from the heart and soul.  Contact pat@workwithmeaningandjoy.com or call 510-530-0284. See www.visionary-resources.com and blog at www.spiritworkandmoney.com. 

Are you thinking about “retirement”?  Or maybe your employer is suggesting or even requiring that you take “early retirement” or accept a “package”.  In addition to the financial questions, such as “Do I have enough?” are [...]]]>

Are you thinking about “retirement”?  Or maybe your employer is suggesting or even requiring that you take “early retirement” or accept a “package”.  In addition to the financial questions, such as “Do I have enough?” are you asking yourself “what will I do with myself if I don’t work?”  Or maybe you have many ideas for all your time.  Let me share some of my experience. 

In 1996 I had plans to retire early, within the next year, was my plan.  But some high level cost cutting decisions led to an offer for “early retirement” before I was quite ready.  My preparation was to complete projects ,  delegate or re-assign work and say good-bye.  Then suddenly I was no longer employed!  I had simple visions of what I would do with all my “free time”… read, visit friends, work in my garden, set up my consulting practice and catch up on postponed house projects.  After a few weeks, I realized that I had made little headway on any of those things and not accomplished anything else either.  I felt listless and un-motivated.  I was wandering around blindfolded with no destination in mind. 

With some self-reflection, I realized that continuing with my professional work gave me meaning and purpose.  It was part of my contribution “to make the world a little better”, as my father used to admonish me.  But I didn’t want to work at the pace or with the stress that had surrounded me in my corporate employment.  I still wanted time to garden, read, volunteer, visit friends and enjoy my personal life.  Gradually my purpose and my goals for this stage of my life began to form.  But I found this early formation wasn’t enough; I was still wandering despite being clear about my destination.  I had relied on the schedule of my employment to structure my days; now I had no structure.  I was accountable to my boss, my staff and my internal clients; now I had no accountability.  I needed to give myself more structure and find a way to be accountable. 

In the thirteen years since I became unemployed, I have been clear about my purpose and my goals; provided my own structure to my days and accountability for my results;  and brought in needed additional income with my consulting practice.  But I have also gotten trapped by a couple of the risks that Bill Sadler and Jim Krefft identify in their book “Changing Course”, “To Do ism” and “Second Age Addictions”[1].    The “to do list” which keeps us so organized amidst the driving tasks and multiple plans of family, career and personal life during our second act, became my accountability record in my third act.   My “to do list” included items to be accomplished or addressed from my consulting practice, my volunteer life and my personal life.  Getting things done when I had laid them out in my plans became so important that I became worried and anxious when I did not complete my “to do list” for the day or the week.  When I realized what I was doing and how I was tying myself in knots, I had to laugh–I was creating my own stressful environment!

 I also transferred addictions or habits from my second act into my third.  I enjoyed the professional recognition and acknowledgement that came with leadership in professional organizations, publishing, and speaking so much that I found myself clinging to my professional identity.  If I no longer had my professional identity, who was I?  Wow, when that question surfaced in my mind, I was stopped short!  Had I become so invested in my professional life that I literally didn’t know who I was outside of that identity?    As I explored this issue, I realized I was accepting work that I no longer wanted to do to reinforce this addiction. 

In the last few years, I have loosened up on my accountability.  I let go of many professional activities, consulting and memberships and I carved out more time for meditation, exercise and visits with friends.   “Being” is much more important than all the “doing”.  I continue to have my purpose and my goals as my guiding star but I realize that it doesn’t all have to be done today, this week or even this month!  Having a sense of fulfillment is much more important than a sense of accomplishment.  Sadler and Krefft point out one of the tasks of this stage of our lives is to craft a new identity based on paradox, to have both/and.  For me the both/and is to continue making a professional contribution through coaching and The 3^rd Act Workshops, to volunteer and use my skills and experience in my community and to be and enjoy time with my family and my friends.  I am a professional, a volunteer, a partner, a Grandma and a friend.