As we near retirement there are three words that many of us want to delete from our vocabulary. They are structure, discipline and schedules. How do you feel when you hear them? If youre like me, retirement means you want to push away from structure, leave schedules behind, and escape from discipline. Your mindset can make the difference between frustration or joy during the third stage of life. After all, these are your Power Years!

My dreams in retirement were to embrace the word freedom into my daily experience. As I left my full-time career in a fortune 500 company, my motto was, Free at Last! What a shock, when freedom alone didnt serve me very well. Let me share how I discovered the secret to turning this around to serve rather than sabotage me.

There has been a great deal of press in 2006 about baby boomers beginning to turn 60. Boomers are living longer and healthier than past generations and are revolutionizing retirement. As a baby boomer, I see the second stage of my life as an opportunity to rediscover, reinvent, and revitalize myself. Many of us today are retiring from our first career by the age of 55. No longer do we embrace our parents and grandparents definition of retirement as a time to sit back and simply relax. Dont get me wrong; we love leisure activities. However, we also want to live vital and active lives with purpose and meaning. This is a time to make a real difference in the world. In fact, many of us believe the word retirement should be permanently retired. Baby boomers are choosing to refocus their energy into many different transitional experiences -- some will become entrepreneurs and begin businesses of their own, others aspire to volunteering time and energy for causes that touch their hearts, still others may decide to go back to school, and many will find themselves helping adult children and grandchildren as they move through their own challenges, such as divorce. Many baby boomers have found the services of a Personal Life Coach helps them successfully navigate through their transitions.

In my own new retirement, I yearned for simplicity. I felt that simplifying would give me a sense of peace and freedom. However, I found my three problematic words, structure, discipline and schedules beginning to haunt me. I came to a realization: without structure, discipline and schedules in my life, simplicity was elusive. Darn it! Life became a bit frustrating and chaotic, especially when I began my own business as a Personal Life Coach. I realized that without these three concepts in my life it was impossible to make progress. With the help of my own Life Coach, I came to the realization that I could simply use new words that spoke to me in more positive ways. I learned just how powerfully words can affect our thinking. I created a plan.

In my new plan:
Structure became Design, Plan, a System
Discipline became Determination, Focus, Method, Self-Mastery
Schedule became Timetable, Program, Itinerary

Now I create a plan and focus with determination as I follow my timetable to accomplish my goals. These new words gave me a feeling of power, energy and even lightness. I no longer saw them as restrictions but rather a vehicle towards freedom.

Today I find myself moving through each day with ease - with a feeling of accomplishment, purpose and fulfillment. Free at last! If you are stumbling over some words in your life that hold you back and keep you stuck, pull out the thesaurus and try on some new, fresh ones and see what a difference they can make in your life.

I now live the life of my dreams with a career I feel passionate about. I no longer work to live, but rather live to work. My desire as a Retirement Coach is to help baby boomers discover a life of meaning and purpose in their power years. Financial planning alone does not make for a happy, healthy and meaningful life. You owe it to yourself to create a Retirement Life Plan and enter this phase with a sense of confidence. Dont wait until you are feeling disillusioned, bored, lonely or depressed during what can be your Power Years. A Retirement Life Plan can open the door to finding focus, passion and joy. Be prepared! Contact Ellie at www.newdirectionscoach.com for a coaching consultation to experience life coaching for yourself and to determine if this is the answer for you right now. Take action and make it happen!

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