“Steadfast and Exuberance” – 2019

Sierra Nevada, CA

Embracing Change

As an accomplished professional, the prospect of transitioning away from a career that has been an important element of your life can be a complex and multifaceted journey. It requires a careful blend of personal readiness, professional realignment, and organizational or business preparations. This article is an exploration of the nuances of preparing for this pivotal life event, to assist you in developing the knowledge necessary for a smooth and rewarding transition.

The move from a thriving career to the next phase of your life is not merely a change; it is a metamorphosis that requires introspection and strategic planning. The initial phase of this journey is deeply personal. It is the foundation upon which you will build your blueprint as it relates to your professional role and organizational responsibilities.

This transformative process honors your accomplishments and provides an opportunity to redefine yo...

“Emerging Wonderment” – 2017

Nevada

 Your Freedom and Choices

One of the most surprising challenges after ending a long career isn’t financial or social, it’s time: The unstructured kind and how to use it meaningfully.

Time once managed by fulfilling obligations, routines, and expectations is now available to you. While this freedom is long anticipated, it can also feel unsettling. The hours stretch wide. The question arises: What should I do?

This is not a trivial issue. It raises questions of meaning, identity, and how we measure value when no one else is holding you accountable

Productivity Redefined

In most professions, productivity is visible: meetings attended, patients seen, students taught or outcomes achieved.

Without those benchmarks, time can feel unproductive, even wasted as the old definition of productivity no longer applies.

Now, productivity may mean growth, restoration, or simply presence. It’s about living with intention, not just creating “output.”

Time as ...

Sierra Nevada – 2019

California

Preparing the Path

The transition from your career is a major life events for which it’s critical to prepare well in advance. 

Initially, you will realize that the magnitude of the challenge is significant. As a result, you will likely determine that to achieve a successful transition you will need to devote focused effort over a significant period  of time. These inevitable, initial questions will arise: 

• How do I begin? 
• What should I do? 
• In what order should I do them?

As you start, keep in mind that great achievements require great preparation.

The First Step of the Path 

To begin, there are three major concerns for which preparation is essential.

The first of these is to prepare yourself personally to enter the next great phase of your life. As you do so, it is important to keep in mind that your spouse and in unique ways, your family, are also going through a transition.

The second concern is to prepare yourself professionally.

Th...

Coconut Palm Trees – 2016

Kauai, HI

The Hardest Loss May Be the People

In the arc of a professional career, whether in medicine, business, law, education, engineering, or any field, there develops a quietly emerging reality that often feels unexpected, perhaps even disorienting: the gradual erosion of a sense of community. It is a loss rarely spoken of, yet deeply felt.

For many, professional life is steeped in structure, purpose, and connection. We are surrounded by colleagues with whom we’ve shared projects, deadlines, crises, and victories. These daily interactions form a rhythm. Teams become extended families. Workplaces, organizations, and networks, though originally built around responsibility, evolve into spaces of camaraderie and shared goals.

But as the transition away from a career begins to take form, whether by choice, necessity, or circumstance, those familiar connections shift. The rhythm changes. Invitations to meetings wane. Spontaneous conversations fade. One begi...

“Standout” – 2024

Mt. Moran, the Teton Range

Grand Teton National Park, WY

Without the Title

There’s a moment many don’t anticipate when a long career comes to an end: the unfamiliar quietude. Not just of the schedule, but of the recognition.

No more introductions at conferences. No more titles on email signatures. No more nods of affirmation that came with professional status.

And while you may have been ready to step down, there’s a subtler shift that can feel surprisingly disorienting: Who am I now, without the title?

Recognition Wasn’t Vanity, It Was Reaffirmation of Value

Being recognized for your role wasn’t about ego. It was about the acknowledgment of your value to others.

Over the years, people turned to you for insight, leadership, or decisions. Your presence in the room carried weight. Your name meant something.

Now, even though you are still the same person, the spotlight has shifted. And it can feel like part of your identity has gone with it.

From Introductions...

“Evolution” – 2012

Florida

Who Will Still Be There?

When a career ends, the expected changes are usually logistical: schedules, income, purpose. But there’s another shift that many don’t anticipate: relationships.

Colleagues who were once daily companions may grow distant. Social invitations change. The conversations that once flowed easily might falter. A new question begins to rise: Where Do I Belong Now?

This shift is not a failure. It is a natural outcome of your transition process that can feel deeply personal.

Your Circle Was Tied to Your Role

Throughout your career, many of your relationships were built around proximity, projects and shared goals. Morning meetings, case discussions or team decisions created frequent interaction and a shared language.

When that environment ends, those built-in points of connection fade. Without shared obligations, some connections may simply drift.

It doesn’t mean those relationships were false, it means they were situational.

Belonging...

“Sunrise from Sunset” – 2022

Nevada

Will It Be Enough?

This is a question that lingers quietly beneath even the most meticulously planned career transitions. For many professionals, this question doesn’t come from lack of preparation. It comes from the deeper uncertainty of letting go of your income-generating potential.

After years of earning, building and contributing, the thought of no longer generating income, even if there’s a plan in place, can feel destabilizing. Not because the numbers don’t add up, but because our confidence in them is entangled with something more personal.

Financial Readiness Is About More Than Assets

Yes, there are spreadsheets, advisors, retirement accounts, and plans. But financial readiness is not only measured by the numbers; it is also about emotional trust in the plans you have made for your future.

This trust is shaped by more than market trends. It is shaped by our beliefs about security, our experiences with risk and our sense of self-worth....

Grand Prismatic Spring – 2022

Yellowstone National Park, WY

Who Am I Now? 

The end of your career doesn’t just signal a change in how time is spent. For many, it calls forth a deeper question: Who am I now that my role is has ended?

This is not a theoretical question. It is a deeply personal experience. For those who have invested decades in a role that influenced how others saw them and how they may have seen themselves, it can feel like something essential has been lost. But what if this moment isn’t about losing your identity, but reaffirming it?

You Were Never Just the Role

For many professionals, their role was both practical and symbolic. It offered structure, recognition and a sense of belonging. Being a surgeon, professor, executive or leader wasn’t just a title. It became a sort of identity shorthand. Amidst the rush of life, it was often easier to relate to that than to pause and ask yourself: Who am I, really?

Letting go of that role, whether by choice or by circumsta...

“Solitude” – 2019

Lake Tahoe, NV, CA

When Structure Disappears

Many professionals imagine that the day their career ends will feel like a welcome exhale: time to rest, reflect, and enjoy long-awaited freedom. But when that day arrives, some find that the quiet they hoped for feels more like a pause they didn’t expect. Instead of calm, they may encounter disorientation. Instead of relief, a lingering uncertainty.

It’s not uncommon to find yourself rising early, as if preparing for work, only to discover that the urgency is gone, but the habit remains. For years, even decades, your time may have been devoted to others: patients, clients, students, or teams. When that rhythm disappears, the blank space can feel foreign.

The shift can be surprising, even for those who have looked forward to it. It’s often not the tasks or the pace that are missed, it’s the comfort of being needed, feeling relevant  and knowing what comes next.

You Didn’t Choose Your Schedule, Your Career Did

Over th...

McArthur–Burney Falls – 2020

California

Exploring the Key Factors That Influence Your Transition Journey

It is common for individuals to look forward to their transition from their career. There are others who, for variety of reasons, do not look forward to it. Both have in common some degree of apprehension born of many concerns that coexist with their positive aspirations. Yet, this is not an either/or perspective. Indeed, there are varied attitudes that differ greatly, as they reflect diverse personal and professional concerns.

Amidst these seemingly opposite viewpoints, there is yet another major one that is relatively common. It is that of colleagues that derive so much satisfaction from their professional role that they just want to stay with it for as long as they are able.

I know professionals that have each of these major perspectives. It is common to see a blend of these as well. As I reflect on my personal experience, understanding of human nature as well as that of the...