It seems one of two things happen once people reach retirement. Either they have something they love to do and do well or they settle into a routine that just takes up their time. It is easy to understand that upon initial retirement many hard working business people just want to take some time off to relax, travel, play golf, bridge, etc. But that rarely is a routine that is supportive and lasts for many years. When enthusiasm, inspiration, excitement and fulfillment lag so does the retiree’s life. It gets to be a dull, dragging rut. People tend to lose interest in everything and feel they are no longer useful to anyone or any thing. That could not be further from the truth.

The trick to staying vital in retirement is to leverage your power and passion just as you did before retirement. If you did not leverage it then now is the time to really get into it. We are all wired to do certain things in certain ways and those things we do very well. Look back through your life at the things you truly enjoyed doing and did well. Write out what you actually did. Use verbs as much as possible to show the actions you took. Pretend you are a fly on the wall observing everything you did so you get a thorough account written down. End your accounts by answering this question, “What was most satisfying about this achievement?” Do this for ten situations or achievements as I call them. Spread your achievements over several decades.

Now go through your achievements with two colors of magic markers. With one color mark all of the verbs you used in your accounts. You want to get an idea of what action you actually took. Use the other marker to identify your greatest satisfaction for each achievement.

Go back through your achievements and write down the trends and threads you notice about your actions. Then do the same for your satisfactions. Now you have some information you can use to figure out what you want to do in your retirement that will be really satisfying to you.

Write down all of the things you could do in your retirement years. After you have done that, go to the achievements you have just analyzed and figure out which of the activities will allow you to do the kind of things you did in your achievements. You should be able to narrow your list of possible activities to a shorter list of things that will really give you pleasure, will help you feel fulfilled and useful and will keep you busy in a productive and meaningful way.

Sometimes is it really helpful to get a coach to help you do this. You can even get into a coaching group where you can work through this process with friends or other retirees. Look for a coach who is well trained and has good coaching credentials. Make sure they know what they are doing. After all, it is the rest of you life we are talking about!