part0020

So far, this book has been focusing on unique positive habits that you’ll enjoy (well, with the exception of cleaning every day). This one might not sound as appealing but it’s not actually as bad as it sounds so bear with me here. Habit #10 is don’t retire.

Sure, you’ve been working hard for years and motivating yourself with the thought that eventually you’ll one day retire and finally get to relax. Well, as appealing as that sounds, relaxing 24/7 is not that healthy for you. It will also get boring a lot quicker than you would imagine.

Think of retirement as the opposite but equally unhealthy extreme on the other side of being in a perpetual state of high stress and anxiety. Just as it’s not healthy to overwork yourself, it’s also not healthy to not work at all.

Now, this is not to stay that you should hold down your 9 to 5 well into your golden years. You can retire from your career but do not let retirement make you inactive or sedentary.

Multiple studies have shown that this kind of inactive retirement plays a huge role in senior obesity, chronic disease, and deterioration of the brain and other organs.

It makes senses when you think about it. If you stop using your brain and body on a regular basis, it will fall into disuse and begin to decay—just like the old car sitting in your driveway or that abandoned building in town.

It’s not flattering to think of yourself as a car or a building but if you spend your retirement sitting around “relaxing”, your body and mind will start to deteriorate because they are not being used.

If you stay active after retirement—getting lots of physical exercise and making sure to keep your mind engaged and working—you’ll not only have a more rewarding and enjoyable retirement, you’ll also have a longer retirement.

Staying active will decrease your risk of obesity, dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, arthritis, heart disease, stroke, diabetes, osteoporosis, and countless other diseases.

Most people mistakenly assume that these sorts of chronic illnesses are just par for the course. When you get older, things just stop working as well as they used to. While there is some truth to this, staying active (mentally and physically) can make a huge difference. It will significantly slow the process of aging and keep your body stronger and more capable of fighting off these various diseases and conditions.

No matter what your age is now, it’s never too soon (or too late) to start planning for an active retirement. Here are a few strategies to help you do that.

You know all those plans and dreams you have but keep putting off by saying “I don’t have the time”? Well, retirement is your perfect opportunity to do all of it!

If you ever wanted to travel the world or learn how to swing dance, retirement is your opportunity to do it. Help your future self out by starting a list now of all your dreams and plans that just don’t seem realistic to accomplish with your current busy schedule.

Call it your “Retirement To-Do List” and add to it whenever you think of something you would like to do.

Staying active is just as much about keeping your mind active as it is about keeping your body active. One of the best ways to do this is to get in the habit of constantly learning new skills and gaining new knowledge.

Learn a new language.

Learn how to play the guitar.

Learn how to make pottery.

There is no shortage of interesting skills and knowledge out there. Surely there is something you have always wanted to learn but never had the chance .

Perhaps you always wanted to get a degree in art history or music but never could quite fit it into your schedule. Use your retirement to finally get that degree.

If you’ve already got a degree in something else, that’s even better. This time, you can focus on enjoying the courses and really absorbing the knowledge rather than stressing about grades and GPAs.

If a whole degree doesn’t appeal to you, you can also just sign up for interesting classes at a community college, take online courses, or just learn on your own (or with a group of friends who have similar interests).

Volunteering is a great way to spend your retirement. Not only does it keep you active and involved in the community, it helps you to feel like you still are an important, contributing member of society (because you are still an important part of the community). Volunteering is also extremely rewarding.

There’s nothing quite like the satisfaction of knowing that your presence and support is improving someone’s life. Find an organization or cause that you support and ask to volunteer. You could volunteer at a shelter, a school, a charity, or even a local church.

There are lots of organizations out there working to make the world a better place and they depend on people like you to generously give their time to help them in that work .

While it’s not a physical illness, loneliness is an epidemic all its own among seniors. It’s perfectly natural. As you get older, you start to outlive your friends and loved ones.

Your children grow up and go off to start families of their own. All those familiar faces that once surrounded you slowly begin to disappear.

It’s easy and completely acceptable to get emotional about this. But don’t let it turn you into a hermit who sits at home alone all day. Don’t sulk in your misery, go out and make friends, inspire young people, and just generally stay socially active.

Your life is not over once you hit your senior years. The population of seniors is growing each year which means that you’ll have plenty of people in your age group with similar experiences.

Go through the ups and downs of life as a senior together with others who are going through the exact same thing. Volunteering (which you read about above) and getting involved in sports (which you will read about next) are two great ways to be social.

But you can also just go out to a bar or café. Join or start a book club or film club.

Attend writing groups or workshops. Take up wine tasting and meet new people at wine tasting events. There’s plenty of ways to stay social and during your retirement, you’ll have plenty of time to cultivate an active and exciting social life.

Who knows, it could end up being even more exciting than your social life now!

Plan to get involved in sports and don’t limit yourself to the stereotypical “old people sports” like shuffleboard or lawn bowling. Your age does not have to limit you.

If you enjoy a sport and can do it without injuring yourself, go for it! You can get a head start on this one by getting involved in sports now and stick with it well into your retirement.

If you start now, you can explore different sports and see which one appeals to you most.

Exercise now will also further improve your chances of avoiding the diseases and conditions of old age so that you can be sure that you will be physically capable of being just as active as you want to be in old age.