My editor said I was crazy, but I did it anyway.
As I was thinking about how to conclude my book, “Keys to a Successful Retirement”, I decided to issue a homework assignment to the reader. If you’ve read the book, you’ll know what I’m talking about. My editor encouraged me to think of the implications, and the potential workload I was adding to my retirement. I thought about her advice and decided to keep the challenge as the conclusion for my book. I’m glad I did.
Today, I’m publishing the first submission.
“RC” is two years away from crossing “The Starting Line” at age 55. He’s been working as an engineer since age 22 and is being intentional as he prepares for his retirement. He’s a “Type A” guy who gets easily bored on vacation and is struggling with “how to find your passion in retirement”. The process he’s undergoing in his final years of work will be of interest to anyone who has the same concern.
I’ve gotten positive feedback from “reader stories” I’ve published in the past, and trust that if you’re concerned about how to find your passion in retirement you’ll find his approach helpful on your journey.
Today, a reader's story of how to find your passion in retirement. Share on X
How To Find Your Passion In Retirement
Just as most of you, I am a fan of Fritz and his Retirement Manifesto’s blog about his retirement journey. I found Fritz’s website via several podcasts that I listen to and found that he has blazed a very similar path as mine, about 5 years ahead of me. I then read his book “Keys to a Successful Retirement”. At the end of the book, he assigns homework to write about your passion. For the past several years, my passion has been to find what my passion will be in retirement, so this was a great book for me to read.
My Background:
I will go by the name “Retire Confident” since I have not revealed my retirement plans to my employer yet. A little about me: I have worked as an engineer in the automotive sector for the last 31 years and specialize in computer modeling and simulation. I’ve loved my job because it gives me a technical creative outlet and challenges me. However, I am planning to retire in 2 years since retiring at 55 has always been my goal since I started working at 22. I want to travel while my wife and I are young enough to not be limited in our physical activity and set my own schedule.
Even though we will not have healthcare provided or a pension, financially we have arrived at our retirement goal. We have always lived a modest, yet comfortable, lifestyle in our working years. My personal definition of retirement is that I will never do work for a paycheck again. Our children are both in college and have their needs met with a 529 plan. My wife works part-time as an Occupational Therapist. Due to the Covid 19 and medicare changes, she has been working only sporadically this year and I jokingly say that she is already bridging to retirement. I am lucky that my wife and I are both on the same page regarding spending habits and retirement timing/plans.
A Retirement Fear
I have never been someone who can just relax on a beach for more than a half-hour. I always have to be doing something, mentally or physically. Thus one of my biggest fears about retirement has been if I will have enough to keep me busy. This is why I have put so much time into researching what others who have gone before me have done and say. It makes me feel good when I hear, “I am so busy in retirement, I don’t know how I found time to work”, or Fritz’s recent reply to a comment saying he was so busy it would be difficult to fit in reading a recommended book. He admitted in the book that he was concerned also about keeping busy in retirement while he was still working, but now that he is retired, it sounds like he has found that balance.
COVID – A “Forced” Test Retirement
In Fritz’s book, he recommends while on a vacation to pretend to be retired. While I understand the purpose, I believe that there is a significant difference, at least for me between retirement and vacation. Since a vacation is relatively short, many of the hobbies I would start (even reading a long book) would not be able to be completed or significantly started before I go back to work, and thus would add to my normal-day stress (I don’t like a lot of things to be done hanging over my head). Since the book was written prior to the Covid 19 pandemic it was not discussed, but this forced lifestyle has in several respects complimented Fritz’s suggestion.
My wife and I have been at home together for the last 7 months, sometimes 24/7 – similar in some respects to what it will be like in retirement. And since the start of school, the kids are back at college so it is just the two of us. Since her paid work is almost non-existent, she has a lot of time on her hands, much longer than just a weekend. While I am now working from home, we are around each other much more, 3 meals a day, and most of the evenings – and I don’t have my 1 ½ hour commute each day. I am happy to report that I now think we will get along just fine in retirement being just the two of us! She still gets out (she is a social butterfly) and has her own activities, so we have plenty to talk about. To be honest, this was a concern to me since once my father retired, it seemed like my parents would bicker all the time. But I now realize that this was because my father “invaded” my mother’s domain and neither had enough hobbies away from each other.
Using Buckets to Find Your Passion in Retirement
In an article about his book “You Can Retire Sooner Than You Think” by Wes Moss, he states “Unhappy retirees have on average 1.9 core pursuits, while the happy camp reports 3.6.” When I read that statistic, it really hit me hard. I definitely want to be in the “happy camp” category! I, therefore, started to concentrate on filling my “hobbies bucket”. Since I am very big on making lists, I started a list on my phone (since I always have it handy) and started listing potential hobbies I might be interested in. While the book has different categories than I chose, mine consisted of three, hobbies (not tasks) for: mental, physical, and social. While some hobbies can be listed under more than one category (all the better!), it only counted for one. I believe that each of these categories are necessary to keep one sharp. Further, since I know only a few of the hobbies will stick, I wanted to have a long list to pick from; so I required myself to come up with at least 7 in each category before I retire. The point, however, is to just get potential ones listed.
I am happy to report that I have over 21 thus far! I also had my wife fill out her list – many of them were different from my list – which is a good thing. Having some we do together and some separate keeps the conversation between us going. However, when I thought about it, it didn’t seem like I had one particular “passion” like Fritz’s wife and her “Freedom for Fido” organization. I marveled as I read Fritz’s book how she focused in on that particular niche passion so well – that is what I wanted to be able to do! But then it hit me that I don’t believe that she started out with that particular passion – instead the book said that she volunteered with a local dog rescue charity and that in turn fostered the idea. Then, looking at my list, I think I can probably say that to start out with, my passion will be trying new things and not worrying about which one will bubble to the top, which will occur naturally as I try them out. But it is important to work from my own list, not someone else’s, otherwise I might suffer “trying new things fatigue”.
Finding A Nugget
As I tell my wife, ‘If I can just gather one nugget of useful knowledge from the hundreds of podcasts I listen to or books I read, it is worth it’. Retirement for me is the biggest decision of my life and I want to do everything in my power to make it a success! I would much rather learn from others’ mistakes and successes than to make my own mistakes. One of my favorite parts about The Retirement Manifesto’s articles are the reader’s comments at the end – I learn so much! Therefore I ask you, HOW (not what is) did you find your passion?
Conclusion
RC is far from alone in his concerns about how to find your passion in retirement. It’s one of the greatest challenges we all face as we prepare for retirement, and I appreciate his transparency as he shares the process he’s using in his final years of work. I agree with his statement about “not worrying about which one will bubble to the top”, and believe his preparation will serve him well when he crosses The Starting Line in two years. Let’s keep in touch, RC, I’d like to see how your journey unfolds.
Your Turn: It’s time for you to help RC out. How would you answer his question: “How did you find your passion”? Let’s learn from each other, with the goal of “helping people achieve a great retirement” (my byline).
I pause to collect my thoughts to such an interesting question, “How did you find your passion?”.
I can’t say it was planned. One night my wife and I were talking and decided to start a website. Something interesting to do that might be helpful to others. Naively, we believed it couldn’t be all that difficult and might even make some extra money.
So the “how” was trying something new.
What surprised me was how immensely satisfying the challenge became. Learning and sharing fresh insights. Taking control of my own retirement achieving purpose and happiness. Never in a million years would I have expected each day to feel like a brand new adventure!
Thanks for the input, I love a new challenge and learning new things. A good idea about the website – it could generate a whole new world of idea and communication.
May I ask what your website is?
Depending on how you subdivide it I think I have probably 30 or 40 hobbies and interests. I can never imagine running out of things to do or being bored. You’ll find your niche, or niches. It’s a big world with lots of interesting stuff, all it takes is to be curious!
Thanks Dave,
I have probably been too worried about finding a singular “passion” and instead should focus more on hobbies in general. I love to learn – always takes me an hour to find something in an encyclopedia because so many interesting articles along the way to looking something up (and yes I do STILL have a set – love the physical paper sometimes!)
So do we!
The How was easy. What was I drawn to, over and over? In museums, stores, everywhere I went – it was glass, in all forms.
So, I started teaching myself how to make stained glass. This brought joy in many ways: partly for the technical and creative combo, partly for the excuse to surround my workspace with a beautiful stash of glass sheets for future projects.
I will expand this hobby after we retire. We’d like to start attending local craft fairs which would also give us an easy social outlet.
My advice to you is be aware of what consistently catches your interest. What makes your heart flutter? That is where you start.
Thanks Andrea,
My sister-in-law is also into stained glass as a hobby and has made us some pretty fantastic items! I wish I was more creatively artistic, that would help, but I get your thought about what consistently re-surfaces as a curiosity – the only thing I’ve been able to come up with so far is – information! I’m the type of person who needs to read every description in the museum and then go home and look it up further on the internet. I guess one thing I’ve always thought of as a hobby was doing something with my hands, but it doesn’t need to be confined to that description.
Wow, RC is me. I’m 20 months away from 55 with the added benefit of taking early retirement on a partially indexed pension since I started in the workforce at 22. Working from home since March has offered a terrific test run for the future.
I am surrounded by positive retirement examples in my life, and I’ve learned that waaay up there with income as a priority is health. So it didn’t take much convincing for my stuck-at-home adult daughters to convince me to drastically reduce meat and yummy processed foods like Kirkland lasagna from my diet, so I’m better positioned for the next phase of me. Game Changer.
My overall strategy is to ‘build out’ my current passions. In preparation, over the last few months I’ve invested in leather hikers, custom ski boots, a fancy spin bike, and because I’m living on the west coast in Canada the best gore-tex jacket I can find. In addition, I’ve secured a website and business name to start a blog and a part-time leadership consultancy to help people in my network achieve their goals, which is what I’ve enjoyed most about my career. If that works out it will be work-optional fun money, for bucket list travel once that is safe again.
Great post!
Hi JD,
Good feeling isn’t it to be able to see the light at the end of the tunnel? I totally agree that heath is paramount for a good retirement as much as we can personally influence. My wife and I have walked (rain or shine) every day since we were married (27 years) which is helpful both mentally and physically. I also agree that starting hobbies BEFORE retirement is important; I am trying to start some on my list as I get time.
i still haven’t found enough to fill up a retirement at this point. i would say i’m at the same point as r.c. in my early 50’s with enough money to stop but an easy job that isn’t killing me, either. the blog takes up some time and is pretty rewarding but i know i need more physical activity stuff built into a full time, free time life.
i like the concept of trying on a bunch of hobbies for size just to see what sticks. i remember training our current rescue dog and that was very rewarding watching his confidence blossom. i also like the concept of finding just one nugget. my hope is that someone reads about my missteps and bad financial moves for entertainment plus maybe avoiding some of them. good luck, r.c.
Hi Freddy,
Sounds like we are in the same boat. I’ve seen lots of hobby lists from others, but find it is best to have your own list – if it has any interest at all, just write it down to consider for later. This has boosted my confidence I will be able to keep busy in retirement immensely. I also find many more sedentary interests than I do physical ones, so that is again why I require myself to have at least 7 in each category (I now have many more than that)
Beautiful words! I will work on my list and work one with my wife.
Thanks David, my wife thought she could just sit down and come up with 21 at once, but it took a while and it was fun to discuss them (I even learned more about her after 27 years!).
I’m 57 and was planning to retire this year, but am now awaiting COVID to settle down and then will set a new glidepath to retirement, hopefully next fall. As with RC, this time has been a nice retirement test in many ways.
I haven’t found my passion and I am not convinced it will be one thing and I don’t think I want it to be. In fact, I am a little afraid of having one passion because I know myself and know that if I have one main effort I will devour it and not leave enough time for other passions. I already did that for 30 + years. When I read Freddy’s list of new hiking and ski boots, and bikes and jackets — that’s me. I like RC’s mental, physical and social list. My goal is to make the items on such lists my passions. There is nothing more enjoyable than coming back from a day of ski touring and then switching gears to a passion that’s quiet and mentally engaging or social. The last thing I think I want is constantly tweaking one main thing to make it perfect. I have always liked the 80% rule, because it helps me calm my perfectionist tilt.
As a final note, something that has solidified in my mind during the COVID lockdown at home, is to make room for my passions. That means to simplify life, including home, stuff and finances to ensure time goes to what I think is important.
Hi Dean, I think you are correct that my passion shouldn’t be just one thing, and it is OK to have many varied interests. Like you, I tend to “devour” many of the things I do until there is nothing left and I need to pull back from that. Like most things as bad as the COVID has been for us all, at least we can get something good out of it.
For sure RC. And you just highlighted the most important thing to have as a passion — a positive attitude for everything that happens. If there is one passion to have as a guiding light, that’s it. As we tell our kids, attitude is everything.
While I’m 20 months from retirement, I’ve always had hobbies and with more time, I can really dive deeper into them. Some of my hobbies include fitness training, real restate, and theatre. In my opinion, hobbies are more rewarding when I can spend hours growing and developing.
Geez, I was hoping for the answer to the same question. I am talking to my boss today to nail down my retirement date. I have been talked into remaining twice now but this time I want my date of April 9, 2021 to stick. I know I am ready to retire now at 63 years old but I am concerned about what is going to keep me busy. While we are avid boaters I am not prepared to live on the water 24/7. One thing is for sure this virus has to go away or none of us will have anything to do!
Thanks to all that are contibuting its reassuring to know what we’re all in similar boats!
Hi John, hope things go well with your boss and the discussion. I’m kind of in the same situation, as soon as I plan on a date I am expecting they counter with a longer stay. I have heard of so many sad stories about people passing away shortly after (or even before) retirement, that time is becoming the more lucrative commodity. Making lists of possible pursuits had definitely been reassuring to me.
Congratulations on being able to retire early. I would encourage all retirees to consider the idea of “giving back”. What do I mean by giving back? By giving of your time for causes or organizations that resonate with you. My own journey began during my working career by volunteering as a Boy Scout leader which opened my eyes to the needs of our youth. I saw the need to get our kids eyes away from staring at their phones for hours every day. Scouting provides the opportunity to develop leadership skills, to get outside and enjoy nature and to explore new skills and interests.
I then saw the need of our developmentally disabled young people and their desire to hold a job in the community. This lead to a part time job working as a Placement Specialist and Job Coach. The rewards of helping my clients to be engaged in the work world are unmeasurable. As a side benefit, I earn a paycheck to supplement my retirement income.
I am currently serving on the boards of three non profits ranging from civic improvement organizations to an animal shelter to family services groups. Needless to say, I am very busy in my “retirement”. Is it all work? Not at all, I’m still able to hold a season pass at our local ski area and get my turns in!
Thanks Mike, I appreciate your insights and totally agree. The “social” list is where volunteering will reside and I have several on the list to try. There have been so many times in my career that I’ve used the excuse of “not enough time” for all the volunteering I wanted to do, I am looking forward to not having that as a barrier anymore.
Great testimonial! I too am a type A person who thrives on being busy. Or should I say that is who I used to be. I lost my last job (IT Director) in 2017 and spent a year searching for another role. After a year of interviews and not getting any offers, I decided to stop hunting for my next gig and retire. I had planned for retirement financially but had every intent on working until I was 65 or later. It’s amazing the curve balls that God will throw at you! I thought I was going to be bored a lot without having 55+ hours of work and commute times consuming my days, but I have been pleasantly surprised at how many new things I have been able to learn and focus in on now that I do not have work taking up so much of my time. My wife retired 2 weeks before the “Rona” hit from her job in nursing, and we had plans to travel extensively and take several cruises. Well, God had other plans for us. We have traveled some during the pandemic albeit to places we would have likely not chosen prior to the pandemic. We made a 4000 mile trip through the rockies and midwest avoiding the big cities and spending time on back roads and seeing small towns. What a fun experience. We sold our family home, packed up and moved into an apartment, and are building a new smaller home in an active 55+ community about 50 miles from where our family home was located, all during the middle of lockdowns and such. We had no plans to pursue this path yet but with the lockdowns in place and our lack of travel, we decided to take a leap of faith and follow this new path. My point in stating all of this is that retirement offers you the freedom to pursue paths and change plans at the drop of a hat so long as you are open to where these changes will lead you. Many people state that 2020 has been a horrible year. I state that 2020 has been a different year full of changes and challenges, but taking advantage of those challenges and changes has the potential to satisfy you beyond belief. Good luck to you.
Thanks Dan, posts like yours makes me feel even more hopeful! I agree the COVID has offered people different perspective and pushes us in a different direction that we may not have been planning on. We too, had to change vacation plans this year. We love to travel and look forward with not being encumbered with having to come back within a certain time frame. Glad you were able to shift your plans and make life changes during the shut down.
Good stuff – thanks for sharing your story RC – just shared it with our community. This is an area of interest/concern for them.
Thanks Stephen, that is a real compliment. I love your NewRetirement newsletters and podcast!
Congrats to RC for completing the homework assignment and looks like he’s off to a great start. For me, the “I’m so busy in retirement, I don’t know how I ever worked” is true. Like Dave above I’ve got so many passion/hobbies/pursuits that I always feel woefully behind on all of them. That said, I concur that it’s imperative folks have some defined interests/motivations in advance of retiring.
If you’re at a loss a good starting question is, “If I had never worked all these years, what would I done instead?” Anyway, great to see RC’s on it and perhaps we’ll get a follow up story later down the line.
Thanks Mr. Fate, to be honest I have heard the “to busy to know how I ever had time to work” phrase more than any other from the retirees that I know. My wife is sort of even joking about it now that work has significantly dropped for her. I need to start up some of those items on my list to get myself more confidence I guess. I’ve wanted to become an engineer since I was 8 years old so I never even thought of an alternative career. I’ve thought about what I really like about my job – and it is being able to be “inventive creative” so I’m trying to think about how to apply that to hobbies.
An inexpensive if not free way to try a variety of activities are continuing education courses, typically offered by community colleges or county recreation centers. I lived in Fairfax VA and they literally has 100’s of short courses on every imaginable subject: yoga, auto repair, investing, welding, writing, dance…… Have something to share? You can teach one of these courses. A great way to meet like-minded people as well.
Hi Frank, excellent ideas! Yes I am planning on taking classes on Tai Chi, welding, small engine repair, etc. Those classes in themselves might spawn new hobbies. That is one of the few good things that COVID as brought to the forefront is improved virtual learning for those of us living in remote areas wanting to take continuing education courses.
RC nice write up. Many thanks for sharing. I can certainly relate being a type A myself. Now that I am nearing my 3 years in retirement, I had developed and executed a bucket list of pursuits especially after reading the same Wes Moss book. Traveling, volunteering, dancing, spoiling the grandkids, cheering on my beloved now Stanley Cup Champion Tampa Bay Lightning etc,,….then the pandemic struck. Admittedly, I got a little depressed especially it occurred during the time my parents are ailing with chronic diseases and dementia. Nonetheless, I adapted by taking advantage of being in Florida and doing a lot of activities outdoors like cycling, traveling to explore the over 6,000 miles of beaches, and getting caught up on my Amazon Kindle list of books. It will all come back, but I now realize that sometimes in retirement you have to adapt and find those things that make you happy.
Hi Eduardo, it sounds like you adjusted well. I can certainly relate with the elderly parents, I’ve had to stay away from my father since the start of the pandemic. I’ve wondered about being retired in this environment, especially since one of our big plans are lots of travel. I love executing a well thought out plan but also have to realize those life disruptions will almost always happen at some point. I do like change, but of course on my terms. Glad you were able to adapt.
I just retired last month, classic type A personality at 58years old. I have a lot of things to do, but there is a void because not working. So be clear it is not going to be easy, but I am still happy with starting this part of my journey. Will need to find some hobbies, that uses my high running motor and need for intellectual stimulation.
I like the theme of the article, as people experience great ways to create positive impacts on their lives and the world, it would be nice to hear about them.
Hi Big Mike, sounds like we are pretty similar. My challenge is in the physical and social areas where I need more help. Since I can deep dive into almost anything intellectually, I need to plan to get out of my easy chair more and get involved with the community, helping out and socializing – and that should also help with the physical. Congratulations on your retirement!
Very nice article. We have somewhat similar situations. I just retired Oct. 1 after being an engineer for 33 years. (This was earlier than I had planned, but was accelerated by COVID at my workplace.) I am in the “How did I ever have time to work?” camp. Great idea to try many interests to see what sticks, and to strive for a balance between mental, physical, and social. During the pandemic, I have found the social part to be challenging, as I’m sure is the case for many.
How did I find my interests / passions? In my case, I have long had certain interests but while working did not have enough time for them. I become interested in computer game development when I was a college student about 40 years ago. This influenced my decision to become an engineer, and have been dabbling with making video games has been a hobby in the last few years, but I have never worked on video game development professionally. I also attempted to learn guitar when I was about 12 and then again when I was about 20. Now in retirement, it’s great to have more time for these interests, while also spending more time exercising than I used to. I’ve also volunteered to help a local computer game group organize virtual events. These things, together with daily / household chores has been more than filling my time. Some former work colleagues have formed a startup business and have invited me to participate as a consultant, but I am leaning against it. My time is already quite full, and its been refreshing after 33 years not to have work commitments on my calendar.
Good luck on your retirement journey. Perhaps computer game development is something to add to your list of possibilities, given your background in computer modeling?
Hi Daryl, your story almost sounds like my “doppelganger want-to-be” story! Yes, my daughter has had several engineering classes using robots and computer interfaces that I find intriguing to explore for programming purposes; there have been so many programming languages beyond “C” and FORTRAN that I want to learn. I also agree with trying to stay away from the “same job, different company” work because I want to push myself to try NEW things, not just what I am currently good at. Your success gives me a confidence boost.
RC,
Unlike you I was not an “A” – more like a “B” plus, but worried about it constantly for three years prior to retirement. I retired into a couple of part-time non profits and one part-time consulting gig and was busier the first year of retirement than when I was working. After that, things kind of smoothed out and I work/volunteer as much as I want and travel the rest (until Covid). A pre-retiree told me prior to retirement, “don’t worry about it, it will work itself out. It did. (I volunteer for SCORE, a national non-profit that counsels people wanting to start a business; it is very rewarding, you should look into it if that is something you have an interest in.)
Hi Rick, thanks for the ideas and encouraging experience story. I would love to try and downshift from Type A to a B in retirement, and maybe I can, it seems that a lot of retirees are able to sit still and watch the sunrise and sunset without having to be doing something else at the same time, I know my wife would like for me to be able to do that. I remember a cartoon that showed a man and his dog walking in a park with two thought bubbles above their heads. The man’s was full of all the things he had to do, while the dog’s was full of all the sights he was taking in on the walk – I want to be the dog!
My passion began three years ago as I was preparing for retirement. This passion came about by pure accident. After a new carpet was installed in our home, a problem appeared during the installation of the carpeting on the stairs. We did not account for enough material to cover under the handrail and balusters. I decided to improvise with matching oak wood. This proved to be a task as I did not have the proper equipment to cut the sections to size. The finished product was actually quite. Ice according to my wife. Believing there had to be a better way caused me to start researching on better ways of accomplishing such tasks. I still consider myself a novice in woodworking but my skills have improved quite a bit. There is such a satisfying feeling of accomplishment in taking a simple sketch request and arriving at a finished product. From simple keepsake boxes to tables and bookcases, I enjoy the planning and troubleshooting process all the way to the end.
Hi Juan, thanks for sharing your story. I imagine many people have a similar story about “falling into a passion”. I am hoping that will be the case with me as I try new things.
https://www.mantelligence.com/list-of-hobbies/
Maybe interesting for some and food for thought!
Thanks Alan! This is a great list to go through, I’ve already added some to my list to try!
RC,
My wife and I are 57, my goal was to retire at the end of last year 2019 but gut feel was telling me to give it “one more year” and then shortly after my wife and I returned home from a ski trip in Crested Butte over the President’s Day weekend, the Pandemic hit full force and before you know it, I was working from home. Things shutdown and worry set in. So what did we do…well…we have always loved to be outdoors so we started taking lots of walks in the parks around our home, riding bikes and planning our purchase of a small camper and get our feet wet with some traveling when the pandemic crisis is over. We think there will be a lot of lightly used campers for sale. If we like it, we will continue and upgrade, if not…try another experience.
One of my retirement projects that I had planned to do was demo our 16 year old deck, screen porch area and redo it. Since we were confined to the home in the midst of a Pandemic, we took it on while I was still employed and working from home. After 6 months of nights, weekends and some vacation time we accomplished the project and it turned out great!!! After some friends came over for a summer BBQ, one of them who is in Real Estate said, do you know how hard it is to find people who do honest, quality work.
I can keep you as busy as you want to be! So a long story short, I am considering opening my own handy man business to assist the elderly with keeping their homes maintained and safe especially those that are on a very fixed income (i.e., Social Security) and since I have the means to retire early, I can do a lot of this work and volunteer my labor and the only cost to some will be materials. Also, my son is looking to buy a home and I can assist him with fixing it up and passing on the knowledge that I have experienced to him as he learns the skills of homeownership.
I have been an Information Technology Executive Officer in 3 organizations over the last 20+ years and managing people & technical projects (up, down and sideways) coming up on 34 years, so the last thing I want to be is tethered to a computer…My problem is…I just have to gain the confidence of taking myself out of the corporate world! Easily said than done as the one more year syndrome is talking to me again as we see the Pandemic cases start to climb again.
Good luck in your new endeavors! I continue to wrestle with my timing!
Hi Paul, similar to Juan’s story above, and Fritz’s wife’s, it sounds like the passion started from trying something new and became an off shoot. That is what I am also hoping for. Once this pandemic is over I plan to slowly start more volunteering to get my feet wet before I retire. Your new hobby/volunteering work sounds like a wonderful way to help society. I know there are a lot of people just needing wheelchair ramps built for them (hmmm… one more thing to add to my list!). I also am in the same boat about retiring from a secure well paying job into…. zero earned pay – scary! However, like they say, “You never see a Brinks truck following a hearse”, I have heard many more stories about people’s time being cut short before running out of money so I have decided when enough is enough. Best of luck to you too.
You have a very familiar dilemma for a technical with a technical background. Speaking from experience and a couple failed retirement attempts, I mean mini-retirements, I did not have enough sustainable passions. The key word is sustainable and I’m not talking about activities like gym time, yoga, golf, fishing, or writing a blog in a very crowded segment. Those are activities that fill a day for about four hours each day. It’s the other four hours day in and day out that will drive you crazy on month number six. Sure there’s the bucket list items that requires some planning. The technical creatures have a very challenging dilemma because we can’t go cold turkey and switch gears to something less technical that captured our creative souls. We get bored pretty easily if we are not working toward a worthy goal. I’m curious to see how you develop this concept of developing passions as I plan another another attempt and still scratching at a developing a few more sustainable passions.
Hi Francis, I agree with you about switching from technical to non-technical; there would be something missing. I find the most enjoyable part of my job is finding solutions to technical problems – that is my creative outlet. I therefore plan to work on technical hobbies like programming, robotics, and computer interfaces – which all sound good, but still need to find something to work towards, (i.e. solving some problem). I’m still toying with that aspect; maybe once I get up to speed I can help support FIRST competitions, or otherwise volunteer with young people. That is what I am seeking out between now and retirement. Thanks for your very insightful post.
Great story and we share a similar back story – Type A, getting bored sitting on a beach, not sure what to do after working for so many years but things do work out. You said something that resonated with me ” I don’t like a lot of things hanging over my head” I felt the same way (still do it’s a part of whom I am ) and many times it gets me into trouble when my passion for something takes away from everything else I want/need to do. Let’s just say I had to learn to control my passion/enthusiasm and make time for the other important things in my life. Please learn from my mistakes.
Hi Mike, very good thoughts – need to have a balance between enough, and too many pursuits balanced with, fun/chores. I have actually thought about this some – trying too many pursuits at once – especially in the beginning. I suppose at some point I might start ranking which ones to try first and only add more once my current hobbies start to fad or calm down. Thanks for the advice.