By Shazad
Who AM I? I used to wonder about this question a lot until recent years. I finally have some clear thoughts to share on the concept of personal identity. You are NOT your job or education or your stuff such as houses, cars, clothes, etc. They are all parts of your life. Your relationship with each of these and people at different stages of life, are what make up your identity.
What you do in different parts of your life are just like stations or ports you are visiting on a journey. What comes after formal education is usually working life and building a family. What happens after full-time work or leading a business is up to you to define. Some call this phase “retirement” while others see it as just another long and exciting journey to start using all the knowledge and experience gained from the past journeys. I found that the more I keep learning and challenging myself, the more my identity is revealed to me. This happens all the time and needs to continue when we retire as well because our minds are capable of continuous growth past the age we decide we longer want to work full-time. I’ve also seen many successful transitions into retirement through volunteering efforts and stronger community involvement. The skills a person has developed over the decades during their working life can still be practiced in these new settings.
The good relationships, routines and values we have developed are the most important parts of our identity. Let’s make the best of where we are and prepare for whatever’s next by keeping focus on what really matters at each stage of life. Keep pushing yourself to have a growth mindset all throughout life because your identity is not fixed to a place, time or your assets.
ACTIONS:
If you haven’t already retired from work, imagine that it is about to happen next week. What do you think it will be like?
What do you plan to do in order to be challenged through retirement?
What skills and experiences do you want to have by the time you retire? What are you doing about that today?