Your Life After End of Career – Live by Design or Chance?

From Sunset to Sunrise – 2013

The Teton Range

Grand Teton National Park, WY

The Practice of Equanimity

It is commonly familiar that it is in those quiet moments when our mind is free to wander, that we are the most creative.

For me, it is commonly during morning coffee or perhaps fly fishing on a beautiful river for trout or salmon.

There are other times when feeling the rhythm of my heartbeat and breathing is the only perceptible activity.

I usually make no effort to think about anything in particular. And yet, the more my mind wanders, the more meaningful are the insights, ideas and innovations that emerge.

I believe that this simple discipline can be beneficial as you plan your career transition. 

It is then that you will have a window of opportunity prior to embarking on the next great phase of your life. This is the time for you to create plenty of time and space to comfortably design your roadmap. The map that will take you in the direction that you want your life to go…with confidence.

The best time to study a map is before you begin your journey.

The Illusion of Endless Time

When the time comes, you will initially find that the time you have at your disposal is seemingly unlimited compared to your previous lifestyle.

That can be a fallacy. Like other vacuums, there's a natural tendency for it to be filled. 

The question is: Who is going to make the choices of how to make the best use of your time?

Will you create the a la cart menu of your life? Or will life present you with items that are not so palatable to you?

Thinking Deliberately With Purpose

To help answer that for yourself, it is useful engage in deliberate, purposeful thinking about matters that are important to you as well as others. Do so earlier than you think you need to; it may be later now than you think.

As you consider this, you will probably recognize that you have ongoing needs for personal fulfillment of your purpose in life. You will also likely experience an exuberant desire to have a good time. To simply have fun in the pursuit of hobbies, travel, sports or whatever brings you joy.

It is well established that living a balanced life provides the foundation for optimum health, wellness and longevity.

To achieve that, it is essential to have clarity of thought, conviction of purpose and courage to express it effectively.

Things to Focus on to Create a Cohesive, Balanced Lifestyle

Here are personal dimensions to consider in order to optimize the balance in your life:

• Spiritual
• Health and Wellness 
• Equanimity
• Relationships
• Career
• Recreation
• Financial
• Personal Mastery
• Leadership Development
• Self-Actualization

I encourage you to think about these. As you do so you will likely create, as I have, multiple subcategories. Use those to help you develop actionable practices that will lead to good outcomes.

Your Time, Your Choices

As you approach your transition and begin to think about how to create your future lifestyle, please do so deliberately and purposefully.

To do so, I recommend that you create a written Post Career Lifestyle Plan.

It is a great method to make the most of this great opportunity to create reality from the dreams you have dreamt.

Updated:  Friday, October 11, 2024

PS: Would you like to learn more about how to transition from your practice? I would like to assist you. I provide practice transaction services that are tailored to your specific needs. Click here to request an introductory conversation.

If you would like to learn about another way that I can guide you, check out this brief video that describes my unique online course: 

 The Practice Transition Course for Physicians. _TM     

Pensive, at Rest - Red Fox – 2013

Grand Teton National Park, WY