Give Yourself Permission

We are a goal driven society with a focus on having accomplishments and a roster of completions. It’s not just the TYPE A driven personality, that some people call overachievers or workaholics, that I’m referring to.  Rather the normal individual who works hard and smart and wants a good and fulfilling life for themselves and their family wants accomplishments. It’s in our DNA and studies show that

people are the happiest when they are in motion toward a goal.

Some find the word, or the concept of goals defined by work.  They prefer the concept of having purpose, of living a purposeful life. The two ideas, having goals and having purpose, are inter-twined and take on greater relevancy when people retire or move into their next act.

For many at this stage of life, work ends or becomes part-time.  The positive and negative trappings of work end, also.   When there is no new financial deal to be closed, legal case to be won, patient to be saved, client to be advised, new widget to be sold or career path or ladder to explore, they can feel lost without a goal or purpose to pursue. Their views on undertaking new activities becomes blurred.

Many rewirees who we have interviewed have difficulty pursuing an activity just for the sake of fun or fulfillment. We get it. The truth is we often need to get a new perspective or point of view on goals as we age. One person can take a continuing education class because they love architecture or history and just want to learn. Others cannot take a class unless they are going for a degree. Continuous learning could be a goal with meaningful purpose for both of these people, but every person has many things going on that need to be recognized and assessed. Give yourself time and permission to understand what you need. It may be a great opportunity to start a new adventure.