Categories: Goal setting

28 Dec 2009, Comments (0)

Author: Susan Kersley

Are you someone who hopes your life will improve on its own when you retire from work without you having to do anything yourself? Maybe you believe that life without work will be wonderful and you will find it easy to cope , or maybe you are dreading the changes which you believe will come from changing the daily routine from work life to retirement.

You may be waiting for someone else to plan your life for you but it’s important to realise that you have the power in to make the changes you want for your new life. Don’t wait for other people to tell you what to do but decide for yourself that retirement is a chance to change everything if you wish. You can decide what you want and be pro-active in making changes because the best way to initiate these is to start something you’ve always wanted to do because like it or not your life will be different and you have to come to terms that it won’t continue in the same way when you retire.

To enjoy your retirement you have to decide what you want, set your goals, and when you do that, others change in their response to you, when one thing in your life changes then everything else changes too.

So what could you do? Let’s suppose you are always wanted to travel but you’re not sure where to go to or how to make arrangements for your journey. If you know someone who has the lifestyle you would like then get in touch and talk to him or her about where they went, what sort of travel arrangements they made, what costs were involved and as you talk notice your reaction to what you discuss so you become clearer about which aspect of travel appeals to you and what you will do next. Is there something which you could copy? Notice how you feel when you imagine what would it be like to be him or her.

Then put what you learn about the essence of your colleague’s lifestyle that you admire into what you do and notice what happens, how you can do something similar and how almost without effort you are able to look forward to a new lifestyle as you begin to enjoy your retirement.

14 Dec 2009, Comments (0)

Getting things done after you retire

Author: Susan Kersley

You want to do all the things you planned to do when you retire and yet the tasks you’ve set yourself seem to be impossible to achieve. So instead of getting started you sit and think about what you plan and worry that you would never be able to do what you really want to do. You are aware how being older may slow you down and things which seemed easy a few years ago take longer to do now.

If the size of your goal scares you there is a simple way to make sure you achieve what you want simply and quickly.

What you must do is to break a large goal into smaller steps or ‘chunks’. So instead of thinking you have to take a giant leap and get to your goal in just one huge leap you can get there gradually, step by step, bite by bite.

Imagine for a moment that your goal was to climb a high mountain. You wouldn’t just set out one day and expect to reach the summit without any preparation, would you? No, you would plan the steps you need to take. The initial steps might be making sure you have the right clothing, equipment, food and maps. Each of these might take some time to organise.

Next, you might find someone who already knows the way to come with you, at least some of the way to point you in the right direction. Before you start your climb you would plan where you to rest or stay  overnight on the way; what first aid equipment you would take with you and what you would do in case of accident, illness or other emergency.

Just like an expedition to climb a mountain, achieving any important goal needs preparation so you are all set for the journey and any eventuality which may happen along the way.

Let me help you achieve what you want. Start with an ABC strategy session to sort out what action you need to take, how your beliefs may be stopping you taking it and gain the clarity to know what to do next.

Book an Appointment to talk to me on www.susankersley.acuityscheduling.com

You need to be fit enough to take on your challenge and have  the support or guidance from a mentor, friend or guide to accompany you along some of your journey for change.  These are the small steps you must take to reach your goal more easily than if you try to take a huge jump and try to get  from here to there in one big stride.

31 Jan 2009, Comments (0)

Be clear about what you want

Author: Susan Kersley

Stephen Covey in his book The Seven Habits of Highly effective People' suggests that you begin with the end in mind. This is so important when you retire as it's too easy to while away the days getting very little done. But come to terms with the fact that you may not get things done quite as quickly as you did when you worked; you may be much better at mixing leisure with tasks/ 'work'/things to be done.

Make the plans, develop the big vision. Decide what might stop you and what your very first steps must be. Then commit yourself to doing those first steps….you are on your way to having the life you want after work!!

When you have recently retired you can be very active and do so many things, so get moving, get going with them while you have time and energy on your side.

10 Nov 2008, Comments (0)

Getting back on track while you prepare to retire

Author: Susan Kersley

However good your intentions, do you find that sometimes several days go by and you don’t get done what you hoped to get done? I’m like that too, I’ve been away for a few days and it’s always a dilemma for me whether to keep on track or just relax and forget about goals for a few days. Actually retirement is a great time to come to terms with having goals but also being comfortable about letting go and doing whatever seems the right thing to do at the time.

Getting the balance right is sometimes the difficult bit, the balance between: doing whatever seems the thing to do at the time, or being too rigid and not trying anything new or exciting.

How about you? Are you a rigid ‘keep to the plan’  type of person, or are you learning to ‘go with the flow’ more as you don’t have the same pressures as you do when you have to keep to a work schedule?

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