You've just made a major decision about your life. You want to sell your business or leave the company you are working for and start your retirement. However, retirement cannot be solely about travelling, enjoying your grandkids, or some other activity you desire, especially since you have anywhere from 10 to 30+ years ahead of you. How do you transition out of a business to not running a business or step away from your long-term career?
With the Baby Boomer generation headed towards making a transition in the near future, it is imperative that individuals do not end up without a plan for what they will do next. Too often, business owners who leave the business (or individuals leaving their careers) will think that they can deal with their lives in a positive manner once the transition is done. However, the following negative experiences are likely to occur in the case where the business owner has not planned for this stage of their lives:
"Retirement Remorse" - People who don't have a plan for a fulfilling new future and don't know what they are going to do with all the free time they suddenly have will often become depressed, bored, and angry with themselves or others. They miss their old lives, because at least then they had something interesting and meaningful to do. They often wish they could go back to "the way things were".
"Retirement Rut" - Often, individuals who have successfully left their full time positions will find themselves spending their time on meaningless and purposeless activities just to keep busy. They become dissatisfied with their lives because these activities don't give them a sense of meaning or purpose.
"Post Transition Stress Disorder" (The other PTSD) - This is often experienced by individuals who have left their companies without doing proper thought-provoking planning for their lives prior to leaving. They often have a loss of enthusiasm for life, they feel that there is nothing to look forward to, and that life has no more meaning and purpose. These individuals will often end up making poor life decisions and rash personal choices in order to make sense out of life once again.
"Gray Divorce" - The rate of Baby Boomers that end up in a divorce is markedly increasing. Spouses are often not prepared for the "full nest" syndrome that occurs when the business owner/individual is now home 24/7.
So what does a person do to plan a purposeful and meaningful life post transition? The answer lies in doing internal preparation as well as external preparation for their retirement years. One of the most important activities an individual should do to prepare themselves internally for the transition is to come up with a list of all of their fears, problems and challenges they have surrounding this change. Then, they need to really expand their thinking about how these negative conditions can be turned around into opportunities.
Another activity a person should consider is how to define themselves into a whole person - not a person defined by what they are pre-transition. One exercise to consider would be to list all of their accomplishments they have done throughout their lives on a personal vs. professional level. They can also brainstorm through all of the life transitions they have gone through and analyze and become aware of the lessons learned by going through past transitions. Often this can provide individuals with new insights on how these lessons learned can be applied to the future transition in a positive manner.
Next, an individual should do some thought-provoking exercises on what provides meaning and purpose to them as a whole person, not just as a business owner or career professional. What brings them joy? What makes them happy? What gives them a sense of direction in their personal lives? What gives them positive self-worth? The more an individual can give answers to these questions, the better!
The external preparation involves an individual coming up with lifestyle ideas in the following areas:
Physical Health Activities
Intellectual Stimulation
Recreational/Creative Activities
Activities with Spouse/Partner
Activities with Family Members
Residence - where Ideally do I want to be?
Social Connections
Spirituality/Faith
Income Producing Work
Volunteer/Philanthropic Activities
Once a person has brainstormed ideas for each of these areas, the time comes to make a final decision on what they want to do for each of these areas and which ones provide the most meaning and purpose for themselves. Then, individuals can come up with a tactical plan on how they are going to implement these activities into their lives post-transition, and how to prioritize them.
Of course, these suggestions are only a small part of what a person can do (and should do) to make a successful transition out of a business or career. Couples should work on developing these plans together. Often, it makes sense to seek out a professional consultant who is trained and/or certified in transition planning. These individuals can provide a systematic process that takes into account many of the mental and emotional issues and concerns that an individual may be facing with the pending transition. They often have proven tools, exercises and programs to make the process successful and positive for the individual.
If you are looking at transitioning in the near future, don't make the mistake that many individuals do, which is essentially ending up on the "other side" without a comprehensive plan for your lifestyle that will provide you with ongoing meaning and purpose. Take the time for planning and you will experience a wonderful retirement and quality of life after your transition!
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