Categories: Retirement

19 Feb 2010, Comments (0)

Retirement tips

Author: Susan Kersley

1. Make your mind up if you want to continue working after you retire but in a different way. If so what are you considering? You might want to continue doing the same sort of work perhaps working less hours, or doing something different such as education or journalism, television advisor or working on a cruise ship. What extra training and/or qualifications would you need? You could consider volunteering for example going abroad to offer help in disaster areas.
2. Decide whether you need to earn more than your pension for the lifestyle you want after retirement. If you’ve invested wisely you will have enough savings and income to follow your dreams and do whatever it is that you’ve ‘always wanted to do’ or regretted giving up when you had other pressures in life. You may want to downsize or change your lifestyle.
3. Many people find their creativity has been suppressed for years so whatever you decide, plan to do something creative too. You might want to try painting, sculpture, wild-life photography, golf, joining a choir, learning to play an instrument or something exotic such as belly-dancing or drumming. Perhaps you will take the opportunity to write the book you have inside you, landscape your garden or travel the world. There’s a world of opportunities out there for you.
4. Keep yourself fit and well by putting into practice all those things you know about but not done regularly before. Look after your body and mind by eating well and healthily, Stretch your body and mind by taking regular exercise and keeping your brain active with curiosity, reading and learning. How about an Open University course or joining your local adult education centre? Have you wanted to see other parts of the world? Retiring gives you the chance to take off alone, with friends or partner, with a group or as part of a charity challenge.
5. Don’t fritter away the days by doing nothing. Although you will have said goodbye to the stress of work, and retirement is a time for taking things easy, but to get new projects completed you must set goals, manage your time well and take action. Stop talking about what you really want to do, make your mind up about what is really important for you now and then take the action needed to get it done. Retirement is not the end of the road: it’s an opportunity for a new beginning!

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.

15 Nov 2009, Comments (1)

Physical Activity of Older People | Senior Health Blog

Author: Susan Kersley

Physical Activity of Older People | Senior Health Blog

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2 Nov 2009, Comments (0)

Sleep Disturbances Improve After Retirement

Author: Susan Kersley

If you found you didn’t sleep well while worrying about work related issues you may be relieved to read about this:

Sleep Disturbances Improve After Retirement.

31 Oct 2009, Comments (0)

Your Guide into Retirement Issues

Author: Susan Kersley

Your Guide into Retirement Issues

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20 Oct 2009, Comments (0)

Ageism: Unlawful and Unethical

Author: Susan Kersley

Have you experienced ageism? Do you think there is too much age discrimination? Please post your comments below, to this article.

Ageism Is Not Only Unlawful, It Is Also Unethical – 09/28/2009 – Healthy Aging and Me – Everyday Health Blogs

14 Sep 2009, Comments (2)

Everyone seems to be the same age as you are!

Author: Susan Kersley

I was chatting to a friend on the beach yesterday about how, at the start of the second world war in 1939 many children were evacuated from big cities to the country side because it was thought to be safer for them there. He was reminiscing and saying to me ‘Were you evacuated?’ I replied, ‘Well I wasn’t born then!,’ ‘Oh dear me, he laughed, ‘I thought for a moment we were the same age!’
Just as we assume the listener is familiar with the pop music we grew up with or the films we saw in out teenage years so too do we assume that people are a similar age to us!
However I believe it’s health to have friends and acquaintances of all ages. As you get older, particularly it’s important to keep in touch with the world around you, be ready to keep on learning new things and be willing to try new experiences too. When you do that then even if you are beginning to look older you will still have a swing in your step and a smile on your face and your spirit will remain young too.
If you are heading towards retirement you will find my book ‘Get ready for retirement’ offers you many snipets of good advise to have a life after work. You can buy it from Amazon and Lulu.com/sekersley

4 Aug 2009, Comments (0)

Getting older

Author: Susan Kersley

It’s a strange thing about getting older. You don’t notice it that much yourself until you catch a quick glance of yourself in the mirror and notice a few more lines or a few more grey hairs. One of the tell-tale signs is mentioning something that happened what seems like yesterday and being greeted with a blank look by the other person. Mentioning the name of an actor and similarly the other person doesn’t know to whom you are referring.

How can you remain as fit and healthy as possible for as long as possible?

Eat healthy food, every few hours; exercise regularly,  walking is one of the best ways to achieve this; read and learn; drink lots of water; have a positive mindset; don’t smoke; learn to relax when you feel tense and have enough sleep. Keep your brain active  too.

Let me know other tips in the comment box!

26 Jun 2009, Comments (1)

I sprained my ankle

Author: Susan Kersley

Yesterday I was on my way to the dentist to have a tooth out and didn’t notice there were 2 steps to go down from the room where I do yoga because I was lost in thought about the tooth extraction and whether or not I would have a local anaesthetic to have the tooth out when I suddenly found myself sprawled on the floor with several people asking me whether I wanted rescue remedy, comfrey or report the accident in the accident book (I was in a public building).

I said I was fine and when the  acute pain of a sudden fall wore off I hobbled down the road to the dentist to have my tooth out. I had a local anaesthetic which was great, I didn’t feel anything wxcept for my painful ankle. By the time I got home I had a hugely swollen ankle and wondered what to do to treat the sprained ankle. My husband knew what to do – he applied a crepe bandage and found me a crutch and even explained how to use it.

You have to hold the crutch with the arm on the opposite side to the injured ankle. Then walk like ‘Jake the peg with his extra leg’ bad leg forward at the same time as crutch forward. Good leg forward and crutch and bad leg back. Brilliant . I’ve noticed how lots of people don’t seem to get how to use the crutch!

Of course there are all sorts of things that can act as crutches – something which can offer a bit of help during a difficult time for example. The important thing to remember is a crutch is not for always, it’s a way of enabling you to get through a difficult patch.

My book ‘Get ready for retirement- how to have a life after work‘ can do that too because many people find the transition into retirement needs the support of a crutch for a while until you get used to the change of identity and new lifestyle.

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