Getting Rewired 101
05/04/2015
How, exactly, do you get "rewired"? I started by making "re-" part of my vocabulary. I redefined retirement: I sought to refresh my perspective, reacquaint myself with what mattered in life, and readjust my expectations. This, by the way, I didn't do in a vacuum. My wife and financial adviser played reaffirming roles in a transitional process.
Rewiring in my case meant:
- reviewing our financial situation to determine if I could leave a professional career in my mid-fifties (yes)
- relocating from the Boston, Massachusetts area to Asheville, NC (fortunately we sold our house prior to the 2008 recession)
- renewing my relationship with my wife by starting a small business as a couple (more about working with a spouse in future posts)
- returning to something I love: freelance writing
- writing and self-publishing eBooks
- volunteering for a local non-profit
- sharing my expertise by becoming an unpaid brand marketing counselor at a local college's small business center.
See why the word "retire" just didn't make sense to me?
My strategy for replacing a full-time job was to get involved in a variety of different things that I could control; I wanted to stay busy but I also wanted to be my own boss and set my own schedule. This kind of rewiring may not be right for everyone, but it worked for me. You might say I became happily rewired.