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The Best Retirement Advice -
How to Set Fun & Do-able Goals
The best retirement advice you can give yourself involves setting really good and fun goals. No matter what your age or level of income, you can make goals, and make them happen. You may already be starting to think, goals in retirement? Ick. Who wants to do that anymore. But did you know that a lot of depression and the blahs are because people don't have a goal that they really want? Something to look forward to? Something fun in life?You may already be a champ at setting and reaching goals -- some people just are; they've formed the habit. In which case, you don't need to read this. Unless you're curious. And no, this article is not going to just be a bunch of hype. If you came from or are still in the work world, you're probably used to doing goal setting. And you may be really sick of it by now. I was. I think I'd tried just about every goal setting technique around. And then I came across the one below. Big difference. There are financial goals, of course. A qualified financial services advisor will help with that piece of retirement advice, your
retirement financial planning.
But finances are only part of the picture.
Just as important (or more), there's the You part of it. This retirement advice is all about you. And it's all centered around...
What do you really want?
Are you even letting yourself really want something? Or is your internal editor and critic permanently turned on? Or don't you have a clue what to want? You may be getting retirement advice from just about everyone under the sun. Including spouse and family. But they're not you. If you don't know where to start, before you get into the fun stuff below, ask yourself a few basic, preliminary questions.
- How long do you want to continue working full-time?
- Do you want to Re-fire, not Retire?
- Are you a “people person”?
- Do you want to stay in your current home?
- If so, for how long?
- Do you like the area you’re currently living in?
- Are to open to re-locating?
- Is it important that you live near family?
- Are your favorite activities done best in another climate?
- Think about activities – exercise, travel, hobbies, education, working, a home-based business, volunteering.
- Do you have major medical concerns?
- Do you have specific retirement concerns?
- Where has my retirement advice been coming from so far?
Now that you thought about some general concepts, let’s continue with the actual making goals part of our retirement advice. The goal setting process included below is tons of fun and enlightening, courtesy of famous author and speaker, Bob Proctor. It's based on his Goal Achiever program. Make this little exercise part of your early retirement planning. You will see that the best retirement advice is based on one primary question: What do you really want? Don’t let your internal Dictator edit what you really want into some version of what you think you’re supposed to want. Or you will never get it. You may not at this moment know How you will get what you want. No one does until they look back on it. So never mind about that for now. Right now, just concern yourself with What, not the How.
The Big 30
First, sit down a make a list of 30 things you really want or want to do. A random list. This is your Want List. Do not let your mind “edit” whether it makes sense or not. You don't even have to give reasons to yourself. You just have to know you want it. Write them all out -- all 30. Include whatever categories are important to you — perhaps relationships, exercise, travel, hobbies, spirituality, education, working. The only rule is… you really must want it. It’s got to be worthwhile to you (not what somebody else might want you to want.) Otherwise, down the road you'll lose interest and not bother. This is difficult for a lot of people, especially those who have been in extremely responsible situations for a long time, whether on the home front or in the corporate world. They believed going after what they really want was a luxury. So you've got to let your imagination go. Really see yourself having it. To quote Albert Einstein:
“Imagination is more important than knowledge.”
Remember, you do not need to know the How, only the What. What do you really want? Don’t skimp -- the full 30 is important. Make them specific. Review your list a couple of times. Now it’s time to prioritize. Now -- find your 10 most important goals and mark them A. Find the next 10 most important and mark them B. The last 10 are marked C. Next, take three pages of paper and label them A, B, and C. On each page, number 1 through 10. Re-write your 10 A-List goals on its page, then the 10 B’s on the B-List page, and so on. Then, take your A Page with its 10 goals. Prioritize them according to importance. Put a number 1 in front of the most important, and so forth. Do the same with the B Page and C Page.
Your A-1
Now go back to your A Page. What is your A-1 Goal? This is your most important goal and the one you will focus the most attention on. Before you try to second guess yourself, remember, you went through a very precise process to arrive at your A-1 Goal. So don't just write it off. Something in you prompted you to really want that goal the most.Write your A-1 Goal down on a small card, perhaps a recipe card. Also include the date by which you want to accomplish this goal. You may or may not reach your goal by this given date. Either way is OK. Just re-set the date and keep going. You’ve probably heard that your subconscious mind controls your actions and results. So it’s highly important that you get that A-1 Goal into your subconscious mind. How? By repetition, like any habit. You will be reading this card to yourself many times a day. Your subconscious mind deals with specifics. It does not know the difference between “real” or “unreal.” It just absorbs like a sponge. So even if that A-1 Goal seems like a “lie” at first, don’t worry. Your subconscious mind does not know. Or care. Remember, you don’t need to know the How. Yet. Besides standard retirement financial planning, the A-1 Goal you have just created is probably the most important retirement advice you can give yourself. Carry your goal card with you at all times -- in your pocket, wallet or purse. Look at it many times a day. Why? Repetition causes belief. As you train your subconscious mind to really believe in your A-1 Goal, the action steps you need to take to get it will come to your attention, as you go. As the great William James once said, “Believe and your belief will create the fact.”
This bit of retirement advice about goals really does work. I know first hand. Reading your A-1 Goal often and keeping it in mind will naturally draw your attention to all kinds of opportunities out there that you may not have noticed before. So fix that Goal in your mind. As you move towards accomplishing it, the other goals will also fall into place.You are never too old for goals -- they're supposed be fun! And of course the younger you begin, the easier it is to take charge of your future and perhaps alleviate some of the common elderly issues that may have otherwise come your way. If you are already "old" -- you are still young in spirit if you want to be! We all have imaginations to use -- so let's!
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