Stop Following the Script — Start Living the Story You Were Meant to Write
Over or under 50, design the life right for you
For a complete and deeper insight, watch the video.
How much have you lived a life of “supposed to’s?”
You’re supposed to do this, be like this and live your life like this?
It’s called the “default life.”
A life laid out before you by others, ranging from parents and marketers to society and peers.
If that’s the case, then it obviously isn’t your life.
People often fall into it by assuming and presuming that’s what we’re supposed to do.
And then we wonder why the life we’re living isn’t good enough.
How to do what you want and need to do
Nowhere is this more evident than in the automatic assumption of traditional retirement.
You’re supposed to retire.
It will be total bliss.
There is no need for me to describe what that life is supposed to be like. You know it. Everyone knows it.
But one size does not fit all.
Nor is that “style” necessarily up-to-date.
That’s why, for the past couple of decades, a megatrend has been sneaking up on us.
A few months of the “Retirement Honeymoon” followed by the “Retirement Nightmare” due to lack of purpose, relevance, fulfillment, meaning, etc.
And it makes sense. You’re not living the life you thoughtfully picked.
Don’t live by someone else’s playbook
Whether traditional retirement ends up being right for you or not, you are facing a major life change.
So, why automatically take something off the shelf in the hopes it will work for you?
Instead, take this opportunity to DESIGN the life that’s right for you.
Design all parts of it, from health and income to fun, lifestyles, relationships and the rest.
Customize it for you and only you.
This is a huge life opportunity to live a fantastic life.
Perhaps the best years of your life.
But to do so, you must first toss aside the retirement playbook and work from a clean slate.
Design from a clean slate
Doesn’t this make sense?
Doesn't this sound enticing and exciting?
Not living by someone else’s playbook, designing from a clean slate means you are going to make the effort to think through what you want that life to be like.
You are (hopefully) going to realize the world has changed, and we have changed, and we need a life that is fulfilling, full of purpose, healthy, active and relevant.
Yes, it can be or have elements of traditional retirement, but you need and deserve to customize it.
It’s about taking the time to imagine and determine what you want and need life to be in all aspects of your life (something most people never do).
Even if it looks like “traditional retirement,” this effort will enable you to customize the playbook at least to fit you.
Flip your life like you’d flip a house
The rationale and process for flipping a house or other property align closely with this and offer a systematic approach to “figure it out.”
You’ve probably seen all of those house-flipping television shows.
Well, take note of how those flippers determine what they need to renovate, remove, add or improve.
They’re taking a place that still has a lot to offer as is.
But they’re rethinking, reconsidering, reimaging to redesign it to fit the needs and desires we have here in the 21st Century.
Whether it’s the bones and guts or the design and function.
The same goes for what you need, want and deserve for your future.
This will work not only for your olderhood, but anytime in life, because this can work for all of us who want and need more than the default life.
Uncommon common sense
n the video in this article, I dive into the full rationale for taking this approach and the huge benefits you will get from it.
Plus, I give you a NINE-STEP PROCESS to successfully flip your life into one that is ideal for you and your future.
It’s a major decision so it deserves a major effort.
An effort to deeply identify what you need and want, and in doing so, putting in the homework to discover what others are doing and the new realities and opportunities for all of us, including in our olderhood.
Years ago, when I realized I needed to plan my future olderhood.
I was blessed with the realization that I needed to step back and gain a helluva lot of awareness.
That awareness blew my mind. What I learned was often the opposite of the stereotype.
Many people in retirement are regretting it.
While a growing number of those who took a clean slate and designed their lives have the best and most meaningful years of their lives.
I learned about the opportunities, possibilities and the fact that living a vibrant life with purpose, meaning and relationships was not only possible but could extend into my 90s.
It’s the Longevity Revolution.
But if I hadn’t approached this with a clean slate, I know that now I would be miserable.
Default Life = Default Regret
Consider any major change in your life as an opportunity to make the future YOUR TURN.
It’s your turn to design the ideal life and you deserve and are entitled to live that life that’s ideal for you.
It’s your turn to write your own playbook.
By doing this, you are actually thinking it through.
Identifying what you want and need and not just living the way you think you’re supposed to.
If there’s one thing you could say you’re supposed to do, it’s this.