[2023-02-07] Retirement is not a time to retreat
A former colleague wrote to me last week to say that, as planned, he had officially retired at the end of 2022 and moved to another city. Then he added this powerful statement: "Retirement is not a time to retreat." Indeed, he noted that the writing team of 20 professors of which he is part is working on its third paper for a medical journal.
I replied: "I agree completely with you that retirement is not a time to retreat. It is an opportunity to boldly go forth and do things that matter to you. I wish you much personal and professional success in this next phase of your life, and the health to do everything you desire."
My friend's statement got me thinking about the etymology of the word "retirement." It comes from the French word "retirer," which means to retreat, draw back, withdraw.
But my friend is not retreating from a productive life. Nor would I say this of the many happily "retired" people I know who fill their days with worthwhile and rewarding tasks—some paid and others not.
I count myself among the happily retired. I work on my health, my blog and my many organizational projects. I never feel that I have retreated or withdrawn. I am—as I said to my friend—boldly going forth and doing things that matter to me.
In her article Why The Concept Of Retirement Is Destructive And Needs To Be Replaced, published in Forbes magazine in 2018, psychiatrist Prudy Gourguechon says that the word "retirement" does a poor, even destructive, job at describing the phase of life after adults leave their formal careers behind. Instead, she thinks we should refer to this phase as "starting older." (Confession: As I typed this, I wrote "starting over." I much prefer the positive connotations that come with the expression "starting older"—older and wiser.)
Gourguechon advises:
I’d like to see everyone who is rounding the corner of age 60 begin to think about the next phase of their productive life. By the time they sell, or step aside or "retire," they should have a pretty clear vision and plan for fulfilling the psychological necessities that all of us gain from work—a sense of having an impact, making a contribution, being connected, being creative.
For me, Jenesis fulfills all these psychological necessities. It gives me a sense of impact, makes me feel like I am contributing, allows me to stay connected with many people (and build connections with new acquaintances) and permits me to exercise my creativity. It's not the only activity that ticks these boxes, but it is a significant one, which is probably why I have continued to publish a blog post a day for 2½ years.
My friend appears to be reveling in this next phase of his life. Perhaps he took some ideas from my September 2022 Happy retirement post, which I wrote in response to his request for advice for people who are about to retire. In that post, I shared these seven tips:
- Define your mission or your priorities
- Plan your activities
- Invest in personal relationships
- Keep learning
- Give back
- Tackle a project
- Develop a routine
- Take care of your health
Gourguechon also provides useful food for thought in her article:
- Human beings are meant to be productive.
- Leisure and relaxation cannot provide meaning and fulfillment throughout an expectable 20 years of reasonably good health.
- A person who has spent four decades engaged in highly stimulating, intense work with great responsibility and some power is not going to want to give up stimulation, responsibility or the power to affect the world.
- It’s much easier to let go of something vital to you if you see something equally engaging ahead.
If you're contemplating retirement, think of it less as withdrawing from your career and more as moving forward with a new phase of productivity, purpose and contribution—starting older.
