Our modern terminology clearly implies retirement is that golden time of life when we will no longer have to do anything. We will be free from the tyranny of work and will have the luxury of passing the hours in enjoyable leisure. And yet the growing number of baby boomers hitting that magic time of retirement every day do not confirm the thrill of doing nothing. More and more are discovering that “doing nothing” does not provide the enjoyment they expected.
Leo Tolstoy, born into a family of Russian nobility, looked at the lives of his privileged class and the lives of the plain folks who were their laborers. He determined that whatever their hardships, the working folk rested at night in peace and confidence in God’s goodness, while those in royalty frequently complained and were unhappy about their lives. He renounced his wealthy class and set out to work in the fields alongside the peasants. He proclaimed that the greatest error of the leisure class was the erroneous belief that “happiness consists in idleness.” And as our current day observations are now confirming, Tolstoy concluded we must recognize that work, and not idleness, is an indispensable condition for happiness for every human being.
In my work as a career coach, I am hearing from more and more clients who are intent on finding meaning and purpose in their work, not just at ages twenty-five or forty-five but in their later years as well. People are realizing the emptiness of leaving meaningful work, of withdrawing from making meaningful contributions and of having time with no purposeful activity. Our old understanding of retirement is to “get out of this ‘job’ and start doing what I really want to do.” But as my clients discover and match the best of their talents and passions in work that is fulfilling, purposeful and profitable, the attraction of traditional retirement tends to dissipate.
In Launch Your Encore, the authors draw from the premise that “retirement should not be an exit sign, but a door into something fresh, new, and exciting.” The authors share their own stories and the choices they have made to remain fully alive. Here are two guys who have looked at the options and have chosen to live with enthusiasm and purpose. Full of inspiring quotations and real-life examples, this book will help you assess where you are and create a plan to continue living fully, rather than dying slowly.
Launch Your Encore gives us the steps to increase our unique contributions to the world as we age, and to continue to live lives rich in love, friendship, and compassion—so we will not be among those referenced by Oliver Wendell Holmes: “Alas for those that never sing, but die with all their music in them.”
Dan Miller, New York Times bestselling author of 48 Days to the Work You Love (www.48Days.com)