It's that time of year when for so many years I would be starting to mentally and practically prepare for my return to work after my summer vacation. This is the second year when I know that, as many of you will be jumping right back into work next week, this time of year still feels a little odd and aimless for me. Old habits die hard.
Nonetheless, one habit from my career that always occurred around this time of year has stuck. At the moment I am starting to work on my plan for 2014. The process is comfortable and the product provides me with structure and balance for my daily life, just enough stress to keep the juices flowing as well as incentive and direction for action and my daily activities. While the key result areas are clearly different from those that I focused on during my career, I feel a strong affinity for the planning process and rewards that it can ultimately bring me. It feels very natural to work out my objectives for the year, identify the initiatives and activities to achieve those objectives and measures that will demonstrate whether I achieve what I am setting out to do.
Shortly before I ceased working, I consulted a number of people who had retired prior to me. The one consistent piece of feedback that I received from them, was to have a plan. Their advice made a lot of sense not only because the process has been a habit of mine for so many years but also faced with significant change, I felt that the process would help me to proactively refocus my life and achieve those things that I was now able to identify as being important to me, Julie, my family and friends. And so a year on, reviewing my goals and achievements for 2013, I see and feel satisfied with the value of the time spent constructing, working and monitoring my plan. In terms of outcomes, not every goal that I set myself last year has been achieved.
I do however feel very satisfied that I have successfully re-oriented my life, largely focused on those things that are of most importance to me now and ticked off a number of items that I set out to address through my plan. Perhaps of greatest importance to me is that I have succeeded in making the transition. I still feel connected to people - colleagues from the past, family members and friends and new people that I have been able to meet and bring in to my circle. Additionally, I feel as though I have been able to achieve a new balance in my life that I see as critically important to my well-being and continued enjoyment of life.
Retirement has bought new opportunities including the ability to devote time to thinking more deeply about issues that I sense are important as well as getting at those things that have improved life, given back time and provided a more satisfying experience as time goes on. Some of those things that previously sat only in the back of my mind or on a list somewhere and were rarely attended to or resolved have now been able to be moved forward. This movement has lifted the stress tied to them.
And so to this year. I still feel strongly that I need to keep wellness at the top of my priority list. MS will continue to be a challenge for me for the rest of my life but through reading and research I am finding out that there are things that I can do that will have a positive influence on my health and my capacity to participate in life. Things like meditation, exercise and diet will be areas that I will take on and refine during the coming year. I intend also to work hard at remaining connected be that through face-to-face meetings, coffee or meals together or through the multiple avenues of social media.
Beyond those two priorities I have a real need to bring some aspects of my life to a rapid conclusion. Julie and I will work hard and diligently this year to ensure that we have a home that is both practical for me to live in as well as being the place where we can do all the things that bring us most enjoyment and welcome our friends and family so that we may enjoy special times together.
Finally, on the horizon there are new opportunities to collaborate with others not only for our own engagement, enjoyment and reward but also to benefit others who most deserve and need our support. All those things I intend to work into my plan. Before we get too much deeper into January and all the pressing matters of the days ahead, let me encourage you to take time to develop your own plan. It need not be overly complex or something that might cause you added stress as the year goes by but rather a straightforward documentation of your aspirations for your whole life this year rather than a plan that you may feel has been inflicted on you by the organisation for which you work!
My hope for you is that through this process you gain much satisfaction from the way that your life plays out in 2014 and a realisation that you are able to steer your life more purposefully than you may have previously thought possible. Without a plan, possibilities will remain just that... unachieved aspirations that serve to frustrate and stress rather than fill our life with joy for which they have unbounded potential. So take time during these relaxed days and mindfully prepare your plan for the possibilities.
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