Retire to Purpose – Would you recognize it?

I am discovering me. I cooked shrimp scampi, pork chops with broccoli in butter sauce and tomorrow hope to pan fry a chuck steak with onions. I felt accomplished by cooking and it really tastes good.

My purpose at that moment was to cook a good meal that I and others enjoy. Taking the moment to buy the food, prepare and cook it, create a fond memory that I want to repeat. It is not as grand as being a Breadwinner or eliminating world hunger. Though it did give me a sense of accomplishment, sharing and happiness. Could it be that purpose is more intimate and personal and is the result of you living, rather then something you go too.

The question is if purpose came up and introduced him or herself to you, would you recognize it?

A YouTube Video That you find your passions and purpose by living your life!

You spent 40 plus years paying attention to and planning your Breadwinning career. Work-related issues and problems filled your mind on the job and when at home. Now that is gone, but your mind has not moved on. Just like your planning for retirement where you were given financial advice on saving for retirement. You maintain a 401K, set aside money from your family for your own future use. You may even get help by engaging a financial planner to guide your investing. You were told that hobbies and vacations will fill your days with happiness and purpose. It may, but not likely. The book “Retirement How NOT to end up Tired, Bored and Lonely” is an excellent introduction to this next part of your life. In retirement you need to rediscover yourself and your new purpose.

Retirement First steps to the rest of your life – Purpose

Congratulations you have retired. Saved enough so you have food to eat, money to travel and can still climb a flight of stairs. You have been successful in your Breadwinner career and providing for your family. In retirement you need to find your new purpose that give you pleasure, happiness and accomplishment (purpose). Sometimes this is hard to share with others and yourself so you can maintain direction in your life.

Do you know your purpose in retirement?

Here is a Ted YouTube video on how to verbalize your retirements lifes purpose

You spent 40 plus years paying attention to and planning your Breadwinning career. Work-related issues and problems filled your mind on the job and when at home. Now that is gone, but your mind has not moved on. Just like your planning for retirement where you were given financial advice on saving for retirement. You maintain a 401K, set aside money from your family for your own future use. You may even get help by engaging a financial planner to guide your investing. You are told that hobbies and vacations will fill your days with happiness and purpose. It may, but not likely. The book “Retirement How NOT to end up Tired, Bored and Lonely” is an excellent introduction to this next part of your life. In retirement you need to rediscover yourself and your new purpose.

Meditation Is it possible while under drug addition

The purpose of meditation is to have a tool to manage all the busy thoughts generated by judgments of others and negative thinking. Judging other would be great if they wanted or cared about your opinion. Usually, they do not, and it is only you justifying your view in contrast to theirs. Agree to disagree. Accept their idea as an alternative and free your mind and body from managing it on your thought list. Negative thinking is you looking for problems. Great if walking in the forest and watching out for lions, tigers, and bears or running a company looking for future challenges to solve. These are now distractions from you seeing yourself.

Drugs, in this case, sugar and carbohydrates when eaten in excessive quantities are an addictive drug that can result in diabetes, excessive weight, and anxiety or Metabolic Syndrome. These ailments are distractions from you finding yourself and your pleasures, happiness, and purpose during retirement

Are you a sugar and carbohydrate drug addict? Try MyFitnessPal and iPhone application to measure your percent carbohydrates and sugars that are consumed as part of your daily calories. Just like smoking, caffeine and alcohol, all drugs that hamper your free will, you are a drug addict addicted to sugars and carbohydrates.

Ted YouTube video on Sugar and Carbohydrates as an addictive drug:

You spent 40 plus years paying attention to and planning your Breadwinning career. Work-related issues and problems filled your mind on the job and when at home. Now that is gone, but your mind has not moved on. Just like your planning for retirement where you were given financial advice on saving for retirement. You maintain a 401K, set aside money from your family for your own future use. You may even get help by engaging a financial planner to guide your investing. You are told that hobbies and vacations will fill your days with happiness and purpose. It may, but not likely. The book “Retirement How NOT to end up Tired, Bored and Lonely” is an excellent introduction to this next part of your life.

Meditation – Finding pleasure and purpose during retirement

Meditation comes in many flavors. You can go all the way from silence, isolation and deprivation of sensory to just learning how to prioritize your thoughts.
This is the first in a series on helping yourself to see what gives you pleasure and purpose in retirement. We start with the “list”.

The list works as follows:
Write down any subject that comes into your mind as you think about yourself and number them. A short example could be

1. I am overweight
2. My son does not have a regular job
3. I Wish I had more sex time with my wife
4. Garage door makes too much noise

Each item on the list is something you can wrap your mind around, world peace is too big, got it?

The next day or a day latter sit down and write the list again with the old list next to you. As you write the lists you will be able to feel each item. Your worries and woes are open for you to embrace and make friends with, not run from. Do this for 3-5 lists and you will feel that you are beginning to start to see yourself without the items on the list getting in the way. Latter we talk about list items that give you pleasure and purpose.

How do you manage your fears and frustrations?

This approach of embracing and making friends with your fear and troubles come from Tara Brack, PHD. She has many YouTube videos. Here is one you will enjoy. She is pointing out that inside you is a good person and the lists items are just stories that distract you from yourself.

During your career, you are given financial advice on saving for retirement. You maintain a 401K, set aside money from your family for your own future use.  You may even get help by engaging a financial planner to guide your investing.  You are told that hobbies and vacations will fill your days with happiness and purpose. It may, but not likely.. Meditation can help you see yourself, rather than your looking good and being right views.

Loneliness one of the great challenges of retirement

Loneliness is a major challenge when you retire. Once you leave work, you leave behind the majority of your social contacts.
The recommendation of hobbies and arts are typically single person activities.

A lonely retirement is like be in a minimum security prison with kitchen privileges

Research has found that loneliness has the same impact on mortality as smoking 15 cigarettes a day, making it even more dangerous than obesity.

How do you deal with being lonely?

Can you die of loneliness?

In my book “Retirement How NOT to end up Lonely, Tires and Bored” . I go over the steps to become aware of what give you pleasure and purpose and building a tribe.

A video on alternatives from accepting to being alone to stepping out of your comfort zone “How to deal with loneliness.”

During your career, you are given financial advice on saving for retirement. You maintain a 401K, set aside money from your family for your own future use.  You may even get help by engaging a financial planner to guide your investing.  You are told that hobbies and vacations will fill your days with happiness and purpose. It may, but not likely.

Retirement – Acquaintance or Friend – Loneliness

A friend or an acquaintance can make the difference between during retirement.

A friend is someone who you have:
–Shared a meal with you recently
–When called will come
–May not agree with you, but always tells the truth

Ask yourself, how many friends do I have?

The only thing keeping you from being happy is the belief that you are alone.- Anne Drapper (Mad men)

All the people wo you pay for service, work with gym junkies that fill your day are most likely acquaintances. A short story to bring the point home.

I locked myself out of my car at YMCA. I asked a gym buddy, someone I have had conversations with to give me a ride home for the spare key. His response, you can go inside, and the people can help you. The financial advisors who help you save money and help plan for your happy life, most likely won’t give you a ride home

A video to help.

Retirement – Carbohydrate toxicity (Why change eating regime.)

Many of us entering retirement immediately recognize our inability to do simple life activities, getting out of a chair or walking up a set of stairs. Our body has given us great service all these years, and now needs to be found. We have used high sugar and carbohydrate foods to maintain our energy and mental awareness to do our “Big Money Career”. This use of food drugs kept us energized but has taken its toll on our body.

This TED talk YouTube video talks about the TOXICITY in carbohydrate toxicity. This is the scientific and medical foundation to the low carbohydrate recommendations in the eating regime covered in the book “Retirement: How Not to be Lonely, Tired and Bored.”

You have had a successful life, saved in a 401K for retirement, and even worked with professionals for financial planning advice. Just like you spent time and money fixing up your home, your body can use some help as well.

Retirement – Journey to Fitness – Are you fit?

Here is a simple test to see how fit you are. You will see that mobility is key to successful retirement. The test is not pass/fail; it is more to make you aware of your body. You need to see yourself for who and what you are. No judgment or evaluation, just clear vision. The purpose is to help you look at your body and your fitness condition, so you can guide your choices going forward.

Can you get up from a straight back chair without using your upper body to stand up? Yes, you have spent the last 30 plus years getting into the car, sitting at a desk and pushing a pencil. Now stand up. Not so easy? If you found the test a challenge, it should guide your choices.

You have saved for retirement, even hired a financial advisor to manage your 401K to guide you to a successful retirement. It would be sad that you spend it sitting in a chair.

Fitness is made up of two parts. What you eat and moving your body, e.g.,walking.

Here is a short video on eating regime, Ketosis –

Video of how to walk. We recommend limiting to 45 minutes per day maximum.