So that was the question I heard recently during a meeting with a firm of HR, Outplacement (that’s a nice word for redundancy) and At Retirement a specialists – a business who support people in career transition, and one who I have worked with for many years as their dedicated IFA.
From the education sector, to local government, household brands to multi-nationals, we have worked with many varied companies to support their staff as they either approach retirement, face redundancy or elect to make a shift in their career.
What a great question it was as well – what do you actually get out of work?
Is it just money? Is just to be paid the only reason you go to work?
Or – are their other reasons? A purpose? Self esteem? The sense of helping others? Companionship? The list goes on and on, yet I suspect very rarely do we ask that question – why do I go to work?
Frequently people we work with find themselves tied into a preconception of what work they should do (society dictates), or maybe they are attached to an idea of what they should earn (usually more than the last job).
The other issue, is, that if all of your identity in life is attached to your job title, what do you have left when you retire? How many times do you watch a quiz show and someone announces themselves as (for example) a retired IT Manager? That’s not who they are, it is what they USED to do.
Only when we take the time to figure out what we really want in our work, our career, and our lives, can we then start to shape the future, to align what matters most to us to the thing we spend much of our life doing.
Get it right, and life is fun, get it wrong, and you will carry on dreading Monday mornings.
Find your purpose, find your fun, and find the real you.
Together we can bring some Serenity to your life
Escaping The Bucket 