(photo credit: Ian Schneider via Unsplash)
By Jack Calhoun
Newton's First Law of Motion states that "an object at rest will remain at rest unless an outside force acts upon it."
Sir Isaac was talking about physics (okay, he was actually inventing physics), but it's also a profound metaphor for your post-career years.
People underestimate how hard it can be to get moving again after a period of not doing much of anything. By the time they realize it, they're already mired in inertia, and anything other than the hammock or Starbucks can start to feel like work. Ugh.
Without the outside force of our careers to act upon us, inertia sets in and we get stuck.
Beware the “Endless Vacation”
It's not surprising that people who have had successful business careers struggle to get going again after they leave their first career behind.
By the time their career winds down, they're usually between their late 50s and mid 60s. They spent decades in "react" mode, waking up every day to see which new fire at work demanded their attention. Often it was multiple fires on multiple fronts.
So, even if you’ve enjoyed your work, you may find yourself completely burned out when you reach the career finish line. It makes sense that, when you reach that point, you’re probably going to be looking forward to some well-deserved to time decompress, smell the roses and just, well, chill.
This is the "endless vacation" phase that Riley Moynes aptly described in his viral Ted Talk. And it feels great - for awhile. It's pretty comfortable waking up every day with no agenda and no major crises to deal with. It doesn’t take long to get downright used to it.
The problem is that, once you've gotten some distance from that insane corporate career you left behind, inertia often creeps in. Taking a few months off with no plan and no agenda often turns into a few years.
Before you know it, it's a decade. Then it’s your life.
You feel your motivation starting to ebb, and all those dreamy ideas you had about what you were going to do, and who you were going to be, in your post-career phase sort of fall by the wayside. Often, they never get picked up again.
Few of us ever have a long period of time in our career years where we aren't accountable to somebody - and usually it's a lot of bodies. Even if we owned our own company, we're accountable to all our clients and all the employees who depended on us.
So, it's often a shock to the system when we leave our career behind, our kids have flown the nest, and we're really only accountable to ourselves. (Yes, and to our spouse, but generally by that time of life they just want us out of their hair anyway.)
How to remain an object in motion
That’s why it’s important to find some ways to stay motivated and engaged when you move into your post-career life. Here are three steps you can take to do just that:
1. Define some boundaries for yourself: There's nothing wrong with giving yourself a grace period when you leave your career. In fact, it's probably one of the most beneficial things you can do to recuperate and recharge. And to reimagine who you can be.
But it's also good to put some guard rails in place so the months don't melt into years. Create a timebound plan -- even if it's just a one-pager -- about what your vacation phase is going to look like and how long it’s going to last. When you do that, you're sending a message to your subconscious that this is an interim phase -- not the rest of your life. Ironically, you may find this enables you to relax and enjoy this phase more than if you just winged it, because you'll intuitively know your recharging, not wandering.
2. Take small, frequent actions toward your goals: I know, I know – you’re not even sure what your goals are. Don’t worry –most people struggle to visualize their future selves when they leave their first career behind. But you can still take meaningful actions without that clear vision. Discovering what you want to do, and who you want to be, in the post-career phase of your life is a journey, and it’s important to enjoy the process.
So even if you’re in the endless-vacation phase, find things to dabble with and try out that don’t have a huge barrier of entry for you. If you’re a good writer, publish an article or two on Medium about a topic that interests you. If you can see yourself opening a restaurant or catering business down the road, publish a YouTube video making your favorite recipe. If you can see yourself starting a non-profit someday, find one to volunteer or consult with that’s aligned with your interests and passions.
It's not important that these lead to your “Next Big Thing.” What’s important is that you are showing yourself that you’re not completely idle, not lost and not giving up on yourself. You’re experimenting and having some fun – nothing wrong with that!
3. Find someone to hold you accountable: Remember that part about accountability? It's a vital part of getting out of the inertia phase -- or, better yet, avoiding it all together. The right mentor can help you shape a vision and plan for the next phase of your life that balances your desire for freedom and fun with your need for meaning, purpose and engagement.
If you aren’t ready to commit to that, then find an accountability partner – someone you have to check in with at regular intervals and give progress updates to. There are even online group accountability programs like Flow and CommitClub that find a partner for you.
Even if your only goals at present are to go for a walk three times a week or tackle the home improvement project you’ve been procrastinating on, having someone who you have to check in with can keep your commitment muscles in shape while you’re mulling over the next phase of your life.
The bottom line: Once you’ve lost the “outside force” of your career, be proactive in finding something or someone that keeps you engaged, motivated and accountable. There’s nothing wrong at all with a long vacation – but don’t let it become an endless one, because then it won’t be a vacation at all. It will just be you, sitting around every day with nothing to do.
